JPH08147228A - Information communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the storage capacity of a device for storing information and to flexibly and easily deal with even a new information format as well by unrelating the preparation, addition and update of information and a procedure required for distributing information by equipment types of terminal equipments. CONSTITUTION: An information transmitter identifies the equipment type of terminal equipment 12 of a communicating party by using a terminal equipment type recognizing part 105. Corresponding to that type, any user interface program is selected from a user interface program storage part 104 and transfers it to the terminal equipment 12. The terminal equipment 12 executes the received user interface program by using a user interface program executing part 111 and performs the presentation of information to the user interface part 112 or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information communication system including an information transmitting device, a network, and one or more types of plural terminal devices.

[0002] For example, in a database system, a data distribution system or the like, it can be used when an information transmitting device transmits and receives information to and from various terminal devices.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a first prior art of this information communication system. In FIG. 8, an information transmission device 801 is connected to an information storage device 802 that stores information, and is used as a center device 8 for video-on-demand, news-on-demand, data search services, and the like.
Configures 0. In the first conventional technique, information is stored in the information storage device 802 in a form integrated with a user interface program for presenting it. Here, this is referred to as user interface program-added information. The information with the user interface program is an execution program in the terminal device 81, and the information transmission device 801 takes this out from the information storage device 802 and transmits it to the terminal device 81 via the network 82. The terminal device 81 executes this, and the information embedded therein is presented on the display of the terminal device 81, or in the case of voice information, by the output of the speaker.

Here, the execution program is each terminal device 8
Depending on one operating system, hardware, etc., what is created for one type of terminal device does not usually work on another type of terminal device. For example, in the case of FIG. 8, three terminal devices 81a to 81c
Are connected to the information transmitting device 801, of which the terminal devices 81a and 81b are the device type A, and the terminal device 8
1c is a device type B. Therefore, the terminal device 81
Although a and 81b can share an execution program, the terminal device 81c needs another execution program. That is,
The information storage device 802 includes information with a user interface program for device type A for each information,
It is necessary to store two types of information with the user interface program for the device type B.

In the example of FIG. 8, "information α with a user interface program for device type A", "information α with a user interface program for device type B" corresponding to two pieces of information α and information β, and Four pieces of “information β with user interface program for device type A” and “information β with user interface program for device type B” are stored in the information storage device 802.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a second conventional technique of the information communication system. Also in the example of FIG. 9, as in the case of FIG.
The center device 90 is configured by being connected to the device 2. The center device 90 is connected with terminal devices 91a to 91c that receive information provided via a network 92.

In the second prior art, the information and the user interface program for presenting the information are separated, and only the information is stored in the information storage device 902. The information stored in the information storage device 902 is shared regardless of the device type of the terminal device 91.
A user interface program suitable for each device type is almost fixedly incorporated in each terminal device 91, and the information transmitting device 901 presents the information extracted from the information storage device 902 and transmitted to the terminal device 91.

In this example, the device types of the terminal devices 91a and 91b are A, and the user interface program 911 for the same device type A is used for each of these terminal devices.
a and 911b are incorporated. On the other hand, the terminal device 91
The device type of c is B, and the user interface program 911c for the device type B is incorporated therein. The format of the information transmitted to the terminal devices 91a to 91c is as follows.
11a to 911c are limited to a processable format. That is, in FIG. 9, when the information α and the information β are described in different formats, the user interface program must be able to process both formats.

[0009]

In the case of the first prior art, when new information is added to the information storage device connected to the information transmission device in order to prepare the information with the user interface program for each device type. In addition, the time and effort required to update information increases in proportion to the number of device types.
Moreover, since the information with the user interface program is an execution program, the file size is generally large, and accumulating such a large file for the number of information times the number of device types imposes a heavy load on the storage capacity of the information storage device. Takes. Further, when distributing the information input to the information transmitting device, it is necessary to provide the information with the user interface program for each device type, so that there is a problem that it takes a lot of time to distribute the information at multiple points.

On the other hand, in the case of the second prior art, the time and effort required to add information to the information storage device, update the information, or to deliver information are independent of the number of device types. Further, since only the information is stored in the information storage device, the burden on the storage capacity is reduced as compared with the first conventional technique. However, the format for describing information is
There is a problem that the information cannot be described in an arbitrary format because the format is limited to the format that the user interface program built into the terminal device can process.

