HK1237103B - Information processing system and method, and information processing device and method - Google Patents

Description

Information processing system and method, and information processing device and method

Technical Field

The present technology relates to an information processing system and method, and an information processing device and method, and more particularly to an information processing system and method for realizing a system capable of improving efficiency while reducing load concentration.

Background Art

Various types of information processing systems are currently used in transportation facilities such as railways. For example, there is a fare adjustment system that manages user entry and exit at automatic ticket gates and adjusts fares by using integrated circuit (IC) cards registered with commuter ticket data, electronic money, etc. There is also a congestion information collection and distribution system that manages user entry and exit and identifies and utilizes user flows, congestion levels, etc. (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Citation List

Patent Literature

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-213697

Summary of the Invention

Technical issues

Yet, according to above-mentioned conventional fare adjustment system, carry out the many processings relevant with station entrance/exit management and fare adjustment at each automatic ticket gate.In this case, owing to processing excessive dispersion, system efficiency may reduce.

Generally, when processing is performed by a smaller number of devices (such as servers), system efficiency improves. To improve the efficiency of the above-mentioned ticket fare system, it is similarly preferable that processing such as entry/exit management and fare adjustment is performed by the server associated with each automatic ticket gate. For example, various processing such as prediction and aggregation of user transfers is performed by the analysis server in the congestion information collection and distribution system described in Patent Document 1. As a result, the efficiency of this system is improved.

However, typical fare adjustment systems for transportation facilities are often extremely large-scale systems. In these cases, the amount of data and processing required becomes extremely large, resulting in a highly complex process. Therefore, in practice, it is difficult for a single server to perform all of this processing, considering the processing load and communication traffic.

This technology is proposed under the above circumstances and aims to improve system efficiency while reducing load concentration.

Technical Solution

One aspect of the present technology relates to an information processing system, comprising: one or more central servers, each of which is assigned one or more regional servers; a plurality of regional servers, each belonging to one or more of the central servers, each of which is assigned one or more gate controllers that are different from one another; and a plurality of gate controllers, each belonging to a corresponding regional server and communicating with a storage device. Each central server includes a management unit that manages user data based on identification data, the user data being data about a user. Each regional server includes a user data acquisition unit that acquires user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on predicted data corresponding to the identification data; a first identification data acquisition unit that acquires identification data from the gate controller assigned to the corresponding regional server; and a user data processing unit that processes user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the first identification data acquisition unit and acquired by the user data acquisition unit. Each gate controller includes: a second identification data acquiring unit that acquires identification data from a storage device storing identification data; and an identification data providing unit that provides the identification data acquired by the second identification data acquiring unit to a regional server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs.

One aspect of the present technology also relates to an information processing method for an information processing system, the information processing system comprising: one or more central servers, each of which is assigned one or more regional servers; a plurality of regional servers, each of which belongs to one or more of the central servers, and each of which has one or more gate controllers assigned to it; and a plurality of gate controllers, each of which belongs to a corresponding regional server and communicates with a storage device. Each central server manages user data based on identification data, the user data being data about a user. Each regional server obtains user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on predicted data corresponding to the identification data, obtains the identification data from the gate controller assigned to the corresponding regional server, and processes the obtained user data corresponding to the obtained identification data. Each gate controller obtains identification data from a storage device storing the identification data and provides the obtained identification data to the regional server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs.

Another aspect of the present technology relates to an information processing device that belongs to one or more central servers and is assigned to one or more gate controllers. The information processing device includes: a user data acquisition unit that acquires user data corresponding to identification data and provided based on predicted data corresponding to the identification data, the user data being data about a user; an identification data acquisition unit that acquires identification data read from a storage device storing identification data and provided from the gate controller assigned to the information processing device; and a user data processing unit that processes the user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

The user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided from different information processing devices belonging to one or more central servers based on the prediction data, to which one or more gate controllers different from each other are assigned.

The user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided from a corresponding central server based on the prediction data.

In a case where user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit is not provided, the user data acquisition unit acquires the user data from the corresponding central server.

The prediction data is data used to predict the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs. The gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device. Based on the prediction data, the user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided by the information processing device based on the prediction for the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs. The gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device.

The predicted data includes data related to the user's behavioral history from a storage device, which stores identification data corresponding to the predicted data. Based on the data related to the user's behavioral history, a user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided by the information processing device for the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs based on the prediction. The gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device.

The predicted data includes data related to a user's commuter ticket stored in a storage device that stores identification data corresponding to the predicted data. Based on the data related to the user's commuter ticket, a user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided by an information processing device for a gate controller based on a prediction by the information processing device. The gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device.

The user data includes identification data and data related to the user's entry and exit history. The user data processing unit updates the data related to the entry and exit history and included in the user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

The user data also includes data related to the amount of registered electronic money. Based on the entry or exit of the user corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit, the user data processing unit updates the data related to the amount of registered electronic money and included in the user data of the user.

The user data also includes data related to a commuter ticket. Based on the user's entry or exit corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit and the data related to the commuter ticket, the user data processing unit updates, as necessary, data related to the amount of registered electronic money included in the user data of the user.

The information processing device is further provided with a prediction unit that uses the prediction data to predict the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs. The gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device. The information processing device is further provided with a user data providing unit that provides the user data processed by the user data processing unit to a different information processing device predicted by the prediction unit as the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs. The gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device.

The user data providing unit further provides the user data processed by the user data processing unit to the corresponding central server.

The user data includes data related to the user's entry and exit history. The identification data acquisition unit acquires data related to the user's entry and exit history, read from a storage device and provided by a gate controller assigned to the information processing device. The user data processing unit updates the data related to the user's entry and exit history and included in the user data corresponding to the identification data, as well as the data related to the user's entry and exit history and acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

The user data includes data related to the amount of registered electronic money. The identification data acquisition unit acquires data related to the amount of registered electronic money, read from a storage device and provided from a gate controller assigned to the information processing device. The user data processing unit updates the data related to the amount of registered electronic money and included in the user data corresponding to the identification data, as well as the data related to the amount of registered electronic money acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

The user data also includes data related to the commuter ticket. The user data processing unit updates, as necessary, the data related to the amount of registered electronic money included in the user data and the data related to the amount of registered electronic money acquired by the identification data acquisition unit based on the user's entry or exit and the data related to the commuter ticket.

The gate controller assigned to the information processing device is set in a physical area different from the physical area in which the gate controller assigned to a different information processing device is set.

The information processing device is also provided with a storage unit for storing user data.

Another aspect of the present technology relates to an information processing method, which belongs to one or more central servers and is assigned to one or more gate controllers. The information processing method includes: acquiring user data corresponding to identification data and provided based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data, the user data relating to user data; acquiring identification data read from a storage device storing the identification data and provided from the gate controller assigned to the information processing method; and processing the acquired user data, the user data corresponding to the acquired identification data.

According to one aspect of the present technology, there are provided: one or more central servers, each of which is assigned one or more regional servers; a plurality of regional servers, each of which belongs to one or more of the central servers, and one or more gate controllers, each of which is different from one another, assigned to a regional server; and a plurality of gate controllers, each of which belongs to a corresponding regional server and communicates with a storage device. Each central server manages user data based on identification data, the user data being data about a user. Each regional server obtains user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on predicted data corresponding to the identification data, obtains the identification data from the gate controller assigned to the corresponding regional server, and processes the obtained user data corresponding to the obtained identification data. Each gate controller obtains identification data from a storage device storing the identification data and provides the obtained identification data to the regional server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs.

