JP4272101B2 - Communication method and communication system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a communication device such as a telephone terminal or portable telephone terminal (communication device), in particular, to a communication method and a communication system in a communication system having input event management that can be operated multiple applications.

  Conventionally, in a communication device (communication device) such as a telephone terminal or a mobile phone terminal, when multiple applications are operated simultaneously, the application is switched using function keys or the like to display display information of the corresponding application, or to the application. Key input information has been transmitted (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Conventionally, in a personal computer (personal computer), when a plurality of applications are moved simultaneously, an application operated with a mouse or the like is selected, and key input information is transmitted to the application.
JP 7-245663 A

  In such a conventional communication device (communication equipment), when an input from an input device such as a key is to be performed for a certain application, the target application must be activated with a function key or the like. The operability was bad.

  Further, even in the case of a conventional personal computer, there is a trouble that an input must be performed after a target application is activated in advance with a mouse or the like.

Accordingly, the present invention, even when you are running multiple applications simultaneously, without extra operations, a communication method and communication system in a communication system having a can be Ru input event management to perform input to an application object The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an application management unit,
A distribution rule storage unit that stores an input event from an input device for each state of a plurality of applications, and stores a distribution rule that is set for each input event;
An event management department;
An input device manager,
A communication device having
An event conversion rule that is connected to the communication device via a network and associates an input that cannot be interpreted by the event management unit or application of the communication device, such as ID information, with an interpretable input event or input event group. An event conversion rule storage unit for storing
When an input is received from the communication device, a communication system configured by an event conversion server having an event conversion unit that converts the input based on the event conversion rule and transmits the converted input event to the communication device is executed. A communication method for
A first procedure in which the application management unit receives a change in the state of the plurality of installed applications and changes and manages the state of the application;
A second procedure in which the input device management unit receives an event in a state where an operation state of the application is managed;
A third procedure for determining whether the input device manager can convert the event received in the second procedure into an input event interpretable by the event manager;
A fourth procedure for converting the input device into an input event and notifying the event management unit if the input device management unit determines that the conversion is possible in the third procedure;
When the event management unit receives an input event, a fifth procedure for inquiring of the status of the running application to the application management unit;
A sixth procedure in which the application management unit refers to the status of the application managed by the first procedure and notifies the event management unit of the status of the active application that is inquired by the fifth procedure;
When the event management unit receives the status of the running application according to the sixth procedure, a seventh procedure for inquiring the sorting rule of the running application to the sorting rule storage unit;
An eighth procedure in which the distribution rule storage unit notifies the event management unit of the distribution rule;
When the event management unit receives a distribution rule according to the eighth procedure, it determines whether or not an input event notified according to the distribution rule can be accepted, selects an acceptable application, and inputs an input event to the selected application. 9th procedure to send,
A tenth procedure for making an inquiry to the event conversion unit when the input device management unit is unable to convert in the third procedure;
When the event conversion unit receives the event inquired in the tenth procedure, an eleventh procedure inquiring the event conversion rule storage unit;
A twelfth procedure for notifying the event conversion unit of an event conversion rule when the event conversion rule storage unit receives an inquiry according to the eleventh procedure;
A thirteenth procedure in which the event conversion unit converts the event into a corresponding input event in accordance with the event conversion rule notified in the twelfth procedure;
A fourteenth procedure in which the event conversion unit transmits the input event converted in the thirteenth procedure to the event management unit;
When the event management unit receives an input event according to the fourteenth procedure, the communication method is characterized by executing the fifth to ninth procedures.

Alternatively, if the event conversion unit queries the distribution rule storage unit provided in the event conversion server for the distribution rule of the input event converted in the thirteenth procedure and is notified of the distribution rule, the input after conversion A fifteenth procedure for transmitting an event and an input event distribution rule to the event management unit;
A sixteenth procedure in which the event management unit transmits the distribution rule to a distribution rule storage unit provided in the event conversion server after receiving the distribution rule in the fifteenth procedure;
In the communication method, the distribution rule storage unit provided in the event conversion server executes the fifth to ninth procedures after registering the distribution rule according to the sixteenth procedure.