The present invention solves the above problems, makes the time required for information creation, addition, update, and information distribution independent of the device type of the terminal device, and reduces the storage capacity of the device that stores information. In addition, it aims to be able to flexibly and easily cope with new information formats.

[0012]

Therefore, in the invention of claim 1, the terminal device identification and recognition means for identifying the device type of the terminal device, the user interface program storage means for storing the user interface program, and the information for the terminal device. A user interface program selecting means for selecting at least one user interface program that can be presented to the user interface program storing means, and a user interface program transferring means for transmitting the selected user interface program to the terminal device for transmitting information. Prepare for equipment. Further, the terminal device is provided with a user interface program receiving means for receiving the user interface program sent from the information transmitting device and a user interface program executing means for executing the received user interface program. Then, when transmitting the information from the information transmitting device to the terminal device, a user interface program capable of presenting the information to the terminal device is transmitted to the terminal device. Further, the terminal device presents the information from the information transmitting device by the user interface program.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in order to identify the device type of the terminal device, the device type of each terminal device is stored. As the means, a terminal device type storage means is provided in the terminal device identification and recognition means.

According to the invention of claim 3, the terminal device declares the device type of the terminal device. As means for this, a terminal type sending means for declaring the terminal type is added to the terminal device, while a terminal type receiving means for receiving the terminal type declaration from the terminal type sending means is provided for the terminal device identification and recognition means of the information transmitting device. Set up.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the information transmitting device describes a user interface program storing means, a user interface program transferring means, a method interpretable by all terminal devices, and a method for selecting a user interface program according to a predetermined specification. And a user interface program selection script storage means for storing the user interface program selection script, and a user interface program selection script transfer means for transferring the script to the terminal device. Further, the terminal device interprets the user interface program selection script and selects at least one user interface program from the user interface programs in the user interface program storage means, and requests the selected user interface program to the information transmission device. User interface program transfer requesting means, user interface program receiving means for receiving the user interface program sent from the information transmitting device, and executing the received user interface program to present the information from the information transmitting device to the terminal device. And a user interface program executing means for performing the operation.

[0016]

The information described in the same format can share the user interface program.
Therefore, according to the present invention, when information is added to or updated in the information storage device of the information transmission device, if a user interface program capable of processing the format is already present in the user interface program storage means, the user interface program is newly added. There is no need to create and register, and the effort to add or update information is irrelevant to the number of device types of the terminal device. Further, since the information of the same format shares the user interface program, the storage capacity of the user interface program storage means can be reduced. Also in the information distribution, the user interface program for presenting the distribution information to the terminal devices can be shared between the terminal devices.

Further, since the user interface program is sent to the terminal device in accordance with the information, when describing the information in the new format, it is possible to add a new one simply by changing or adding the user interface program stored in the user interface program storage means. It can correspond to the format.

[0018]

【Example】

[Embodiment 1] An embodiment of the invention described in claim 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a database system according to the invention of claim 1. In this database system, the end user uses the terminal device 12 to specify data, which is retrieved from the database 101 of the center device 10 and presented on the display 115, speaker 114, etc. of the terminal device 12. The presentation of data to the terminal device 12 is performed by the user interface program (UIP) transferred from the center device 10.

The end user uses the user interface section 112 of the terminal device 12 to specify the data to be retrieved from the database. User interface unit 112
Has a display 115 and a speaker 114 as output devices, and has a keypad 113 as an input device. If the user specifies the data to retrieve,
Accordingly, the user interface unit 112 transmits the information request signal to the center device 10 via the network 11 via the information request transmission unit 108.

In the center device 10, the information request decoding unit 10
2 decodes the information request signal. The information request decoding unit 102, which has decoded the information request signal, instructs the database 101 to take out the data requested by the terminal device 12. The database 101 stores the data in the information transfer unit 1.
03, the information transfer unit 103 sends the data to the information reception unit 109 via the network 11.

On the other hand, the terminal device type recognition unit 105 identifies the device type of the terminal device 12 which is the data request source, and notifies the user interface program selection unit 106 of the result. The user interface program selection unit 106
An appropriate user interface program is selected from the user interface program storage unit 104 based on the format of the transmission data and the device type of the data request source. The selected user interface program is
Extracted from the user interface program storage unit 104, the user interface program transfer unit 107
Is sent to the terminal device 12 via the network 11.