According to another aspect of the present technology, an information processing device and an information processing method each belong to one or more central servers. One or more gate controllers that are different from each other are assigned. User data corresponding to identification data and provided based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data is acquired, the user data relating to user data. Identification data is read from a storage device storing identification data and provided from the assigned gate controller. The acquired user data, corresponding to the acquired identification data, is processed.

The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

According to this technology, information processing can be realized. In addition, according to this technology, a system that can improve efficiency while reducing load concentration can be realized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration example of an information processing system;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of layers of an information processing system;

FIG3 is a block diagram showing the main structure of the central server;

FIG4 is a block diagram showing an example of the main structure of an IC card;

FIG5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of main functions included in each device;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the main structure of user data;

FIG7 is a flow chart showing an example of a process related to a user entering a station;

FIG8 is a flow chart showing an example of a process related to user exit;

FIG9 is a schematic diagram showing a comparative example of the contents and procedures of inbound and outbound processing;

FIG10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a train change use case;

FIG11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the main structure of card data;

FIG12 is a functional block diagram showing an example of main functions included in each device;

FIG13 is a flow chart showing an example of a process related to a user entering a station;

FIG14 is a flow chart showing an example of a process flow related to user entry, and continues from FIG13 ;

FIG15 is a flow chart showing an example of a process related to user exit;

FIG16 is a flow chart showing an example of a process related to user exit, and continues from FIG15 ;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a comparative example of the contents and procedures of inbound and outbound processing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following describes specific implementation methods (hereinafter referred to as embodiments). Please note that the description is given in the following order.

1. First embodiment (information processing system)

2. Second embodiment (information processing system)

<1. First embodiment>

<Information processing systems for transportation facilities, etc.>

Various types of information processing systems are currently used in transportation facilities such as railways. For example, there is a fare adjustment system that manages user entry and exit at automatic ticket gates and adjusts fares by using integrated circuit (IC) cards registered with commuter ticket data, electronic money, etc. There is also a congestion information collection and distribution system that manages user entry and exit and identifies and utilizes user flows, congestion levels, etc., as described in Patent Document 1.

Yet, according to above-mentioned conventional fare adjustment system, carry out the many processings relevant with station entrance/exit management and fare adjustment at each automatic ticket gate.In this case, owing to processing excessive dispersion, system efficiency may reduce.

For example, low efficiency may increase costs. According to this type of system, a large number of data items related to ticket fare adjustment, etc. are stored in the IC card. Therefore, the automatic ticket gate is required to perform a large amount of processing related to entry/exit management, ticket fare adjustment, etc. in the short time it takes for a user to pass through the automatic ticket gate. In this case, the performance required of each automatic ticket gate increases, and therefore, the cost may increase accordingly. In addition, a large number of automatic ticket gates of this type are usually equipped in transportation facilities, in which case the cost of the entire system may increase significantly.

In addition, the amount of processing that can be performed by each automatic ticket gate may be limited. In this case, it may be difficult to add new services etc. under such restrictions. For example, a large amount of data such as entry/exit records and ticket fare adjustments are recorded on the IC card. Therefore, when entering or leaving the station, the automatic ticket gate needs to read these data items from the IC card or write the updated data to the IC card. In this case, the sufficient time required for data writing or reading may impose restrictions on the time spent for other processing, and therefore may impose restrictions on the amount of processing that can be performed by the automatic ticket gate. In addition, under these restrictions, it may be difficult to add new services or may increase the system changes of the processing that will be performed by the automatic ticket gate or the data that will be recorded on the IC card. In other words, the flexibility of the system may be reduced.

Furthermore, reading data from or writing data to an IC card is performed via unstable wireless communication. In this case, the possibility of a processing error caused by a malfunction or the like may increase as the amount of data becomes larger.

Furthermore, a significant amount of processing related to entry/exit management and fare adjustments is performed by individual automatic ticket gates. In this case, even greater amounts of data need to be shared across all automatic ticket gates. For example, each automatic ticket gate needs to use a negative list to detect unauthorized or disabled IC cards identified in entry/exit records, fare adjustments, and other processes. In this case, the negative list needs to be distributed to all automatic ticket gates.

Furthermore, the increased complexity of hardware maintenance and software updates can increase costs or difficulty. For example, higher-performance automated ticket gates increase the complexity of the hardware and software for each gate. In this case, hardware maintenance and software updates become correspondingly more complex, potentially increasing the cost and difficulty of each gate. Furthermore, additions or changes to system configurations or services require software updates for all gates, potentially increasing costs and difficulty.

Generally, by easy sharing of information or processing and easy updating and maintenance of systems or software, it is easier to perform processing, for example, when the number of devices such as servers to be used is small. In this case, the system efficiency is improved in many cases. In order to improve the efficiency of the above-mentioned fare adjustment system, it is similarly preferred that processing such as entry/exit management and fare adjustment is performed by the server that manages each automatic ticket gate. For example, each processing such as prediction and aggregation of user transfers is performed by the analysis server in the congestion information collection and distribution system described in Patent Document 1. Therefore, the efficiency of this system is improved.

However, typical fare adjustment systems for transportation facilities are often extremely large-scale systems. In these cases, the amount of data and processing required becomes extremely large, resulting in a highly complex process. Therefore, in practice, it is difficult for a single server to perform all of this processing, considering the processing load and communication traffic.

In the case of the aforementioned fare adjustment system, for example, the processing related to entry/exit management, fare adjustment, etc. has only a short processing time, as described above. Therefore, when the processing time increases due to an increase in processing load or communication traffic or due to other reasons, the processing may be delayed.

<New system structure>

In view of the above-mentioned problems, an information processing system is provided, comprising: one or more central servers, each of which is assigned one or more regional servers; a plurality of regional servers, each of which belongs to one or more of the central servers, and each of which has one or more gate controllers assigned to it; and a plurality of gate controllers, each of which belongs to a corresponding regional server and communicates with a storage device. Each central server manages user data based on identification data, the user data being data about a user. Each regional server obtains user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on predicted data corresponding to the identification data, obtains the identification data from the gate controller assigned to the corresponding regional server, and processes the obtained user data corresponding to the obtained identification data. Each gate controller obtains identification data from the storage device storing the identification data and provides the obtained identification data to the regional server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs.

For example, an information processing system includes: one or more central servers, one or more regional servers assigned to each central server; a plurality of regional servers, each regional server belonging to one or more of the central servers, one or more gate controllers different from each other assigned to each regional server; and a plurality of gate controllers, each gate controller belonging to a corresponding regional server and communicating with a storage device. Each central server includes a management unit that manages user data based on identification data, the user data being data about a user. Each regional server includes a user data acquisition unit that acquires user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on predicted data corresponding to the identification data; a first identification data acquisition unit that acquires identification data from the gate controller assigned to the corresponding regional server; and a user data processing unit that processes user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the first identification data acquisition unit and acquired by the user data acquisition unit. Each gate controller includes: a second identification data acquiring unit that acquires identification data from a storage device storing identification data; and an identification data providing unit that provides the identification data acquired by the second identification data acquiring unit to a regional server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs.