Alternatively, with the application manager
A distribution rule storage unit that stores an input event from an input device for each state of a plurality of applications, and stores a distribution rule that is set for each input event;
An event management department;
An input device manager,
A communication device having
An event conversion rule that is connected to the communication device via a network and associates an input that cannot be interpreted by the event management unit or application of the communication device, such as ID information, with an interpretable input event or input event group. An event conversion rule storage unit for storing;
When receiving an input from the communication device, an event conversion unit that converts the input based on the event conversion rule and transmits the converted input event to the communication device;
A communication system comprising an event conversion server having
Receives a change in the status of the plurality of installed applications, changes and manages the status of the corresponding application, and notifies the event management unit of the status of the running application when receiving an inquiry from the event management unit An application manager,
If an event is received in a state where the operation state of the application is managed by the application management unit, it is determined whether the event can be converted into an input event that can be interpreted by the event management unit. The input device management unit that converts to an interpretable input event and notifies the event management unit, and makes an inquiry to the event conversion unit when conversion is impossible,
When an input event is received from the input device management unit, the application management unit is inquired about the status of the active application, and when the status of the active application is received, the distribution rule storage unit is inquired about the distribution rule of the active application. The event management unit that receives a distribution rule from the distribution rule storage unit, determines whether the input event notified according to the distribution rule is acceptable, selects an acceptable application, and transmits the input event to the selected application When,
When receiving an inquiry from the event management unit, the distribution rule accumulating unit that notifies the event management unit of the distribution rule;
Upon receiving an inquiry event from the input device management unit, the event conversion rule storage unit is inquired, and the event is converted into a corresponding input event according to the event conversion rule notified from the event conversion rule storage unit The event conversion unit to be transmitted to the event management unit;
When there is an inquiry from the event conversion unit, the event conversion rule storage unit that notifies the event conversion rule of the event conversion rule,
It is a communication system characterized by comprising.

Alternatively, an event conversion that is connected to the communication device via a network and associates an input that cannot be interpreted by the event management unit or application of the communication device, such as ID information, with an interpretable input event or input event group. An event conversion rule storage unit for storing rules;
A distribution rule storage unit provided in the event conversion server for storing the distribution rule of the converted input event;
A communication system comprising an event conversion server having an event conversion unit that receives an input from the communication device, converts the input based on the event conversion rule, and transmits the converted input event to the communication device. And
If the distribution rule of the input event converted by the event conversion unit is inquired of the distribution rule storage unit of the event conversion server and the distribution rule is notified, the input event after conversion and the distribution rule of the input event are The event conversion unit to be transmitted to the event management unit;
After receiving the distribution rule from the event conversion unit, the event management unit that transmits the distribution rule to a distribution rule storage unit included in the communication device ;
The communication system includes a distribution rule storage unit included in the communication device that is registered when the distribution rule is received from the event management unit.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a distribution rule that sets for each input event whether or not to accept an input event from the input device is registered for each state of a plurality of applications. Based on the distribution rule corresponding to the application state, the generated input event is sent to the application that can accept it, so even when multiple applications are running at the same time, there is no need to activate the target application. Input can be made to other applications.

  In addition, by acquiring the input event distribution rules via the network, the application distribution rules can be described by the service provider and reflected when the service is used by the user. Is possible. It is also possible to cope with a new application added to the terminal.

  If the input from the input device cannot be interpreted uniquely, such as ID information, the distribution rule is applied by sending the input to the event conversion server and converting it to an interpretable event. It is also possible to do.

  In addition, the event conversion server sends the converted event together with its distribution rule, so that even if the converted input event cannot be distributed with the distribution rule set in the communication device, it is received from the event conversion server. Based on the distribution rule, events can be distributed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 are block configuration diagrams showing a communication device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the communication apparatus (hereinafter referred to as communication device) of the first embodiment can be used with an input device group 11 including input devices such as a key device, an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) reader, a proximity sensor, and a handset. Input device management unit 12 that holds hardware information of various input devices, converts an input from the input device into an input event that can be interpreted by an event management unit 13 to be described later, and reads an event distribution rule of each application The distribution of input events to the application and the event management unit 13 that requests the application management unit (application management unit) 15 (to be described later) to start and stop the application according to the input event, and the distribution of event distribution rules for each application Rule storage unit 1 And an application embedding unit 15 for starting and stopping the application according to a request from the event management unit 13 and grasping the state of each application, and a plurality of applications 16 (application A 16a for providing a predetermined function on the communication device) Application C16c).

  In such a communication device, the distribution rule storage unit 14 stores a management table as shown in FIG. 2, and the event management unit 13 distributes input events to applications according to the contents of the management table. ing.

  The “row” of this management table is divided according to the state of the installed application, and the “column” is divided according to the input event input from the input device group 11 and is determined by the application state and the input event. In the column, whether or not the input event is accepted in that state is indicated by a circle mark and a cross mark.

