Background Art In the conventional Internet contents settlement systems, a mobile phone, ARS, digital cash, credit card, Internet transfer account, GIRO, etc. , are used. However, these systems have the problems that it is difficult for users who use Internet contents at any time to easily access the systems.

That is, in the case of the mobile phone or ARS (Automatic Response System), a limit is fixed and thus the settlement should be made within the limit. The digital cash is electronic cash that can be used through Internet instead of cash, but its use procedure is complicated. In the case of making payment by credit card, transaction items or personal information may leak or may fraudulently be used by hacking. In particular, the credit card is limited by user qualification, and it is difficult to use the Internet transfer account in an open place. Additionally, in using the GIRO, the user should visit the bank of settlement from offline.

Accordingly, contents providers are limited in opportunities to provide the contents to many more users and to make a profit, and the users are originally limited in using the paid contents. Meanwhile, in order to overcome the limits of the conventional settlement system as described above, diverse types of prepayment cards have been made.

For example, Korean Patent No. 321529 discloses such a conventional system for providing a multifunctional prepayment card. FIG. 1 illustrates the conventional electronic settlement system.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the conventional electronic settlement system includes a user 2, an Internet shopping mall 4, a cyber card site 6, a card selling agent 1, a PCCS (Prepayment Call Card System) 8, a settlement server 5, and a payment gateway 3.

The user 2 purchases an actual or virtual multifunctional prepayment card of a specified amount of money from the card selling agent 1 or the cyber card site 6. The user who has purchased the multifunctional prepayment card can directly pay for the use of <BR> <BR> various kinds of paid services (i. e. , telephone service, Internet service, PC communication<BR> service, etc. ). For example, the user 2, who accesses an Internet pay site or the Internet shopping mall 4, input a card number PIN# for payment. The accessed Internet shopping mall 4 requests an authentication of the card number to the settlement server 5 through the payment gateway 3. Then, the settlement server 5 authenticates the corresponding card number by referring to an authentication DB (Database), and transfers an authentication result of the card number to the Internet shopping mall 4 through the payment gateway 3.

In the actual settlement, the Internet shopping mall 4 requests the payment for the service use to the settlement server 5 through the payment gateway 3, and the settlement server 5 requests a balance confirmation of the corresponding prepayment card number by communicating with the PCCS 8. At this time, the PCCS 8 judges the status of the corresponding card number PIN# because the same card number may simultaneously be used for different settlements, for example, the user 2 may use the card number in the Internet shopping mall 4 while the user makes a phone call using the same card number.

If it is judged that the corresponding card number is not in use as a result of the status judgment, the PCCS 8 refers to a master DB 9 and transmits the current balance of the corresponding prepayment card to the settlement server 5. If the corresponding card number is in use, the PCCS 8 transmits this status to the settlement server 5.

Then, if the user 2 terminates the use of the telephone service, the master DB 9 subtracts the communication charge from the balance of the corresponding card number, and then transmits the current balance to the settlement server 5. Meanwhile, the settlement server 5 judges whether the current balance transmitted from the PCCS 8 is enough to settle the user's shopping charge, and reports the result of judgment to the Internet shopping mall 4 and the PCCS 8 so as to reflect the result of judgment in the master DB 9.

However, if the status information transmitted from the PCCS 8 refers to a waiting status, the settlement server 5 reports this status to the Internet shopping mall 4, waits until the current balance information is received from the PCCS 8, and then

performs the settlement procedure. The reason why the communication process is required between the PCCS 8 and the settlement server 5 is that a billing procedure is continually performed for a predetermined period (for example, six seconds, thirty seconds, one <BR> <BR> minute, etc. ) in the case of using a telephone network, and thus it is different from an instantaneous billing procedure in a data communication network.

However, the conventional prepayment card systems including the above- described system have the following problems in their basic forms.

1. Limits of integrated digital cash Up to the present, the prepayment card systems have been constructed to integratedly settle all kinds of Internet services. That is, by integratedly managing all kinds of services through the prepayment card systems, the prepayment cards function as a kind of online common digital cash irrespective of the characteristics of the contents providers that provide the respective services, and this causes a severe imbalance to occur among the contents providers. More specifically, it causes the probability of growth of the contents that have relatively low merits to deteriorate to compare and select the contents of game, <BR> <BR> movie, cartoon, etc. , on the same line. Additionally, for the integrated management, a large-capacity DB is required, and due to its complicated operation, system errors are liable to occur. Such system errors may cause an exorbitant capital leakage in society.

Consequently, the prepayment cards having the characteristics of the integrated digital cash are left by the contents providers without being activated.

2. Dual structure of settlement systems According to the prepayment card systems proposed up to now, a large number of contents provider servers, which are separated from a settlement server, belong to the settlement server. This structure is necessarily required in order to confirm the settlement states of many and unspecified persons in real time, perform the overall subtractions of the balances, process and store respective information. Accordingly, the prepayment card systems having the dual structure consume excessive equipment investment and maintenance expenses and thus are not economical.