In other words, an information processing device serving as a regional server belongs to one or more central servers, and one or more gate controllers are assigned to the information processing device. The information processing device acquires user data corresponding to identification data and provided based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data. This user data is data about the user. The information processing device also acquires identification data read from a storage device storing identification data and provided by the gate controller assigned to the information processing device. The information processing device also processes the acquired user data, which corresponds to the acquired identification data.

For example, an information processing device serving as a regional server belongs to one or more central servers, and one or more gate controllers are assigned to the information processing device. The information processing device includes: a user data acquisition unit that acquires user data corresponding to identification data and provided based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data, the user data being data about a user; an identification data acquisition unit that acquires identification data read from a storage device storing identification data and provided from a gate controller assigned to the information processing device; and a user data processing unit that processes the user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

This configuration allows multiple regional servers to perform processing. This reduces the load on gate controllers and reduces processing concentration on the central server. This allows for a system that improves efficiency while reducing load concentration.

<Structure of Information Processing System>

This type of information processing system will be described in more detail. FIG1 is a block diagram showing an example of the main structure of an information processing system according to an embodiment of an information processing system to which the present technology has been applied. The information processing system 100 shown in FIG1 is a system for managing the entry and exit of users. The information processing system 100 can be used for any purpose, such as transportation facilities including passenger railways, buses, and airplanes, as well as other facilities and services including highways, parking lots, event halls, and hotels. In the case of facilities or services that charge fees, the information processing system 100 can also adjust fees and ticket prices.

Discussed below are examples of how the information processing system 100 may be used to assist users with station entry/exit management and passenger rail fare adjustments.

As shown in FIG1 , the information processing system 100 includes a central server 101. Although FIG1 shows only a single central server 101, any number of central servers 101, such as a plurality of central servers 101, may be provided.

The central server 101 performs, for example, processing related to management of user data (ie, data about the user) based on the identification data.

Information processing system 100 also includes multiple regional servers 102. Although FIG1 illustrates K (K: a natural number of 2 or greater) regional servers 102 (regional servers 102-1 through 102-K), any number of regional servers 102 is acceptable as long as multiple regional servers 102 are provided. Each regional server 102 belongs to central server 101. Therefore, multiple regional servers 102 belong to a single central server 101. In other words, multiple regional servers 102 are assigned to a single central server 101. When multiple central servers 101 are provided, multiple regional servers 102 are assigned to each central server 101. In this case, any number of regional servers 102 assigned to each central server 101 is acceptable. The number of regional servers 102 assigned to each central server 101 does not need to be equal. Furthermore, each regional server 102 only needs to belong to any central server 101. Therefore, a single regional server 102 can belong to multiple central servers 101.

Each regional server 102 performs processing related to, for example, user entry/exit management and fare adjustment.

Information processing system 100 also includes one or more site servers 103. FIG1 illustrates M (M: any natural number) site servers 103 (site servers 103-1 through 103-M) assigned to regional server 102-1. However, in practice, any number of site servers 103 may be assigned to each regional server 102. In other words, each site server 103 may belong to any regional server 102. The number of site servers 103 assigned to corresponding regional servers 102 need not be equal. Furthermore, a single site server 103 may belong to multiple regional servers 102.

For example, each station server 103 is provided for a corresponding station of a passenger railway. For example, each station server 103 performs processing related to communication relay between the regional server 102 and the gate controller 104. A router, hub, or the like may be provided in place of each station server 103. Furthermore, each station server 103 may perform a portion of processing related to user entry/exit management, fare adjustment, and the like.

The information processing system 100 also includes a plurality of gate controllers 104. Although FIG1 illustrates N (N: any natural number) gate controllers 104 (gate controllers 104-1 to 104-N) belonging to the site server 103-1, in practice, any number of gate controllers 104 can be assigned to each site server 103. In other words, each gate controller 104 belongs to any site server 103. The number of gate controllers 104 assigned to corresponding site servers 103 does not need to be equal.

For example, each gate controller 104 is provided for a corresponding automatic ticket gate provided at a ticket gate of a passenger railway station. For example, each gate controller 104 performs processing related to reading of identification data stored in the IC card 121 .

The information processing system 100 also includes a plurality of readers/writers 105. Although FIG1 shows N readers/writers 105 (readers/writers 105-1 to 105-N) belonging to N gate controllers 104 (gate controllers 104-1 to 104-N), in actual situations, the readers/writers 105 are assigned to all gate controllers 104. In other words, each reader/writer 105 is assigned to any gate controller 104. The number of readers/writers 105 assigned to each gate controller 104 can be any number, 1 or more. In addition, the number of readers/writers 105 assigned to corresponding gate controllers 104 does not need to be equal.

For example, for a corresponding automatic ticket gate equipped at a ticket gate of a passenger railway station, each reader/writer 105 is provided together with a corresponding gate controller 104. For example, each reader/writer 105 is controlled by the gate controller 104 to which the reader/writer 105 belongs to communicate with the IC card 121 approaching the reader/writer 105 via short-range wireless communication (contactless communication).

Each IC card 121 is a storage device (terminal device) carried by a user of the passenger rail service (i.e., the information processing system 100). Although P (P: any natural number) IC cards 121 (IC cards 121-1 to 121-P) are shown in FIG1 , the number of IC cards 121 may be any number.

For example, each IC card 121 is a so-called contactless IC card that stores data and provides the data through short-range wireless communication with the reader/writer 105 that is brought close to the IC card 121 .

Note that what is discussed below is the IC card 121 as an example. However, the storage device (terminal device) carried by the user of the information processing system 100 is not limited to this type of contactless IC card. For example, the storage device (terminal device) may be a contact card that communicates with a reader/writer in a state of being in contact with the reader/writer, or any information processing device having functions similar to those of the IC card 121, such as a cellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet-type device, and a personal computer. Therefore, the storage device (terminal device) may be implemented by any device as long as the device is capable of storing information similar to the information stored in the IC card 121 and sending information to and receiving information from the gate controller 104 similarly to the IC card 121.

The information processing system 100 also includes a database 111 belonging to the central server 101. Although FIG1 shows a single database 111, the number of databases 111 can be any number. Multiple databases 111 can be assigned to one central server 101, or one database 111 can belong to multiple central servers 101. In addition, the respective numbers of databases 111 assigned to multiple corresponding central servers 101 do not need to be equal.

The database 111 stores and manages user data processed by the central server 101 .

Information processing system 100 also includes databases 112 assigned to corresponding regional servers 102. Although FIG1 illustrates K databases 112 (databases 112-1 through 112-K), any number of databases 112 may be used. Furthermore, although FIG1 illustrates one database 112 assigned to each regional server 102, any number of databases 112 assigned to each regional server 102 may be used. Multiple databases 112 may be assigned to a single regional server 102, or a single database 112 may belong to multiple regional servers 102. Furthermore, the number of databases 112 assigned to corresponding regional servers 102 need not be equal.

Each database 112 stores and manages user data processed by the regional server 102 to which the database 112 belongs.