  A method of assigning input events to applications using such a management table will be described with reference to the sequence of FIG.

  First, each of the applications A16a to C16c has a defined state, and notifies the application management unit 15 of a change in the state at the time of activation and termination or when the state changes (S11).

  Upon receiving notification of a change in state from the application A 16a, the application management unit 15 changes the state of the corresponding application being managed to the notified state (S12).

  When an event is received from one of the input device groups 11 with the operation state of each application managed in this way (S13), the input device management unit 12 converts the received event into an input event. (S14), the event management unit 13 is notified (S15).

  When receiving the input event, the event management unit 13 inquires of the application management unit 15 about the status of each active application (S16). The application embedding unit 15 refers to the status of each managed application, collects the status of the running application, associates the information for identifying each running application with the status of the application, and manages the event management unit 13. (S17).

  When the event management unit 13 receives the information on the status of the running application, the event management unit 13 inquires the sorting rule for the running application to the sorting rule storage unit 14 (S18).

  The distribution rule storage unit 14 notifies the event management unit 13 of a management table as shown in FIG. 2 of the application designated by the event management unit 13 (S19).

  When receiving the distribution rule for each application, the event management unit 13 refers to the “row” of the management table shown in FIG. 2 corresponding to the state of each application of the distribution rule, and determines whether the notified input event can be received. Then, an acceptable application is selected (S20).

  If there is no application that can be accepted, the input event is discarded.

  In addition, when a plurality of applications can be accepted, an application may be selected according to a preset priority, or all acceptable applications may be selected.

  Then, the event management unit 13 transmits an input event to the selected application A 16a (S21). Then, the application A 16a performs processing corresponding to the received input event. For example, in a video phone or a mobile phone, when an input event occurs, the active application managed by the application management unit 15 is a browser and a video phone application, the browser is in a browsing state, and the video phone application is in a call state If it is.

  In this case, the distribution rule stored in the distribution rule storage unit 14 is set to accept only a double-sided scroll key (a key for moving the screen display up, down, left, and right) when the browser is being browsed. If it is set to accept only the numeric key, “#” key, and “*” key in the telephone application call state, the event embedding unit 13 determines that the input event is an event from the screen scroll key. The event is sent to the browser, and if the input event is an event from the numeric key, “#” key, and “*” key, the event is sent to the videophone application.

  For this reason, when a browser and a videophone application are running on a videophone or mobile phone, when the browser is in the browsing state and the videophone application is in a call state, operating the screen scroll key will scroll the browser screen. When the numeric key, “#” key, or “*” key is pressed, the videophone application transmits a DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) signal corresponding to the call destination.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, whether or not an input event can be accepted is registered as a distribution rule for each operation state of the application, and the input event generated by the distribution rule corresponding to the state of the application when the input event occurs. Therefore, even when a plurality of applications are operating simultaneously, input to the target application can be performed without an operation for activating the target application.

  In the first embodiment, when an input event can be accepted by a plurality of applications in the distribution rule, an application that sends an input event is determined according to a preset priority. An input event may be sent preferentially to an active application.

  It is also conceivable to acquire the distribution rules stored in the distribution rule storage unit 14 from the outside via a network. As a result, the service distribution rule can be described by the service provider, and the distribution rule can be reflected when the user uses the service. Furthermore, it is possible to cope with a new application added to the terminal.

  FIGS. 4 and 5 are a block diagram and a sequence explanatory diagram of a communication system showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the second embodiment, the communication device 1 shown in the first embodiment and the communication device 1 are connected via a network, and the event management unit of the communication device 1 includes ID information and the like. 13 or an event conversion rule storage unit 21 that stores an event conversion rule that associates an input that cannot be interpreted by an application with an input event or group of input events that can be interpreted, and when an input is received from the communication device 1, It is comprised from the event conversion server 2 provided with the input event conversion part 22 which converts this input based on this and transmits the converted input event to this communication apparatus 1. FIG.

  A method of assigning input events to applications according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence explanatory diagram shown in FIG. Similar to the first embodiment, the application management unit (application management unit) 15 manages the state of the application 16 by the procedures of S11 and S12.

  When the operation state of each application is managed in this way and an input is received from one of the input device groups 11 (S13a), the input device management unit 12 converts the received input into the event management unit 13 It is determined whether or not the input event can be interpreted (S14a).

  If conversion is possible in S14a, the procedure of S14 to S21 of FIG. 3 shown in the first embodiment is executed.

  If the conversion is not possible in S14a, the input device management unit 12 makes an inquiry to the event conversion unit 22 of the event conversion server 2 (S15a).