In the terminal device 12, the user interface program receiving section 110 receives the user interface program and transfers it to the user interface program executing section 111. The user interface program execution unit 111 executes this user interface program and presents the data received by the information reception unit 109 to the user interface unit 112.

In the present embodiment, the center device 1
Although the user interface program storage unit 104 and the user interface program transfer unit 107 are provided in 0, it is of course possible to provide them outside the center device 10 and connect them to the center device 10 via the network 11.

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the invention described in claim 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows an example of a data distribution system according to the invention of claim 1. In this data distribution system, when data is input to the center device 20, the center device 20 selects a user interface program suitable for the terminal device type of the distribution destination and sends it together with the data. On the terminal device 22 side, the received user interface program is used to present the received data to the display and the speaker.

Data to be distributed and the distribution destination are input to the center device 20. The information transfer unit 201 transfers the data to the designated delivery destination via the network 21. On the terminal device 22 side, the information receiving unit 206 receives data. On the other hand, the terminal device type recognition unit 202 identifies the device type of the terminal device 22 of the data distribution destination, and notifies the user interface program selection unit 203 of the result. The user interface program selection unit 203
An appropriate user interface program is selected from the user interface program storage unit 204 based on the format of the transmission data and the device type of the data delivery destination. The selected user interface program is
Extracted from the user interface program storage unit 204, the user interface program transfer unit 205
Is sent to the terminal device 22 via the network 21.

On the other hand, in the terminal device 22, the user interface program receiving section 207 receives the user interface program and transfers it to the user interface program executing section 208. The user interface program execution unit 208 executes the user interface program and presents the data received by the information reception unit 206 to the user interface unit 209.

In this embodiment, the center device 2
Although the user interface program storage unit 204 and the user interface program transfer unit 205 are provided in 0, it is of course possible to provide them outside the center apparatus 20 and connect them to the center apparatus 20 via the network 21.

[Embodiment 3] An embodiment of the invention described in claim 2 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the terminal device type recognition unit in the invention of claim 2. The ID of the terminal device of the information transmission destination is input to the terminal device type recognition unit 30. The device type of each terminal device is stored in the terminal device type memory 302, and the identification control unit 301 acquires the device type corresponding to the input terminal device ID by referring to the terminal device type memory 302. , Which is the output of the terminal device type recognition unit 30.

The terminal device type recognition unit 30 is, for example, the terminal device type recognition unit 1 of the database system of the first embodiment.
05, it can be used as the terminal device type recognition unit 202 of the data distribution system of the second embodiment.

[Embodiment 4] An embodiment of the invention described in claim 3 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 shows an example of a database system according to the invention of claim 3. In this embodiment, the terminal device 12 in the terminal device type recognition unit 105 of the first embodiment is
The device type is identified by the notification information from the terminal device 12, and the terminal device type recognition unit 105 of the first embodiment is detailed. Therefore,
Since the basic structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, only the detailed parts will be described.

When the information request sending unit 108 sends an information request signal to the center device 10, the terminal type sending unit 401
The device type of the terminal device 12 is transmitted to the center device 10.
The terminal type receiving unit 402 receives the device type. In the present invention, since the device type is explicitly sent from the terminal device 12, the terminal device type recognizing unit 105 sends the device type received by the terminal type receiving unit 402 to the user interface program selecting unit 106 as it is. Other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment.

Further, in the case of the data distribution system as shown in the second embodiment, in addition to the center device 20, the terminal type requesting means for inquiring the terminal device type is added, and the terminal type sending means of the terminal device 22 is the terminal type requesting means. If it is configured to be activated by, the same operation can be performed.

[Embodiment 5] An embodiment of the invention described in claim 4 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 shows an example of a database system according to the invention of claim 4. In this database system, similarly to the first embodiment, the end user uses the terminal device 52 to specify data, which is the center device 5.
0 from the database 504 and the terminal device 52
Is displayed on the display and speaker. Terminal device 52
The data is presented to the user by the user interface program transferred from the center device 50. However, the user interface program is
The terminal device 52 selects by the script sent from 0.

The end user uses the user interface section 518 of the terminal device 52 to specify the data to be retrieved from the database. User interface unit 518
Has a display and a speaker as output devices and a keypad as an input device. When the user specifies the data to be retrieved, the user interface unit 518 follows the script request sending unit 5 according to the designated data.
A corresponding script request signal is transmitted to the center device 50 via the network 51 via the network 51. In the center device 50, the script request decoding unit 502 decodes the script request signal. The script request decoding unit 502 which has decoded the script request signal instructs the user interface program selection script storage unit 501 to take out the user interface program selection script.