Note that the central server 101 , the regional server 102 , the site server 103 , the gate controller 104 , and the like included in the above-described information processing system 100 may have any physical configuration as long as a logical configuration is employed.

For example, each central server 101, each regional server 102, each site server 103, and each gate controller 104 can each be implemented as a single device. Alternatively, for example, two or more regional servers 102 can be implemented as a single device, two or more site servers 103 can be implemented as a single device, or two or more gate controllers 104 can be implemented as a single device. Furthermore, if multiple central servers 101 are provided, two or more central servers 101 can be implemented as a single device. Furthermore, two or more devices selected from any one of the central servers 101, regional servers 102, site servers 103, and gate controllers 104 can be implemented as a single device.

Note that database 111 may be included in the configuration of central server 101 to which database 111 belongs. (In other words, central server 101 and database 111 may be constituted by a single device.) Similarly, each database 112 may be included in the configuration of regional server 102 to which database 112 belongs. (In other words, regional server 102 and database 112 may be constituted by a single device.)

In the following discussion, for the sake of convenience, each structure of each layer (such as each central server 101, each regional server 102, each site server and each gate controller 104) is implemented as an independent different device.

In this case, each structure (each device) is connected to each other in a communication manner via any communication medium. At least the structures (devices) connected by the two-way arrows in Figure 1 are connected to each other in a communication manner via any communication medium. This communication medium can be composed of a cable that conforms to a predetermined communication standard such as a universal serial bus (USB) cable and a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) (registered trademark) cable or a network such as the Internet, a public telephone line, a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN). In addition, the communication medium can be composed of a plurality of networks or a plurality of types of communication media. In addition, the communication medium can include any type of communication device, such as a router, a hub and a server. In addition, the communication performed via the communication medium can be wired communication, wireless communication or a combination of the two types of communication. Therefore, the communication medium is not limited to the communication medium of the above-mentioned wired communication, but can be a communication medium of wireless communication (i.e., space) or a combination of the two types of communication media. For any of the above-mentioned types of communication and communication media, any communication standard and protocol can be adopted.

Note that the expressions "A belongs to B" and "A is assigned to B" in the above description refer to the relationship indicated by the bidirectional arrows in the layer structure shown in FIG1 , and indicate a state in which a lower-order construct A is connected (associated) with a higher-order construct B. Therefore, these expressions indicate such a relationship or such a state in which constructs A and B are allowed to send and receive information to and from each other.

For example, the regional server 102 is connected to the central server 101 to which the regional server 102 belongs (is assigned) via a predetermined communication medium, and communicates with the central server 101 via the connection established with the central server 101. Therefore, the regional server 102 and the central server 101 have a relationship that allows communication (information transmission and reception) with each other.

Furthermore, for example, the gate controller 104 is connected to the regional server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs (is assigned) via a predetermined communication medium, and communicates with the regional server 102 via the established connection with the regional server 102. Therefore, the gate controller 104 and the regional server 102 are in a state in which communication (information transmission and reception) with each other is allowed.

Note that a "belongs to" relationship can be direct or indirect. For example, if site server 103 directly belongs to regional server 102, gate controller 104 indirectly belongs to regional server 102 via site server 103, which gate controller 104 directly belongs to. In this case, gate controller 104 is considered to also belong to regional server 102. This relationship is applicable to the expression of an "assigns to" relationship.

Obviously, the connection between the central server 101 and the regional server 102 can also be established in advance.

As described above, at least the central server 101, regional servers 102, and gate controllers 104 in the information processing system 100 have a layered structure (are layered). Processing related to user entry/exit management, fare adjustment, etc. is executed in each regional server 102 in the middle layer.

Therefore, the information processing system 100 prevents an increase in the processing load performed by a large number of gate controllers 104 and a concentration of the processing load on a small number of central servers 101 .

Please note that one or more gate controllers 104 have been pre-assigned to each regional server 102. As described above, this assignment pre-establishes a connection between the corresponding regional server 102 and the gate controller 104. In this state, the gate controller 104 is immediately allowed to communicate (send and receive information) with the corresponding regional server 102. More specifically, since the gate controller 104 has already established the necessary connection with its communication partner, it is allowed to omit this processing when sending and receiving information. In other words, the time required to send and receive information to and from the regional server 102 can be reduced (information can be sent and received at a higher speed). As a result, the gate controller 104 can perform a greater amount of processing, beyond sending and receiving information, within a predetermined time limit.

The information processing system 100 (regional server 102) performs both entry processing (when a user passes through a ticket gate and enters the gate) and exit processing (when a user passes through a ticket gate and exits the gate). Each of the entry and exit processing is not independent, so information needs to be shared between these processes. For example, information about the entry history updated during the entry processing is also used during the exit processing to detect dishonest behavior or adjust fares.

However, as described above, multiple automatic ticket gates (gate controllers 104) are provided. In this case, the automatic ticket gate used by a user when entering a station is not necessarily the same as the automatic ticket gate used when leaving a station. In a typical passenger railway, the station a user enters is often different from the station they leave. In this case, it is assumed that the entry and exit processing are performed by different regional servers 102.

Therefore, information used for inbound and outbound processing, for example, can be sent and received between the regional servers 102. Note that the information updated during inbound and outbound processing can be managed as user data for each user. More specifically, each regional server 102 can be configured to share user data (send and receive user data).

The user data sharing described herein can employ any sharing method. For example, user data updated during inbound or outbound processing can be retained in the regional server 102 that has already performed the inbound or outbound processing, or can be retained in a dedicated server prepared for retaining updated user data. However, if, for example, inbound or outbound processing by the regional server 102 requires searching and acquiring user data updated during a previously executed inbound or outbound processing from outside the regional server 102, the increased processing time can make it difficult to complete the processing within a predetermined timeframe.

Therefore, before the next inbound or outbound process is executed, the user data updated during the inbound or outbound process can be provided in advance to the regional server 102 executing the next inbound or outbound process. Providing the updated user data can be done in any manner. For example, a regional server 102 that has already executed an inbound or outbound process can distribute the user data updated during that process to all regional servers 102. However, in this case, the communication traffic increases as the updated user data is distributed, which may cause communication delays or interruptions.

To overcome this problem, before executing the next process, updated user data can be provided to the regional server 102 predicted to execute the next inbound or outbound process. This prediction can be made using any method. For example, the regional server 102 that will execute the next process can be predicted based on predetermined prediction data corresponding to the user who has already entered or exited (identification data contained in the IC card 121 carried by the corresponding user). This prediction can be performed by any structure (device). For example, the regional server 102 that has already executed the inbound or outbound process can perform this prediction.

Alternatively, a mechanism (device) other than the regional server 102 that already performs inbound or outbound processing may perform this prediction. For example, the central server 101 or a different regional server 102 may perform this prediction. Furthermore, for example, a mechanism (device) dedicated to prediction may be provided. However, in this case, the information required for prediction must be transmitted or received, potentially increasing communication traffic.

In any of the above methods to be adopted, the regional server 102 that performs the next process acquires user data corresponding to the user (identification data) and provided based on the prediction data corresponding to the user (identification data) before performing the process, and performs inbound processing or outbound processing corresponding to the user (identification data) (i.e., processes (updates) the user data).