  When receiving the input, the event conversion unit 22 of the event conversion server 2 reads the event conversion rule (S16a to S17a), and converts the input into a corresponding input event (S18a).

  The event conversion unit 22 transmits the input event after conversion to the event management unit 13 (S19a).

  When the event management unit 13 receives an input event from the event conversion unit 22, each processing unit of the communication device executes the procedure of S16 to S21 in FIG. 3 as in the first embodiment.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, in addition to the effect of the first embodiment, even when the input from the input device cannot be uniquely interpreted by the event management unit 13 such as ID information, the event conversion server 2 It is possible to apply a distribution rule by converting the input event into an interpretable event. For example, in a terminal having an RFID reading unit as an input device group, the input device embedding unit 12 receives an ID, which is random numerical information, from the RFID reading unit.

  In the event conversion rule of the second embodiment, an input from an input device may be associated with a plurality of input events. For example, by assigning two events, “telephone number character string” event and “calling” event, to one ID information, it is possible to call a desired partner by reading only one ID information. It is possible to multiply.

  Further, not only the distribution rule but also the event conversion rule may be described by the service provider. For example, it is possible to make a description in which an event “character string of URL information of a service to be provided” and an event “connection” are associated with a certain input.

  6 and 7 are a block diagram and sequence explanatory diagram of a communication system showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, the event conversion server 2 constituting the above-described second embodiment includes a distribution rule storage unit 23 in addition to the block configuration diagram shown in FIG. A method of assigning input events to applications according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to a sequence explanatory diagram shown in FIG.

  Similar to the first and second embodiments, the application management unit 15 manages the state of the application 16 according to the procedures of S11 and S12.

  As in the second embodiment, the event is converted into an input event that can be interpreted by the event management unit 13 by the procedures of S13a to S18a. The event conversion unit 22 reads the converted input event distribution rule from the distribution rule storage unit 14 (S19b to S20b).

  The event conversion unit 22 transmits the input event after conversion and the distribution rule for the input event to the event management unit 13 (S21b).

  The event management unit 13 registers the distribution rule received in S21b in the distribution rule storage unit 14 (S22b).

  Each processing unit of the communication device 1 executes the procedures of S16 to S21 of FIG. 3 after the processing of S22b, similarly to the first and second embodiments.

  As described above, in the third embodiment, in addition to the effect of the second embodiment, the input event converted by the event conversion server 2 and the event distribution rule are converted and transmitted together. Even when the input event cannot be distributed by the distribution rule set in the communication device 1, the event can be distributed based on the distribution rule received from the event conversion server 2.

The block block diagram which shows the communication apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the management table of the event distribution rule. FIG. 5 is a sequence explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the first embodiment. The block block diagram which shows the communication system in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing explaining the operation | movement of 2nd Embodiment. The block block diagram which shows the communication system in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing explaining the operation of the third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication apparatus 2 ... Event conversion server 11 ... Input device group 12 ... Input device management part 13 ... Event management part 14, 23 ... Distribution rule storage part 15 ... Application management part 16 ... Application 16a-16c ... Application AC
21 ... Event conversion rule storage unit 22 ... Event conversion unit

Claims (4)