3. Environmental improvement of contents providers Although the prepayment card systems have been developed by investing a large amount of capital as described above, the environments of the contents providers have greatly been improved. That is, the contents provider generally use a system having a settlement function installed thereon for a direct settlement through the contents server of the contents provider without the necessity of a separate external settlement server, and

thus the use of the external settlement server in order to use the prepayment card burdens the contents provider.

4. Technical limits of the existing prepayment cards In the existing prepayment card systems, although the serial number functions as a key for providing a kind of information service, there is no technical development of the way of correlating the serial number with the internal information. Accordingly, it is difficult to secure the stability of the system in the process related to the internal information. Additionally, the internal information related to the serial number should necessarily exist online, and thus it is exposed to danger of hacking any time.

In summary, according to the conventions coupon system, the issued serial number is stored in the DB, and thus may become an object of hacking to cause great damage.

Additionally, in order to strengthen the security, it is general to use a separate client for the coupon settlement along with a separate settlement system, and this causes great inconvenience to the users.

Further, although an encryption process for preventing the random creation of the serial numbers is provided, there is no encryption process for preventing the serial number leakage through Internet.

Moreover, comparison works should always be performed online or offline, and in the case of performing the comparison work online, the serial number may be in danger of leaking out.

Disclosure of the Invention Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a serial number creation and authentication method that can issue and authenticate a card on which the serial number is printed or a coupon, a lottery, etc. (hereinafter referred to as a "coupon") in the form of a printed matter or in an electronic form without any information exchange between an issuer and a provider (hereinafter referred to as a"contents provider") of software, contents or electronic information (hereinafter referred to as "contents").

That is, by making it possible to use one coupon only for one contents provider, the prepayment selling system can operate without comparison of the serial numbers by the coupon issuer and the contents provider. If needed, it is also possible to make a coupon be for specified contents such as a specified game.

For consumers, it is possible to perform an event only by providing cyber cash for a fixed sum as a bonus within a predetermined probability or by recording in the coupon in a premium event for the consumers.

The serial number authentication system according to the present invention, which is used when the user purchases and uses the serial number in a small-sum settlement or Internet settlement, is applied in the process of creating the serial number, discriminating and judging the serial number through the contents provider's system.

According to the conventional system that stores the serial numbers in a DB and compares the serial numbers for authentication has a high possibility of leakage by the network hacking, and may be abused in commerce to cause a financial loss of the traders concerned. By contrast, according to the authentication system using the serial number according to the present invention, an encryption function and a discrimination function of the created serial numbers are dividedly stored in the issuer and the contents provider, and thus the loss occurrence rate is lowered even if either of them leaks.

More specifically, in a state that the issuer has only the serial number creation encryption function and the contents provider has only the discrimination function, the contents provider provides the service only by checking the justification of the serial number of the issued coupon, and then compares the total amount of contents use with the total amount of issuance without the necessity of comparing the serial numbers one by one to complete the transaction. Accordingly, it is not required for the issuer to store the serial number one by one and to compare the stored serial numbers with the user's settled serial numbers. Only the serial numbers to match the encryption condition are produced and provided to the users, and the contents provider can choose the justified serial numbers without the necessity of comparing and confirming the serial numbers one by one in association with the issuer. The above-described features of the present invention will now be explained in more detail.

1. Technology capable of inputting information into a serial number Up to the present, the serial number only serves as an encryption key.

However, according to the present invention, because information required for receiving the contents service is input into the serial number and encrypted in the process of creating the serial number, the serial number includes an identification value of the corresponding information, and thus the serial number itself has many identification capabilities.

Accordingly, it is not required to manage the information with a separate settlement server, and the contents provider is required only to install an authentication module in the contents server without the necessity of installing and maintaining a DB for separately store the serial numbers not in use, so that the installation cost can be reduced.

2. Accurate logic structure in which a serial number, internal information, etc., are correlated According to the present invention, specified information is recorded in the serial number, and this information is transferred to the internal information.

By doing this, an improved technical solution is provided in the field of information exchange systems using the serial number.

3. Prepayment card system corresponding to the surrounding environment of contents providers Recently, a payment gateway server having a direct settlement system mounted thereon is associated with or subordinated to the contents provider server to support diverse settlement systems. According to the conventional prepayment card system, a separate external payment gateway server only for the prepayment card should be provided in spite of the recently improved settlement environment of the contents provider server, and the contents providers should use the external payment gateway server in addition to their own servers to cause a complicated process. By contrast, according to the present invention, the prepayment card system can operate only by inserting a serial number authentication program for discriminating the serial number into the contents provider server, and thus it corresponds to the environment and desire of the contents providers.