In this case, updated user data is shared between the regional servers 102, while reducing the increase in communication traffic and processing time. In other words, it is possible to implement processing related to user entry/exit management, fare adjustment, etc. by multiple regional servers 102.

Therefore, the information processing system 100 (regional server 102 ) realizes a system capable of improving efficiency while reducing load concentration.

<Region>

The following describes regions. Each regional server 102 can be configured for a corresponding region in different regions. The region referred to herein is the physical area where the gate controller 104 is located. More specifically, multiple gate controllers 104 (such as individual automatic ticket gates) are located at different physical locations and assigned to a different corresponding regional server 102 for each predetermined region where the corresponding gate controller 104 is located. In other words, a gate controller 104 configured for a region associated with a corresponding regional server 102 (a different region for each regional server 102) can be assigned to each regional server 102.

According to the example shown in FIG2 , gate controllers 104 (not shown) provided for stations 131-1 through 131-3 on line 130 are assigned to regional server 102-1. Furthermore, gate controllers 104 (not shown) provided for stations 131-4 through 131-7 on line 130 are assigned to regional server 102-2. Furthermore, gate controllers 104 (not shown) provided for stations 131-8 through 131-10 on line 130 are assigned to regional server 102-3. In the following description, stations 131-1 through 131-10 are collectively referred to as station 131 unless it is necessary to distinguish between them.

When different sites 131 (such as the site servers 103 ) are assigned to the corresponding regional servers 102 , gate controllers 104 provided for the different corresponding sites 131 (ie, different regions) are assigned to the corresponding regional servers 102 .

Typically, user transfers in transportation facilities such as passenger railroads are limited to a certain area. In other words, the frequency of long-distance transfers tends to decrease compared to the frequency of short-distance transfers. In this case, as shown in the example of FIG2 , the gate controller 104 allocates each area, increasing the likelihood that both inbound and outbound processing will be performed by the same regional server 102. Consequently, this allocation reduces the increase in communication traffic for sending and receiving user data between regional servers 102.

Obviously, any method can be used to assign gate controllers 104 to regional servers 102, such as not assigning them to each region. For example, if there are specific trends in user migration, gate controllers 104 can be assigned based on these trends, such as a high frequency of movement between predetermined sites. Alternatively, the assignment of gate controllers 104 can be determined based on user trends, etc., to evenly distribute the load across regional servers 102.

<Structure of Central Server, etc.>

3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the central server 101. As shown in FIG3, a central processing unit (CPU) 151, a read only memory (ROM) 152, and a random access memory (RAM) 153 of the central server 101 are connected to each other via a bus 154.

The input/output interface 160 is also connected to the bus 154. To the input/output interface 160, an input unit 161, an output unit 162, a storage unit 163, a communication unit 164, and a drive 165 are connected.

The input unit 161 is composed of an input device that receives information from the outside (such as user input). For example, the input unit 161 includes a keyboard, a mouse, operation buttons, a touch panel, a camera, a microphone, an input terminal, etc. The input unit 161 may also include an acceleration sensor, a light sensor, a temperature sensor, and other various types of sensors or a barcode reader and other input devices.

The output unit 162 is composed of an output device that outputs information such as images and sounds. For example, the output unit 162 includes a display, a speaker, an output terminal, and the like.

The storage unit 163 is composed of, for example, a hard disk, a RAM disk, a nonvolatile memory, or the like. The communication unit 164 is composed of, for example, a network interface. For example, the communication unit 164 communicates with other devices connected to the communication unit 164 via a predetermined communication medium. The drive 165 drives a removable medium 171 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a semiconductor memory connected to a predetermined position of the drive 165 to read information stored in the removable medium 171 or write information to the removable medium 171.

For example, the CPU 151 loads a program stored in the storage unit 163 to the RAM 153 via the input/output interface 160 and the bus 154 and executes the loaded program to perform various types of processing. The RAM 153 also stores data required by the CPU 151 to perform various types of processing, for example.

For example, the regional server 102, the site server 103, the gate controller 104, the reader/writer 105, the database 111, and the database 112 may each include the configuration shown in Fig. 3. In other words, the description above with reference to Fig. 3 applies to the description of each of these devices.

It is obvious that each of these devices may have a configuration other than the configuration example shown in FIG. 3 .

Note that the reader/writer 105 and the corresponding gate controller 104 may each be configured as a single device. In this case, the reader/writer 105 may form part of the communication unit 164 of the gate controller 104. Furthermore, the database 111 and the central server 101 may each be configured as a single device. In this case, the database 111 is included in the storage unit 163 of the central server 101. Furthermore, the database 112 and the corresponding regional server 102 may each be configured as a single device. In this case, the database 112 is included in the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102.

<IC Card Structure>

4 is a block diagram showing a main configuration example of the IC card 121. As shown in FIG4, the IC card 121 includes a storage unit 181, an information processing unit 182, a wireless communication unit 183, and an antenna 184.

Storage unit 181 stores any information. For example, storage unit 181 stores information used by external devices. For example, storage unit 181 stores identification data for identifying IC card 121. Storage unit 181 provides the stored information to information processing unit 182 as necessary. Note that storage unit 181 may also store information provided by information processing unit 182.

The information processing unit 182 executes programs and processes various types of information. The information processing unit 182 also reads information stored in the storage unit 181. The information processing unit 182 also allows the wireless communication unit 183 to communicate with other devices (such as the reader/writer 105) to receive information transmitted from these devices or to transmit information to these devices. Note that the information processing unit 182 can provide information to the storage unit 181 to store the information in the storage unit 181.

The wireless communication unit 183 communicates with other devices (such as the reader/writer 105) through short-range wireless communication via the antenna 184 that conforms to a predetermined communication standard. The wireless communication unit 183 acquires information from the other device via short-range wireless communication and provides the acquired information to the information processing unit 182. In addition, the wireless communication unit 183 receives information from the information processing unit 182 and transmits the received information to the other device via short-range wireless communication.

Obviously, the IC card 121 may have a configuration other than the configuration example shown in FIG. 4 .

<Functional blocks of each structure>

5 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of functional blocks representing functions implemented by the IC card 121, the gate controller 104, the regional server 102, and the central server 101. These configurations can be implemented, for example, by program execution or data processing.

As shown in Figure 5, the IC card 121 implements functional blocks such as an ID storage unit 201 and an ID providing unit 202. The ID storage unit 201 stores identification data (ID) 211. The ID storage unit 201 is implemented by the storage unit 181 under the control of the information processing unit 182. The ID providing unit 202 performs processing related to the provision of the identification data (ID) 211 stored in the ID storage unit 201. The ID providing unit 202 is implemented under the control of the storage unit 181 and the wireless communication unit 183 by the information processing unit 182 or in other ways. For example, the ID providing unit 202 reads the identification data (ID) 211 from the ID storage unit 201 (storage unit 181) and provides the read identification data (ID) 211 to the gate controller 104 via the wireless communication unit 183 (via the reader/writer 105).