An application manager,
A distribution rule storage unit that stores an input event from an input device for each state of a plurality of applications, and stores a distribution rule that is set for each input event;
An event management department;
An input device manager,
A communication device having
An event conversion rule that is connected to the communication device via a network and associates an input that cannot be interpreted by the event management unit or application of the communication device, such as ID information, with an interpretable input event or input event group. An event conversion rule storage unit for storing
When an input is received from the communication device, a communication system configured by an event conversion server having an event conversion unit that converts the input based on the event conversion rule and transmits the converted input event to the communication device is executed. A communication method for
A first procedure in which the application management unit receives a change in the state of the plurality of installed applications and changes and manages the state of the application;
A second procedure in which the input device management unit receives an event in a state where an operation state of the application is managed;
A third procedure for determining whether the input device manager can convert the event received in the second procedure into an input event interpretable by the event manager;
A fourth procedure for converting the input device into an input event and notifying the event management unit if the input device management unit determines that the conversion is possible in the third procedure;
When the event management unit receives an input event, a fifth procedure for inquiring of the status of the running application to the application management unit;
A sixth procedure in which the application management unit refers to the status of the application managed by the first procedure and notifies the event management unit of the status of the active application that is inquired by the fifth procedure;
When the event management unit receives the status of the running application according to the sixth procedure, a seventh procedure for inquiring the sorting rule of the running application to the sorting rule storage unit;
An eighth procedure in which the distribution rule storage unit notifies the event management unit of the distribution rule;
When the event management unit receives a distribution rule according to the eighth procedure, it determines whether or not an input event notified according to the distribution rule can be accepted, selects an acceptable application, and inputs an input event to the selected application. 9th procedure to send,
A tenth procedure for making an inquiry to the event conversion unit when the input device management unit is unable to convert in the third procedure;
When the event conversion unit receives the event inquired in the tenth procedure, an eleventh procedure inquiring the event conversion rule storage unit;
A twelfth procedure for notifying the event conversion unit of an event conversion rule when the event conversion rule storage unit receives an inquiry according to the eleventh procedure;
A thirteenth procedure in which the event conversion unit converts the event into a corresponding input event in accordance with the event conversion rule notified in the twelfth procedure;
A fourteenth procedure in which the event conversion unit transmits the input event converted in the thirteenth procedure to the event management unit;
When the event management unit receives an input event according to the fourteenth procedure, the communication method is characterized by executing the fifth to ninth procedures. The communication method according to claim 1,
If the event conversion unit queries the distribution rule storage unit provided in the event conversion server for the distribution rule of the input event converted in the thirteenth procedure and is notified of the distribution rule, , A fifteenth procedure for transmitting an input event distribution rule to the event management unit;
A sixteenth procedure in which the event management unit transmits the distribution rule to a distribution rule storage unit provided in the event conversion server after receiving the distribution rule in the fifteenth procedure;
A communication method, wherein a distribution rule storage unit provided in the event conversion server executes the fifth to ninth procedures after registering the distribution rule according to the sixteenth procedure. An application manager,
A distribution rule storage unit that stores an input event from an input device for each state of a plurality of applications, and stores a distribution rule that is set for each input event;
An event management department;
An input device manager,
A communication device having
An event conversion rule that is connected to the communication device via a network and associates an input that cannot be interpreted by the event management unit or application of the communication device, such as ID information, with an interpretable input event or input event group. An event conversion rule storage unit for storing;
When receiving an input from the communication device, an event conversion unit that converts the input based on the event conversion rule and transmits the converted input event to the communication device;
A communication system comprising an event conversion server having
Receives a change in the status of the plurality of installed applications, changes and manages the status of the corresponding application, and notifies the event management unit of the status of the running application when receiving an inquiry from the event management unit An application manager,
If an event is received in a state where the operation state of the application is managed by the application management unit, it is determined whether the event can be converted into an input event that can be interpreted by the event management unit. The input device management unit that converts to an interpretable input event and notifies the event management unit, and makes an inquiry to the event conversion unit when conversion is impossible,
When an input event is received from the input device management unit, the application management unit is inquired about the status of the active application, and when the status of the active application is received, the distribution rule storage unit is inquired about the distribution rule of the active application. The event management unit that receives a distribution rule from the distribution rule storage unit, determines whether the input event notified according to the distribution rule is acceptable, selects an acceptable application, and transmits the input event to the selected application When,
When receiving an inquiry from the event management unit, the distribution rule accumulating unit that notifies the event management unit of the distribution rule;
Upon receiving an inquiry event from the input device management unit, the event conversion rule storage unit is inquired, and the event is converted into a corresponding input event according to the event conversion rule notified from the event conversion rule storage unit The event conversion unit to be transmitted to the event management unit;
When there is an inquiry from the event conversion unit, the event conversion rule storage unit that notifies the event conversion rule of the event conversion rule,
A communication system comprising: The communication system according to claim 3,
An event conversion rule that is connected to the communication device via a network and associates an input that cannot be interpreted by the event management unit or application of the communication device, such as ID information, with an interpretable input event or input event group. An event conversion rule storage unit for storing;
A distribution rule storage unit provided in the event conversion server for storing the distribution rule of the converted input event;
A communication system comprising an event conversion server having an event conversion unit that receives an input from the communication device, converts the input based on the event conversion rule, and transmits the converted input event to the communication device. And
If the distribution rule of the input event converted by the event conversion unit is inquired of the distribution rule storage unit of the event conversion server and the distribution rule is notified, the input event after conversion and the distribution rule of the input event are The event conversion unit to be transmitted to the event management unit;
After receiving the distribution rule from the event conversion unit, the event management unit that transmits the distribution rule to a distribution rule storage unit included in the communication device ;
A communication system, comprising: a distribution rule storage unit included in the communication device that registers when receiving the distribution rule from the event management unit.

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