4. Information technology capable of expressing information on the outside of a prepayment card Generally, on the cover of the prepayment card, no additional information can be provided except for the amount of card money and advertisement drawings. This is because the serial number of the conventional system only has a relation to the internal information. However, according to the present invention, the prepayment card has an additional function that can support events having the characteristic of a lottery. This is

because the corresponding information can be inserted into the serial number in advance and the information exchange between the serial number and the internal information can be clearly performed.

5. Prepayment card only for individual contents providers According to the present invention, because the contents provider can discriminate the serial number issued offline and can use the information value in association with the general function of the existing payment gateway server, the information exchange with the external contents requested by the external server is not forcibly demanded. Accordingly, the prepayment card can be used only for the contents provider that is the owner of the information. If a mutual integrated operation is wanted by the mutual agreement among the contents providers, the present invention can unify the serial number creation program and the serial number authentication program.

6. Settlement between a contents provider and an issuer According to the present invention, it is not required for the contents provider and the issuer to settle accounts whenever transactions are made as in the conventional prepayment card system. Because the serial number creation and the serial number discrimination are independently performed, it is not required to settle accounts one by one, but the. settlement is performed in a manner that the total amount of issuance and the total amount of discrimination are compared with each other for a predetermined period.

Additionally, although the conventional prepayment card system has a separate balance settlement function, this function is simultaneously provided from a general payment gateway server, and thus it is not necessary to separately settle the balance according to the present invention. This is because if the information is given to the payment gateway server through the serial number, the balance settlement is performed accordingly.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention.

In order to accomplish the above-mentioned objects, an electronic settlement system using a serial number including identification of software, contents or electronic information according to the present invention comprises an issuer server for issuing coupons on which the serial number is printed to a user, and a contents provider server for discriminating whether the serial number is true or not for itself without referring to a DB of the issuer server if the serial number is input from the user of the serial number, and providing the software, contents or electronic information to the user if the serial number is true, wherein the issuer server creates the serial number from at least one significant variable indicating the identification according to a rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server and a key set (xl or yl) of at least one element of a set of solutions of a specified function having, as its coefficients, a plurality of values that include the at least one significant variable according to the rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server, and wherein the contents provider server receives the serial number from the user, discriminates whether the serial number is true or not without receiving the respective serial number from the issuer server by finding the at least one variable included in the serial number according to the rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server and the key set of the at least one element of the set of solutions of the specified function having, as its coefficients, the plurality of values including the at least one variable, and provides the software, contents or electronic information to the user if the identification of the serial number is true.

Preferably ; the issuer server comprises a variable DB for storing the significant variable indicating the identification according to the rule predetermined with the issuer server and the contents provider server, a specified function creation unit for creating the specified function having the plurality of values including the at least one variable as its coefficients according to the rule predetermined with the issuer server and the contents provider server, a serial number creation unit for creating the serial number by arranging and encrypting the at least one significant variable obtained from the variable DB and the key set of the at least one element of the set of solutions of the specified function created from the specified function creation unit, and a serial number issuance unit for printing the serial number created by the serial number creation unit.

More preferably, the issuer server further comprises a sorted serial number DB in which the serial numbers are shaken in addition to a created serial number DB for storing the created serial numbers.

More preferably, the contents provider server comprises a reception module for receiving the serial number input from the user, a contents provider information DB for storing information about the identification of the software, contents or electronic information that become various kinds of variables used to create the serial number, an authentication module for judging whether the serial number received from the reception module is true or not according to the variables stored in the contents provider information DB, and an output module for outputting the corresponding software, contents or electronic information if it is judged that the serial number input by the user is true through the authentication module.

More preferably, the contents provider server further comprises an authenticated serial number DB for storing the serial numbers already used, wherein the authentication module of the content provider server confirms a use/non-use of the serial number by connecting to the authenticated serial number DB, and the serial number creation unit 330 of the issuer server outputs the software, contents or electronic information corresponding to the identifier included in the serial number only if it is confirmed that the serial number is not used.

The issuer server includes the contents provider server and a predetermined character table, and creates the serial number created by the character table as a character string that includes numerals and characters.

The contents provider server also includes the character table, and converts the serial number of the character string into binary data stream by the character table.

The authentication module of the contents provider server includes an authentication unit for authenticating the serial number through a process of disassembling the input serial number, extracting the at least one significant variable and the key set of the at least one element of the set of solutions of the specified function from respective disassembled fragments of the serial number, and checking the serial number by inputting the variable and the key set to the specified function.

More preferably, the authentication module of the contents provider server further comprises a use/non-use confirmation class for confirming the use/non-use of the serial number authenticated by the authentication unit through the authenticated serial number DB and stores the serial number in the authenticated serial number DB so as to inform the output module of the identification extracted from the authentication unit only if the serial number is not used.

The issuer server and the contents provider server may physically be constructed into one server.