The user interface program selection script can be interpreted by all types of terminal devices 52, and the data storage locations and the user interface program storage locations for all terminal types are described. The user interface program selection script storage unit 501 sends the specified user interface program selection script to the user interface program selection script transfer unit 503, and the user interface program selection script transfer unit 503 sends the user interface program selection script via the network 51. Is sent to the user interface program selection script receiving unit 511. The received user interface program selection script is sent to the script interpreting unit 512, and the data storage location and the user interface program storage location corresponding to the terminal type of the user are obtained. The data storage location is the information request sending unit 51.
3 is transmitted to the information request decoding unit 505 via the network 51. The information request decoding unit 505 takes out the designated data from the database 504 and sends it to the information receiving unit 515 via the information transfer unit 506.

On the other hand, the storage location of the user interface program is sent to the user interface program request sending section 514, and the center apparatus 50 is requested to send the user interface program. The user interface program request decoding unit 508 retrieves the specified user interface program from the user interface program storage unit 507 and sends it to the user interface program receiving unit 516 via the user interface program transfer unit 509. The user interface program execution unit 517 executes the user interface program received by the user interface program reception unit 516, and the data received by the information reception unit 515 is transferred to the terminal device 52 using the user interface unit 518.
To present.

In this embodiment, the center device 5
0 in the user interface program storage unit 507,
User interface program transfer unit 509, user interface program selection script storage unit 50
1. Although the user interface program selection script transfer unit 503 is provided, it is of course possible to provide these outside the center device 50 and connect them to the center device 50 via the network 51.

[Embodiment 6] A second embodiment of the invention according to claim 4 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 shows an example of a database system according to the invention of claim 4. In this database system, as in the fifth embodiment, the center device 60
The user interface program is selected by the script sent from. However, unlike the fifth embodiment, the storage location of data is not described in this script, and only the storage location of the user interface program for each terminal type is described.

The end user uses the user interface section 616 of the terminal device 62 to specify the data to be retrieved from the database 601. The user interface unit 616 has a display and a speaker as output devices and a keypad as an input device. When the user designates the data to be retrieved, the user interface unit 616 accordingly transmits an information request signal to the center device 60 via the network 61 via the information request transmission unit 609. In the center device 60,
The information request decoding unit 602 decodes the information request signal. The information request decoding unit 602, which has decoded the information request signal, instructs the database 601 to retrieve the data. The database 601 sends the requested data to the information receiving unit 613 of the terminal device 62 via the information transfer unit 603.

On the other hand, the information request decoding unit 602 retrieves the user interface program selection script corresponding to the data from the user interface program selection script storage unit 604, and transfers the user interface program selection script via the user interface program selection script transfer unit 605. It is sent to the receiving unit 610. The information request decoding unit 602 has an internal memory so that the user interface program selection script corresponding to the data can be uniquely determined. Also, the user interface program selection script can be interpreted by all types of terminal devices 62, and the storage locations of the user interface programs for all terminal types are described.

In the terminal device 62, the received user interface program selection script is sent to the script interpreting unit 611 to obtain the storage location of the user interface program corresponding to its own terminal type. The storage location of the user interface program is sent to the user interface program request sending unit 612 to request the center apparatus 60 for the user interface program. User interface program request decoding unit 607
Retrieves the specified user interface program from the user interface program storage unit 606 and sends it to the user interface program receiving unit 614 via the user interface program transfer unit 608. The user interface program execution unit 615
The user interface program receiving unit 614 executes the user interface program received, and the data received by the information receiving unit 613 is presented to the terminal device 62 using the user interface unit 616.

In the present embodiment, the center device 6
0 in the user interface program storage unit 606
User interface program transfer unit 608, user interface program selection script storage unit 60
4. Although the user interface program selection script transfer unit 605 is provided, it is of course possible to provide these outside the center device 60 and connect them to the center device 60 via the network 61.

[Embodiment 7] A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 shows an example of a data delivery system according to the invention of claim 4.

Data to be distributed and the distribution destination are input to the center device 70. The information transfer unit 701 transfers the data to the designated distribution destination via the network 71. On the side of the terminal device 72, the information receiving unit 711 receives the data.