The gate controller 104 implements functional blocks such as an authentication processing unit 221 and an ID providing unit 222. The authentication processing unit 221 performs processing related to the authentication of the identification data (ID) 211 contained in the IC card 121. For example, the authentication processing unit 221 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the communication unit 164. For example, the authentication processing unit 221 obtains the identification data (ID) 211 provided from the IC card 121 via the communication unit 164 (via the reader/writer 105). For example, the authentication processing unit 221 also authenticates the obtained identification data (ID) 211. Any method can be used to authenticate the identification data (ID) 211. For example, when authenticating the identification data (ID) 211, the authentication processing unit 221 also notifies the IC card 121 of the authentication of the identification data (ID) 211 via the communication unit 164 (via the reader/writer 105).

The ID providing unit 222 performs processing related to providing the identification data (ID) 211 to the area server 102. For example, the ID providing unit 222 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the communication unit 164. For example, the ID providing unit 222 provides the identification data (ID) 211 acquired by the authentication processing unit 221 to the area server 102 via the communication unit 164 (via the site server 103).

The regional server 102 implements functional blocks such as a user data acquisition unit 231, an ID acquisition unit 232, an inbound processing unit 233, an outbound processing unit 234, a prediction processing unit 235, and a user data providing unit 236. The user data acquisition unit 231 performs processing related to acquiring user data. For example, the user data acquisition unit 231 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the database 112 (or storage unit 163) and the communication unit 164. For example, the user data acquisition unit 231 acquires user data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 and provided from different regional servers 102 or the central server 101 based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211, via the communication unit 164. The user data acquisition unit 231 also stores the acquired user data in the database 112 (or storage unit 163), for example. For example, when inbound processing or outbound processing is performed, in a case where the user data used for the inbound processing or outbound processing (i.e., the user data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 acquired by the ID acquisition unit 232) is not stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163), the user data acquisition unit 231 also acquires the user data from the central server 101 via the communication unit 164.

The ID acquisition unit 232 performs processing related to acquiring the identification data (ID) 211 provided from the gate controller 104 and contained in the IC card 121. For example, the ID acquisition unit 232 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the communication unit 164. For example, the ID acquisition unit 232 acquires the identification data (ID) 211 provided from the gate controller 104 via the communication unit 164 (via the site server 103).

When a user passes through the ticket gate and enters the ticket gate, the entry processing unit 233 performs the entry processing. The entry processing includes management (confirmation and update of information indicating whether the user is currently entering or leaving), update of information indicating the user's behavior history, etc. The entry processing may also include fare adjustment processing for adjusting the base fare, etc. based on the electronic currency amount information registered in the user data. For example, the entry processing unit 233 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the database 112 (or storage unit 163). For example, the entry processing unit 233 performs the entry processing of the identification data (ID) 211 obtained by the ID acquisition unit 232, reads the user data from the database 112 (or storage unit 163) as data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 and obtained by the user data acquisition unit 231, and updates the read user data. The updated user data can be stored in the database 112 (or storage unit 163).

When the user passes through the ticket gate and leaves from the ticket gate, the exit processing unit 234 performs exit processing. For example, the exit processing includes exit management (confirmation and update of information indicating whether the user is currently entering or leaving), update of information indicating the user's behavior history, data related to period tickets, fare adjustment processing according to the travel interval, etc. For example, the exit processing unit 234 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the database 112 (or storage unit 163). For example, the exit processing unit 234 performs exit processing of the identification data (ID) 211 acquired by the ID acquisition unit 232, reads the user data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 and acquired by the user data acquisition unit 231 from the database 112 (or storage unit 163), and updates the read user data. The updated user data can be stored in the database (or storage unit 163).

The prediction processing unit 235 performs processing related to predicting the regional server 102 to which the user data will be provided (i.e., the regional server 102 that will subsequently process the corresponding user data). For example, the prediction processing unit 235 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and controlling the database 112 (or storage unit 163). For example, based on the prediction data included in the user data, the prediction processing unit 235 predicts that the regional server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs will be the gate controller 104 whose identification data (ID) 211 is subsequently read from the IC card 121.

The user data providing unit 236 performs processing related to providing user data updated through inbound or outbound processing. For example, the user data providing unit 236 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and controlling the database 112 (or storage unit 163) and the communication unit 164. For example, the user data providing unit 236 provides the user data updated through inbound or outbound processing to the regional server 102 predicted by the prediction process, etc., via the communication unit 164. For example, the user data providing unit 236 also provides the user data updated through inbound or outbound processing to the central server 101 via the communication unit 164.

The central server 101 implements functional blocks such as a user data acquisition unit 241 and a user data provision unit 242. The user data acquisition unit 241 performs processing related to acquiring user data. For example, the user data acquisition unit 241 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and controlling the database 111 (or storage unit 163) and the communication unit 164. For example, the user data acquisition unit 241 acquires user data provided from the regional server 102 via the communication unit 164. For example, the user data acquisition unit 241 also stores the acquired user data in the database 111 (or storage unit 163).

The user data providing unit 242 performs processing related to providing user data. The user data providing unit 242 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and controlling the database 111 (or the storage unit 163). For example, the user data providing unit 242 reads user data stored in the database 111 (or the storage unit 163) and provides the read user data to the regional server 102 or the like via the communication unit 164.

Please note that the functional blocks shown in FIG5 are presented as examples of functions implemented by each device. Each device may implement functions other than the functions of the example shown in FIG5. In addition, each device may implement only a portion of the functions of the example shown in FIG5.

<Database and User Data>

As shown in FIG. 6 , the database 111 stores user data 250 that represents information about a user and manages each identification data (ID) 211 .

6 , the user data 250 includes identification data (ID) 211, money amount information 252, period ticket information 253, entry/exit record information 254, behavior history 255, and user information 256. More specifically, various types of information (such as the money amount information 252, period ticket information 253, entry/exit record information 254, behavior history 255, and user information 256) are managed in the user data 250 in correspondence with the identification data (ID) 211.

Currency amount information 252 is data related to the amount of registered electronic money. The amount of electronic money indicated in currency amount information 252 can be used, for example, to adjust fares. Commuter ticket information 253 is data related to the commuter ticket purchased by the user. Commuter ticket information 253 typically specifies a range and validity period. The user is permitted to ride freely within the specified range and validity period. Entry/exit record information 254 is data indicating the user's entry or exit status. This information is updated for each entry or exit process. Based on this information, dishonest behavior, such as repeated execution of exit processes, can be detected. Behavior history 255 is data related to the user's movement (behavior) history. For example, this information includes a history of entry points and ticket gates, exit points and ticket gates, etc. (a history of travel intervals, dates, and times). User information 256 is data related to the user corresponding to the owner of the IC card 121 associated with identification data (ID) 211. For example, this information includes personal information about the user, such as the user's name, address, age, gender, and occupation.

Information such as the amount of money information 252, commuter ticket information 253, behavior history 255, and user information 256 is used to adjust fares. For example, the behavior history 255 (including the origin of the ride), user information 256 (including whether the user is an adult, child, or has privileges), and commuter ticket information 253 (including whether the ride section includes a commuter ticket section) are used to calculate the fare to be collected. Furthermore, the amount of money information 252 is used, for example, to collect the calculated fare (the amount of money in the amount of money information 252 is updated after the fare is collected).