In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic settlement method performed by a contents provider server using a serial number including identification of software, contents or electronic information issued by an issuer server, the method comprising the steps of (a) electronically creating the serial number including the identification of the software, contents or electronic information from at least one significant variable indicating the identification according to a rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server and a key set (xl or yl) of at least one element of a set of solutions of a specified function having, as its coefficients, a plurality of values that include the at least one significant variable according to the rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server, (b) discriminating whether the created serial number is issued with reference to a created serial number DB, (c) if the serial number is not issued as a result of discrimination at step (b), electronically issuing the serial number simultaneously with storing of the serial number in the created serial number DB, (d) the contents provider server receiving an input of the issued serial number from a user, (e) discriminating whether the input serial number is true or not for itself without referring to a DB of the issuer server by finding the at least one variable included in the serial number according to the rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server and the key set of the at least one element of the set of solutions of the specified function having, as its coefficients, the plurality of values including the at least one variable, and (f) providing the corresponding software, contents or electronic information to the user, if the serial number is true as a result of judgment at step (e).

Preferably, the step (a) comprises the steps of (al) receiving the at least one significant variable indicating the identification according to the rule predetermined with the issuer server and the contents provider server, (a2) obtaining the specified function having the plurality of values including the at least one variable as its coefficients and its set of solutions according to the rule predetermined with the issuer server and the contents provider server, and (a3) arranging and encrypting the at least one significant variable and the key set of the at least one element of the set of solutions of the specified function obtained at step (a2).

More preferably, the step (a) further comprises the step of (a4) cutting binary data of the encrypted value in fragments of a specified size, and converting values of the

respective fragments into a specified character string by matching the values of the fragments to a character table predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server.

The step (a3) comprises the steps of arranging the at least one significant variable and the key set of the at least one element of the set of solutions of the specified function obtained at step (b) in a reverse order according to the rule predetermined with the issuer server and the contents provider server, and encrypting the arranged data value.

Preferably, the at least one significant variable includes at least a contents identification code including a code of a company that issues coupons having the serial number and a game code, and an effective period code of the software, contents or electronic information allocated to the serial number.

Preferably, the step (e) comprises the steps of (e2) decoding the input serial number, (e3) extracting the variable and the solutions of the specified function from the decoded serial number, (e4) checking whether the extracted variable and the solutions of the specified function satisfy the specified function prescribed between the issuer server and the contents provider server, and (e5) confirming whether the extracted variable includes the identification of the software, contents or electronic information.

More preferably, the step (e) further comprises the step of (el) cutting the input serial number of the character string in characters and reversely converting the respective cut characters into data values of the respective fragments by matching the characters to a character table predetermined between a serial number creation server and an authentication server, and wherein the step (e2) decodes the reversely converted data values.

More preferably, the step (e5) comprises the steps of confirming the contents identification code from the. extracted variable, and confirming the effective period code from the extracted variable.

The issuer server and the contents provider server may physically be constructed into one server.

In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium for recording a program for an electronic settlement performed by a contents provider server using a serial number including identification of software, contents or electronic information issued by an issuer server, the recording medium including processes of (a) electronically creating the serial number including the identification of the software, contents or electronic information from at least one

significant variable indicating the identification according to a rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server and a key set (xl or yl) of at least one element of a set of solutions of a specified function having, as its coefficients, a plurality of values that include the at least one significant variable according to the rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server, (b) discriminating whether the created serial number is issued with reference to a created serial number DB, (c) if the serial number is not issued as a result of discrimination in the process (b), electronically issuing the serial number simultaneously with storing of the serial number in the created serial number DB, (d) receiving an input of the issued serial number from a user, (e) discriminating whether the input serial number is true or not for itself without referring to a DB of the issuer server by finding the at least one variable included in the serial number according to the rule predetermined between the issuer server and the contents provider server and the key set of the at least one element of the set of solutions of the specified function having, as its coefficients, the plurality of values including the at least one variable, and (f) providing the corresponding software, contents or electronic information to the user if the serial number is true as a result of judgment in the process (e).

Brief Description of the Drawings The above objects, other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a view explaining the operation of the conventional electronic settlement system; FIG. 2a is a schematic view illustrating the whole construction of an electronic settlement system using a serial number including identification according to the present invention; FIG. 2b is a view explaining the operation of the system of FIG. 2a; FIGs. 3a to 3c are views illustrating examples of material things on which the serial number is printed according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a view explaining the serial number authentication and contents loading performed by a contents provider server according to the present invention ; FIG. 5 is a view explaining the serial number creation and issuance performed by an issuer server according to the present invention ;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a construction code of a variable DB that is the basis of the issuer server's serial number creation; FIG. 7 is a view explaining an electronic serial number creation method in the issuer server of FIG. 5; FIG. 8 is a view explaining the issuance of a serial number online as illustrated in FIG. 5; FIG. 9 is a view explaining the step of creating a specified function in FIG. 7; FIGs. 10 and 11 are views explaining the step of creating the serial number in FIG.