On the other hand, the script selection unit 702 selects a user interface program selection script corresponding to the transmission data from the user interface program selection script storage unit 703, and the user of the terminal device 72 via the user interface program selection script transfer unit 704. It is sent to the interface program selection script receiving unit 708. Similar to the sixth embodiment, the user interface program selection script can be interpreted by the terminal devices 72 of all types, and the storage location of the user interface program for each terminal type is described.

The script interpretation unit 709 interprets the user interface program selection script received by the user interface program selection script reception unit 708 and obtains the storage location of the user interface program corresponding to its own terminal type. The storage location of the user interface program is sent to the user interface program request sending unit 710 to request the center apparatus 70 for the user interface program.

The user interface program request decoding unit 705 retrieves the specified user interface program from the user interface program storage unit 706, and the user interface program transfer unit 70.
User interface program receiver 71 via
Send to 2. User interface program execution unit 71
3 executes the user interface program received by the user interface program receiving unit 712,
The data received by the information receiving unit 711 is presented to the terminal device 72 using the user interface unit 714.

In this embodiment, the center device 7
0 in the user interface program storage unit 706.
User interface program transfer unit 707, user interface program selection script storage unit 70
3. Although the user interface program selection script transfer unit 704 is provided, it is of course possible to provide these outside the center device 70 and connect them to the center device 70 via the network 71.

As described above, in the first to seventh embodiments, the user interface program is always transferred when the information is transferred from the information transmitting device to the terminal device. However, the terminal device has already executed the user interface program. It is of course possible to omit the transfer of the user interface program when it is held. Further, in the first to seventh embodiments, the information transmitted from the information transmitting device to the terminal device can be arbitrary data such as character data, numerical data, image data, voice data, and multimedia data. A plurality of information transmitting devices may be connected to the network, and different information transmitting devices may be in charge of transmitting the information and transmitting the user interface program.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The trouble of creating, adding, and updating information is irrelevant to the number of device types of the terminal device, and the burden on the information provider can be reduced. Further, since the information of the same format shares the user interface program, the capacity of the storage means of the information transmitting device can be reduced.

Further, the information expressed in the new information format can be presented to the terminal device only by changing or adding the user interface program stored in the user interface program storage means of the information transmitting device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the invention of claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the invention of claim 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the invention of claim 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the invention of claim 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the invention of claim 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the invention of claim 4;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a third embodiment of the invention of claim 4;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a first conventional technique.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a second conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Center Device 11 Network 12 Terminal Device 101 Database 102 Information Request Decoding Unit 103 Information Transfer Unit 104 User Interface Program Storage Unit 105 Terminal Device Type Recognition Unit 106 User Interface Program Selection Unit 107 User Interface Program Transfer Unit 108 Information Request Sending Unit 109 Information Reception unit 110 User interface program reception unit 111 User interface program execution unit 112 User interface unit 113 Keypad 114 Speaker 115 Display

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An information communication system comprising one or a plurality of information transmitting devices, a network, and a plurality of one or more types of terminal devices, wherein the information transmitting device identifies a terminal device type of a communication partner. At least one user interface program is selected from the device type recognition means, the user interface program storage means for storing the user interface program, and the user interface program stored in the user interface program storage means according to the terminal device type. User interface program selecting means and user interface program transferring means for transferring the selected user interface program to a terminal device of a communication partner, wherein the terminal device receives the user interface program sent from the information transmitting device. An information communication system comprising: a user interface program receiving means for receiving a face program; and a user interface program executing means for executing the received user interface program. 2. The information communication system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device type recognition means has a terminal device type storage means for storing the device type of each terminal device. 3. The terminal device type recognizing unit has a terminal type receiving unit that receives the device type of the terminal device, and the terminal device transmits the device type of its own terminal device to the information communication device. The information communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a sending unit. 4. An information communication system comprising one or a plurality of information transmitting devices, a network, and one or more types of a plurality of terminal devices, wherein the information transmitting device stores a user interface program. A means for storing a user interface program selection script that can be interpreted by all terminal devices, a means for transferring the user interface program selection script, and a user interface program requested by the terminal device for the request source terminal device. And a user interface program transfer means for converting the received user interface program selection script into a user interface program stored in the user interface program storage means. Means for selecting at least one user interface program, user interface program transfer requesting means for requesting the selected user interface program to the information transmitting apparatus, and means for receiving the user interface program sent from the information transmitting apparatus An information communication system comprising: a user interface program executing means for executing the received user interface program.