Furthermore, information such as the commuter ticket information 253 and the behavior history 255 is used for prediction of the area server 102 providing the user data 250. Therefore, these information items are referred to as prediction data.

Obviously, information other than the above examples may be included in each information item included in the user data 250. In addition, the user data 250 may include data other than the above data. In addition, unnecessary parts of the above data may be omitted depending on the purpose of the information processing system 100.

Similar to the example shown in FIG6 , database 112 also stores user data 250. The content of user data 250 stored in database 112 is similar to the content of user data 250 in the example shown in FIG6 . The content of user data 250 stored in database 111 and the content of user data 250 stored in database 112 may be the same or different. However, considering that user data 250 stored in database 111 is used as a backup of user data 250 stored in database 112, or in order to investigate user data 250 stored in database 112, at least user data 250 stored in database 111 preferably includes the content of user data 250 stored in database 112.

<Processing procedures related to entry>

Next, an example flow of processing related to a user entering a station and executed by the above-described information processing system will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 .

First, the gate controller 104, the regional server 102, and the central server 101 initialize their settings at the beginning or at other times (steps S111, S121, and S131). The central server 101 then provides the regional server 102 with initial values and a negative list (a list of identification data (ID) 211 associated with dishonest transactions). In this case, the regional server 102 performs a check of the negative list (detection of the identification data (ID) 211 included in the negative list). Note that the negative list can also be provided to the gate controller 104. In this case, the gate controller 104 can perform the check of the negative list.

Furthermore, the user data acquisition unit 231 of the regional server 102 acquires user data 250 (step S122) before executing the inbound processing (before step S124). The user data 250 is provided based on the prediction data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211. The user data 250 is provided, for example, from a different regional server 102 or the central server 101. The acquired user data 250 is stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102).

When passing through the ticket gate and entering the ticket gate, the user brings the IC card 121 owned by the user close to the reader/writer 105 of the automatic ticket gate. In this case, the ID providing unit 202 of the IC card 121 performs ID authentication processing and provides the identification data (ID) 211 stored in the ID storage unit 201 to the gate controller 104 (step S101).

The authentication processing unit 221 of the gate controller 104 that has acquired the identification data (ID) 211 performs authentication processing on the acquired identification data (ID) 211 (step S112). Then, when the identification data (ID) 211 is authenticated, the ID providing unit 222 of the gate controller 104 provides the identification data (ID) 211 to the area server 102 (step S113).

The ID acquisition unit 232 of the regional server 102 acquires the identification data (ID) 211 (step S123). The user data acquisition unit 231 checks whether the user data 250 corresponding to the acquired identification data (ID) 211 is already stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102). If the user data 250 does not exist in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102), that is, if the regional server 102 made a prediction error, the user data acquisition unit 231 acquires the user data 250 corresponding to the acquired identification data (ID) 211 from the central server 101 (step S124).

In response to the request from the user data acquiring unit 231 of the area server 102 , the user data providing unit 242 of the center server 101 provides the requested user data 250 to the area server 102 (step S132 ).

When the current user data 250 is prepared in the above-described manner, the inbound processing unit 233 of the area server 102 performs inbound processing and updates the current user data 250 corresponding to the processing target as necessary (step S125).

When the entry processing is completed, the prediction processing unit 235 predicts the point (exit zone) from which the user of the IC card 121 corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 will subsequently exit (step S126). More specifically, the prediction processing unit 235 predicts the area server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs as the gate controller 104 that will subsequently read the identification data (ID) 211 from the IC card 121 based on the prediction data (such as the periodic ticket information 253 and the behavior history 255) included in the user data 250 updated by the entry processing.

After the prediction is completed, as the gate controller 104 subsequently reads the identification data (ID) 211 from the IC card 121, the user data providing unit 236 provides the user data 250 updated by the entry processing to the area server 102 predicted to be the area server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs (step S127).

Furthermore, the user data providing unit 236 also provides the user data 250 updated through the inbound processing to the central server 101 to update the user data 250 stored in the database 111 or the like and managed by the central server 101 (step S128 ).

The user data acquisition unit 241 of the central server 101 acquires the user data 250 and updates the user data 250 managed (stored) in the database 111 or the like (reflecting the update of the user data 250 ) based on the acquired user data 250 (step S133 ).

The information processing system 100 performs processing related to station entry in the manner described above.

<Processing flow related to outbound traffic>

Next, an example flow of processing related to user exit and executed by the above-mentioned information processing system will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 .

First, the gate controller 104, the regional server 102, and the central server 101 initialize their settings at the beginning or at other times (steps S161, S171, and S181). The central server 101 then provides the regional server 102 with initial values and a negative list (a list of identification data (ID) 211 associated with dishonest transactions). In this case, the regional server 102 performs a check of the negative list (detection of the identification data (ID) 211 included in the negative list). Note that the negative list can also be provided to the gate controller 104. In this case, the gate controller 104 can perform the check of the negative list.

Furthermore, the user data acquisition unit 231 of the regional server 102 acquires the user data 250 (step S172) before executing outbound processing (before step S174). The user data 250 is provided based on the prediction data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211. The user data 250 is provided, for example, from a different regional server 102 or the central server 101. The acquired user data 250 is stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102).

When passing through the ticket gate and leaving from the ticket gate, the user brings the IC card 121 owned by the user close to the reader/writer 105 of the automatic ticket gate. In this case, the ID providing unit 202 of the IC card 121 performs ID authentication processing and provides the identification data (ID) 211 stored in the ID storage unit 201 to the gate controller 104 (step S151).

The authentication processing unit 221 of the gate controller 104 that has acquired the identification data (ID) 211 performs authentication processing on the acquired identification data (ID) 211 (step S162). Then, when the identification data (ID) 211 is authenticated, the ID providing unit 222 of the gate controller 104 provides the identification data (ID) 211 to the area server 102 (step S163).

The ID acquisition unit 232 of the regional server 102 acquires the identification data (ID) 211 (step S173). The user data acquisition unit 231 checks whether the user data 250 corresponding to the acquired identification data (ID) 211 is already stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102). If the user data 250 does not exist in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102), that is, if the regional server 102 made a prediction error, the user data acquisition unit 231 acquires the user data 250 corresponding to the acquired identification data (ID) 211 from the central server 101 (step S174).

In response to the request from the user data acquiring unit 231 of the area server 102 , the user data providing unit 242 of the center server 101 provides the requested user data 250 to the area server 102 (step S182 ).

When the current user data 250 is prepared in the above-described manner, the outbound processing unit 234 of the area server 102 performs outbound processing and updates the current user data 250 corresponding to the processing target as necessary (step S150).

When the exit process is completed, the prediction processing unit 235 predicts the point (entry zone) that the user of the IC card 121 corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 will enter next (step S176). More specifically, the prediction processing unit 235 predicts the area server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs as the gate controller 104 that will read the identification data (ID) 211 from the IC card 121 next based on the prediction data (such as the period ticket information 253 and the behavior history 255) included in the user data 250 updated by the exit process.

After the prediction is completed, as the gate controller 104 subsequently reads the identification data (ID) 211 from the IC card 121, the user data providing unit 236 provides the user data 250 updated by the exit processing to the area server 102 predicted to be the area server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs (step S177).