7; FIG. 12 is a view explaining a serial number authentication method performed by the contents provider server of FIG. 4; FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a detailed time schedule of the serial number authentication method of FIG. 12; and FIG. 14 is a view explaining an authentication procedure of the serial number authentication method of FIG. 12.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Now, an electronic settlement system and method using serial number including identification of software, contents or electronic information, and a computer-readable recording medium for recording a program for performing the method according to preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings.

FIG. 2a is a schematic view illustrating the whole construction of an electronic settlement system using a serial number including identification according to the present invention, and FIG. 2b is a view explaining the operation of the system of FIG. 2a. FIGs.

3a to 3c are views illustrating examples of material things on which the serial number is printed according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGs. 2a and 2b, the electronic settlement system using a serial number including the identification of contents will briefly be explained.

If an issuer server 300 creates a serial number online or offline using a serial number creation program and issues a coupon accordingly, a distributor 1 sells the coupon to a user 2. It is also possible for the issuer server to directly sell the coupon to the user online. If the user who purchased the coupon accesses an authentication module installed in a server 200 of an online contents provider and input the serial number, the contents

provider server discriminates the serial number using a serial number discrimination program and authenticates the serial number. If the serial number is pure, the contents provider server stores the serial number in a used serial number DB, and permits the user to use the contents.

That is, the issuer server stores in advance an inherent ID of the respective contents provider, an effective period or a serial number issuance code in a numerical value table (step Sl), creates the serial number using the serial number creation program through an eigenfunction required to create the serial number (step S2), issues (step S3) and sells the coupon including the serial number to the user (step S4). Then, the user who purchased the coupon accesses the contents providing site and inputs the serial number (step S5). The contents provider server authenticates whether the input serial number is a pure serial number using the serial number discrimination program (step S6). If it is confirmed that the input serial number is a pure serial number, the contents provider server approves the settlement (step S7), provides the contents to the user, and stores the serial number in the serial number storage DB (step S8).

Meanwhile, if a predetermined period elapses, the coupon distributor 300 pays the coupon selling fee to the issuer 300, and then the issuer 300 makes a follow-up settlement by paying the contents use fee to the contents provider 200. That is, the issuer server 300 compares the collected sum with the paid sum, and if the collected sum is smaller than the paid sum, it judges that it is an abnormal settlement, and just confirms the problem by comparing the serial number in the'created serial number DB'of the issuer server to be explained later with the serial number in an authenticated serial number DB'of the contents provider server to be explained later. This means that it is not required to confirm the serial number every time in the serial number creation, authentication and checking procedure. The contents provider also compares the sum collected from the issuer with the sum corresponding to the contents provided to the user, and if the collected sum is smaller than the sum corresponding to the provided contents, it judges that it is an abnormal settlement, and just performs a follow-up confirmation process. Otherwise, it is not required to perform the confirmation process one by one.

FIGs. 3a to 3c are views illustrating examples of material things on which the serial number is printed according to the present invention. A print 100 illustrated in FIG.

3 a includes an A surface 101on which an advertisement and publicity design is printed and a B surface 102 on which a guide for the use time and cyber money corresponding to the primary forms of the contents, a separate event column 105 and a serial number column

106 are printed. The B surface 102 may be covered with an acrylic cover so as to prevent an outsider from seeing it.

Meanwhile, an IC card or a magnetic card illustrated in FIG. 3b includes a part in which the serial number is inscribed, a surface 112 in which an advertisement can be printed and a recognition part 113 for charging. The IC card has no part 111 in which the serial number is inscribed, but the serial number is stored in the IC card.

Meanwhile, FIG. 3c illustrates an example of a lottery 120 to which the serial number is applied. The lottery 120 includes a serial number inscribed on one side thereof, has a function of game coupon for which the par value 122 purchased by the consumer can be used as it is, and provides a separate lottery type event 121, so that the consumer may receive a refund through such additional event.

Now, the serial number issuance and authentication method for implementing the above-described system according to the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIGs. 4 to 14.

First, the serial number creation will be explained with reference to FIGs. 5 to 11.

FIG. 5 is a view explaining the serial number creation and issuance performed by an issuer server according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a construction code of a variable DB that is the basis of the issuer server's serial number creation, and FIG. 7 is a view explaining an electronic serial number creation method in the issuer server of FIG. 5. FIG. 8 is a view explaining the issuance of a serial number online as illustrated in FIG. 5, FIG. 9 is a view explaining the step of creating a specified function in FIG. 7, and FIGs. 10 and 11 are views explaining the step of creating the serial number in FIG. 7. Specifically, FIG. 10 illustrates the serial number creation step including even the first arrangement of the created data, and FIG. 11 illustrates the serial number creation step including the storage step after the creation of the serial number.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the issuer server 300 produces a specified function from an encryption function of the serial number through the specified function creation unit 320 using the variable DB 310 in which various kinds of codes required for the issuance are gathered. The serial number creation unit 330 creates the serial number using a root value (i. e. , key set) of the specified function and the variable, and the serial number issuance unit 380 issues the coupon.

In this case, in the variable DB, a variable code group including a contents provider information code 311, an effective period and area code 312, other special code

313, etc. , is stored in advance according to a rule determined between the issuer and the contents provider.

Referring to FIG. 7, the operation of the issuer server of FIG. 5 will be explained in more detail. By inputting variables of an arrangement or DB 310 to the specified function creation unit 320, the specified function is created (step S320). That is, if the variables of an effective period numerical value (T=50517), a corresponding company code 11, a bonus event code 0 and a par value code 5 are input to the predetermined encryption function 321 (for example, ax+by+cz=T) by a'variable input function'that selects and receives the variables (step S321), the specified function 322 (for example, 1 lx+Sy=50517) is created (step S322). Two pairs of resultant values are obtained from the specified function (step S323). As described above, the specified function means the identification itself that contains information about the contents, and is in the form of a polynomial equation having the variables as its coefficients or constants. It will be apparent that as the number of terms becomes larger, the security is heightened. The specified function is changed according to the company that provides the corresponding contents, the kind or version of the contents (for example, game).

For reference, the effective period numerical value indicates the period in which the serial number can be used, and the corresponding company code is an inherent code that indicates the contents provider that will use the serial number. The bonus and event code is a code that indicates the bonus or event included in the serial number, and the par value code is a code that indicates the cyber money to be obtained by inputting the serial number. However, such variables are just exemplary, and it is also possible to designate specified contents for which the serial number is used such as a game code.

The variable values a, b, c and T and the calculated resultant value (xl, yl) are regularly arranged by a data array processor 332 (step S322), and the arranged binary data 333 is encrypted to data in the unit of bytes through a set internal encryption key 333'and an XOR operation (step S334) in the unit of a bit, For example, the data is converted into a notation form (step S335) and then converted into a character string (336 in FIG. 11) to match a 36-character table (step S336) to complete the creation of the serial number (step S320). The created serial number (337 in FIG. 11) is stored in the created serial number DB 360 (step S360). Finally, the serial number stored in the DB is printed on the coupon such as a card 100,110 or 120 (step S380) to complete the issuance.

The specified function creation step (step S320) will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 9. The variables of the effective period numerical value (T=50517),

the corresponding company code 11, the bonus event code 0 and the par value code 5 are input to the encryption function 321 (for example, ax+by+cz=T) by the'variable input function' (step S321), and the construction of the encryption function itself, the kind of the variables, the detailed numerical values of the variables and the size of the variables are predetermined by an agreement with the corresponding contents provider (which may act as a kind of encryption key). Accordingly, a person who does not know this rule is almost unable to decode the serial number, but the corresponding contents provider can decode and authenticate the serial number even without a real-time communication with the issuer. In FIG. 9, a virtual carry of'400...'is inserted into the variable T. Although the insertion of such a carry may not be performed, the number of elements of a set of solutions is increased through the insertion of the virtual carry.

After the specified function (for example, llx+5y=50517) is created (step S322) and the set of solutions of the specified function is obtained (step S323), a specified root (for example, xl=100000, yl=7790103) of the two pairs of the resultant values (value 1, value 2) is arranged along with the variables as the key set in order to create the serial number.

FIGs. 10 and 11 illustrate the data arrangement function (step S330) of FIG. 7 in more detail. Necessary parts of the effective period numerical value'T', a value'S' <BR> <BR> obtained by operating the corresponding game code, a sum code, an event code, etc. , with a certain variable, and the calculated value 1 (xl) and value 2 (yl) are extracted (step S331) by cutting them in the unit of bytes, and a first arrangement is obtained by arranging the extracted T (T'), the extracted S (S'), the extracted value 1 (xl') and the extracted value 2 (yl') according to a determined rule (step S332). Then, the first arrangement is cut in a determined size such as 4 bytes or 6 to 8 bytes, classified (step S333) and then arranged.

The rule of arrangement is changed according to the corresponding company that provides the contents, the kind or version of the contents. In this case, in order to match the data size, the virtual carry of the value'T'or'S'may be changed or a new virtual carry may be inserted. At the extraction step (step S331), the upper bit of the data is thrown away to match the respective values to three bytes. The calculation of the value'S' is not limited to the above-described operation, but may be performed by a separate operation according to a separate predetermined agreement.

Additionally, the arrangement step (step S332) changes the order of arrangement from the order of'extracted T','extracted S','extracted value 1'and'extracted value 2'

to the order of extracted T', extracted value 2','extracted value 1'and'extracted S'.

This rule of arrangement corresponds to a kind of encryption. The arranged data 332 is secondarily arranged to a data stream in the unit of four bytes (step S333).

Referring to FIG. 11, the rearranged data stream 333 as illustrated in FIG. 10 is encrypted again by a bit-unit XOR operation (step S334) of the data stream 333 and the internal encryption key 333'having the same size and unit. This is to hide the meaning of the data stream during the decompiling performed by an unwanted third party. In particular, the reason why the XOR operation is used is to facilitate the decoding performed by a preferable party such as the contents provider.

Then, the XOR-operated data 334 in the unit of bytes, which may be the serial number as it is, is selectively converted in notation (step S335), and the notation-converted data is converted into characters by a character table 335 (for example, 36-character table) that follows an agreement between the issuer and the contents provider (step S336). The character string 336 is then thirdly arranged in the unit of seven bytes (step S337) (in FIG.

11, the position of the first character string is changed to the position of the last character string) to complete the final serial number 337. The notation conversion and the conversion into the character string may simultaneously be performed.

The completed serial number is input to the directly created serial number DB 36 using an insert query of SQL (step S360), artificially shaken by the issuer to prevent the third party from finding the regularity of the characters (step S370), and then stored in the sorted serial number DB 370.

Meanwhile, FIG. 8 shows an operation for issuing the serial number online.

Referring to FIG. 8, an issuance/non-issuance confirmation class (step S340) that is a function additionally attached when the serial number creation unit 320 is installed in the online server will be explained.

The process of creating the specified function by receiving an input of the variables (step S230) and the process of creating the serial number by the variables and the element (key set) of the set of solutions of the function are performed in the same manner.

The issuance/non-issuance of the created serial number 334 or 337 is confirmed by searching the created serial number DB 360 or the sorted serial number DB 370 through the issuance/non-issuance confirmation class (step S340). If the serial number is issued, i. e. , used, a new serial number is received from the next serial number creation unit, while if the serial number is not used, the number of issuances is counted through an issuance number counting class (step S350) having a counter function, recorded in the counter 352

and then stored in the created serial number DB 360 (step S360) to issue the serial number (step S380). As described above, although the finally stored serial number DB may not be sorted, it is free from danger of hacking to store the latest part of the issued serial numbers in the created serial number DB 360 and to finally store the issued serial numbers in the shaken sorted serial number DB 370 (step S370). The unexplained reference numeral 351 denotes a kind of buffer for data files.

As described above, FIGs. 7 to 11 refer to the serial number creation. Now, the serial number authentication will be explained with reference to FIGs. 4,12 to 14.

FIG. 4 is a view explaining the serial number authentication and contents loading performed by a contents provider server according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a view explaining the serial number authentication method performed by the contents provider server of FIG. 4. FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a detailed time schedule of the serial number authentication method of FIG. 12, and FIG. 14 is a view explaining the authentication procedure of the serial number authentication method of FIG. 12.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a contents providing system and an authentication system mounted thereon are constructed in the contents provider server 200. Specifically, the contents provider server 200 includes an input window 210 for the user's input of the serial number, a reception module 220 for connecting the input window 210 to an authentication module 230, and the authentication module 230 for checking the serial number received through the above-described process with reference to a contents provider information DB 290, confirming many codes 310 included in the serial number and comparing the confirmed codes with those of the serial number stored in the authenticated serial number DB 260 for storing the authenticated serial numbers. If the authentication is completed, the corresponding contents from the contents DB 250 is outputted to a contents loading module 280 through an output module 270.

FIG. 14 illustrates the authentication procedure performed through serial number authentication parts 210 to 260 of FIG. 4 in detail. If the user inputs a serial number to the serial number input window 210 that is a prepared client input form (step S210), the serial number is input again to the authentication module 230 through the reception module 220, and then rearranged.

It is authenticated whether the serial number is true with reference to the contents provider information DB 290, its effective period is confirmed, and then it is confirmed whether the serial number has been used through the use/non-use confirmation class 240.

For example, when the use of the serial number is confirmed, a search may be performed using a select query of SQL, and the result of the use confirmation is returned.

That is, the use/non-use confirmation class 240 confirms the use/non-use of the serial number in a manner that it sends a query about the use/non-use of the serial number to the authenticated serial number DB'260 in which the used serial number are stored (step S241), and then receives a record corresponding to the query returned from the authenticated serial number DB' (step S242).

Then, if the input serial number has a pure value of the corresponding contents provider and has not been used, the use/non-use confirmation class 240 sends an insert query (step S244) to store the input serial number in the authenticated serial number DB 260, and transmits the authentication value to the contents DB 250 to output the corresponding contents to the user.

FIG. 13 illustrates a detailed time schedule of the serial number authentication method and FIG. 14 illustrates the authentication procedure of the serial number authentication method.

Referring to FIGs. 13 and 14, the authentication process (step S230) and the authentication follow-up process (step S240) will be explained in more detail. The authentication module 230 receives the serial number (for example, game code) 337 input through the input window 210 from the reception module 220 (step S231), divides and primarily arranges the serial number in reverse order (step S232), and then reversely converts the reversely arranged data stream (336 in FIG. 11) in the unit of bytes into a data stream 334 according to the agreed character table (for example, 36-character table) 335 (step S233).

In the embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 11, the serial number is converted into the 36-character string in the same order as that of the notation conversion. However, another encryption key may be provided through the change of the order of the characters.

Then, the decoding is performed by XOR-operating the reversely converted data stream 334 in the unit of bytes and the internal encryption key 333', and data stream 333 arranged in the unit of bytes (for example, four bytes) is output. The data stream is secondarily arranged in reverse order by cutting the data stream in the unit of three bytes, and the carry which was deleted during the creation of the serial number is added to the reversely arranged data stream, so that the variable values (i. e. , extracted T, extracted S, valuel = xl and value2 = x2) initially inputted are finally extracted (step S235).

Then, the positions of the respective variable values are recognized by thirdly arranging the variable values in reverse order, and the truth/falsehood of the variables are checked by substituting the value 1 and the value 2 for the specified function (322 of FIG.

7) (for example, llx+5y=40050517) used during the creation of the serial number (step S236).

If it is checked that the values are true, the corresponding company code (a) (for another example, a game code) is confirmed (step S237), and then the effective period numerical value (T) confirmation procedure (step S238) is performed. If all the numerical values are confirmed to be true, the authentication procedure (step S230) of the authentication unit is completed, and the authentication follow-up process is performed (step S240).

For reference, the step S231 is reverse to the step S321 in FIGs. 7 and 9, the step S232 is reverse to the step S337 of FIG. 9. The step S233 is reverse to the steps S336 and S335 in FIG. 10, the step S234 is reverse to the step S334 of FIG. 10, and the step S235 is reverse to the steps S333 to S331. At the step S236, the specified function at the step S332 is used as it is, and the checking is performed through the input of all the extracted values to the specified function. After the checking is performed, the contents identification code such as the effective period numerical value and the corresponding company code (or game code) among the variables in the variable DB 310 in FIG. 7 is confirmed, and through this confirmation, it is judged that the serial number is correct.

Meanwhile, if the checking fails at the step S235, the authentication module transmits an error code to the contents DB 250 (step S236'), and if the game code confirmation fails at the step S237, the authentication module transmits an error code to the contents DB 250 in the same manner (step S237'). If the effective period confirmation fails at the step S238, the authentication module transmits an error code to the contents DB 250 as well (step S238').

Now, the authentication follow-up process (step S240) will be explained in detail with reference to FIGs. 12,13 and 4.

The use/non-use confirmation class 240 in the authentication module 23 transmits a select query for inquiring whether the authenticated serial number has been used to the authenticated serial number DB 260 (step S241). The authenticated serial number DB searches the used serial number, and if the authenticated serial number has been used, it transmits a query response record having a counted value of'1'to the authentication module 230, while if not used, it transmits a query response record having a counted value

of'0'to the authentication module 230 (step S242). The authentication module, which has received the record, transmits the error code to the contents DB 25 to inform the user of the error if the serial number input by the user is the used serial number ('record'=l).

By contrast, if the serial number input by the user is a pure value of the corresponding contents provider and is the non-used pure serial number ('record'=0), the use/non-use confirmation class 240 transmits an insert query (step S244) to the 'authenticated serial number DB'260 to store the input serial number in the DB 260, and transmits information such as the authentication code, used sum, bonus, event, etc. , to the contents DB 250 (step S244') to output the corresponding contents to the user.

If any one of three processes of checking by putting the extracted values (xl, yl) in the specified function 322 (step S236), confirming the game code (step S237) and confirming the effective period (step S238) fails, an error code is transmitted to stop the operation of the authentication module 230 (step S230). Additionally, if the serial number is a used one even if the serial number is pure, the error code is transmitted as well to stop the authentication follow-up process (step S240).

Industrial Applicability As apparent from the above description, according to the serial number creation method according to the present invention, the created and issued serial numbers are not stored in the DB, and thus the financial loss due to the DB leakage can be prevented.

Additionally, because the authentication is smoothly performed without any online exchange between the issuer server and the contents provider server, the delay of settlements due to the network problem between the issuer server and the contents provider server or the serial number leakage by hacking can be prevented. Further, because an intervention of an intermediate settlement server is not required, unnecessary expenses can be saved with the privacy of the contents providers and the trade secrets firmly protected.

Moreover, the serial number creation program can only create the serial numbers through the specified function, and the serial number discrimination program can only discriminate the purity of the serial numbers through the specified function and the specified numerical values stored therein. Accordingly, if the numerical values do not leak even though the both programs leak, the serial number cannot be created to heighten the security.

As described above, the present invention has the following effects in addition to the above-described effects.

First, the user can have a simple small-sum settlement means rather than the existing Internet settlement system that has problems in access.

Second, the contents provider can secure much more pay contents users.

Third, by issuing and selling serial numbers, the issuer can share profits with the affiliated contents providers, and can gain an additional income such as advertisement profits.

The forgoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.