Furthermore, the user data providing unit 236 provides the user data 250 updated through the outbound processing to the central server 101 to update the user data 250 stored in the database 111 or the like and managed by the central server 101 (step S178 ).

The user data acquisition unit 241 of the central server 101 acquires the user data 250 and updates the user data 250 managed (stored) in the database 111 or the like (reflecting the update of the user data 250 ) based on the acquired user data 250 (step S183 ).

The information processing system 100 performs outbound-related processing in the manner described above.

<Comparison between inbound processing and outbound processing>

FIG9 is a diagram showing a comparison of inbound and outbound processing between a conventional fare adjustment system and an information processing system 100 to which the present technology has been applied.

In conventional systems, the gate controller performs all of the following: authentication of identification data (ID) (reading identification data), reading of monetary amount information, recording entry/exit information for period tickets and IC cards, fare adjustment processing associated with entry/exit processing, and writing card data to the IC card, as shown in Figure 9A. In this case, each of these processes must be completed within the time it takes for a user to pass through the ticket gate (the short time it takes for the user to hold the IC card close to the reader/writer).

Figure 9B shows the processing performed by information processing system 100 when a user enters a station, while Figure 9C shows the processing performed when a user exits a station. As shown in Figures 9B and 9C, gate controller 104 of information processing system 100 only performs identification data (ID) authentication (reading identification data (ID) when a user enters or exits a station). Each fare adjustment process, indicated by the shaded area, is performed by regional server 102.

Therefore, compared to conventional systems, the information processing system 100 significantly reduces the load imposed on the gate controller 104. In this case, the processing power required by the gate controller 104 is limited, thereby reducing costs accordingly. Typically, the information processing system 100 includes a large number of gate controllers 104, thereby significantly reducing the cost of the entire system.

In addition, part of the entry processing shown in Figure 9B can be completed before the user's next exit. For example, although it is necessary to immediately perform processing such as determining whether entry is allowed when a user enters the station, post-processing such as data reflection can be completed before the user's next exit. Similarly, part of the exit processing shown in Figure 9C can be completed before the user's next entry. However, generally, the time from a user entering the station to exiting the station and the time from a user exiting the station to entering the station are much longer than the processing time shown in Figure 9. For example, the entire processing shown in Figure 9A needs to be completed in less than one second. However, it is almost impossible for a user who has already entered to leave within one second. In other words, there is no time limit for the entry processing and exit processing performed by the information processing system 100. In this case, it is easy to add more types of processing to the entry processing and exit processing, so the information processing system 100 can more easily implement new service additions, system changes, etc. In other words, it can avoid reducing the flexibility of the system.

9B and 9C . In addition, the information processing system 100 does not write data to the IC card 121. In addition, the data read from the IC card 121 is only the identification data (ID) 211. Therefore, the information processing system 100 reduces the possibility of processing errors due to failure of short-range wireless communication with the IC card 121 or due to other reasons.

In addition, the inbound processing or the outbound processing is performed by the regional server 102 of the information processing system 100. In this case, information such as the negative list does not need to be distributed to the gate controller 104. Therefore, the distribution processing and communication traffic do not increase.

Furthermore, since the gate controller 104 performs less processing, hardware maintenance and software updates in the gate controller 104 are more convenient. Furthermore, since much of the processing is performed by the regional server 102, some processing, such as software updates, can be performed only on the regional server 102, depending on the situation. Consequently, the cost and difficulty associated with hardware maintenance and software updates are not increased.

Furthermore, inbound processing and outbound processing are shared among the plurality of regional servers 102. Therefore, the information processing system 100 reduces excessive concentration of processing load and communication traffic, and makes it easier to implement these processes.

As can be seen from the above, the information processing system 100 provides a system that can improve efficiency while reducing load concentration.

<2. Second embodiment>

<Another Example of Information Processing System for Transportation Facilities, Etc.>

In view of convenience, it is usually difficult to use the fare adjustment system of transportation facilities (such as passenger railways) as a system limited to one railway company. For example, the transfer of users usually covers multiple railway companies (multiple lines). According to the example shown in Figure 10A, the line 130 of the first railway company and the line 310 of the second railway company are connected to the same station 131-7. The train change ticket gate (train change gate) between the two lines is therefore set in the station 131-7. In this case, the transfer of users can cover the lines of two railway companies, as represented by mode A and mode B, so fare adjustment is needed to handle these modes.

Furthermore, as shown in the example of FIG10B , if station 131-6 and station 311-1 are different stations, the user can switch between station 131-6 connected to line 130 and station 311-1 connected to line 310 to change trains. In this case, the user's transfer similarly covers the lines of two railway companies, as shown in Patterns C and D. Therefore, fare adjustments are required to handle these patterns.

For other reasons, users usually simply use multiple transportation facilities, so it is inconvenient for users to change IC cards each time they use different transportation facilities. In other words, it is preferred to use an IC card that is common to a large number of transportation facilities, other facilities, services, etc.

However, it is practically impossible to consistently use the same fare adjustment system for all transportation facilities, other facilities, and services. A railway company may employ the information processing system 100 described above, while another railway company may employ a custom system. Even in such cases, it is preferable to permit the use of an IC card that is common to a large number of transportation facilities, other facilities, and services.

Therefore, the IC card 121 can be configured so that user data for a conventional system can be written to the IC card 121, allowing the IC card 121 to be used in the conventional system. More specifically, the IC card 121 can be an IC card that stores information contained in the user data 250 and uses it as card data for the conventional system. This information can be any information contained in the user data 250, and can be part or all of the information contained in the user data 250.

<Example of Card Data Structure>

Figure 11 is a schematic diagram, shows the main construction example of this card data.As shown in Figure 11, card data 320 can comprise identification data (ID) 211, currency amount information 252, regular ticket information 253 and entry/exit record information 254.These information items are identical with the corresponding information item described in first embodiment.Currency amount information 252, regular ticket information 253 and entry/exit record information 254 are used for entry processing or exit processing, and even upgrade in the conventional system.Therefore, the IC card 121 of storage as these information items of card data 320 also can be used for the conventional system.

Please note that the card data 320 may include any content, including information other than the information shown in Figure 11. For example, the user information 256 may be included in the card data 320. In addition, part of the information shown in Figure 11 may be omitted.

In addition, the card data 320 is a general name given for the convenience of explanation of a data group and is stored in a storage device (IC card 121) owned by the user. Therefore, the card data 320 may be given as an actual data structure or may not be given.

Furthermore, data reading and updating need not be performed in units of the card data 320. Various types of data included in the card data 320 can be read from the IC card 121 or updated as necessary.

Furthermore, card data 320 is data stored in a user's storage device and can be applied to the storage device even when the storage device is not a contactless IC card. More specifically, the term "card data" used herein, and referring to IC card 121 as an example of a storage device, does not mean that the user's storage device is limited to a contactless IC card. Card data 320 is therefore applicable to any type of device. In other words, card data 320 can be called anything other than "card data."

<Functional blocks of each structure>

12 shows an example of a configuration of functional blocks representing functions implemented in this example by the IC card 121, gate controller 104, regional server 102, and central server 101. These configurations can be implemented, for example, by program execution or data processing.

12 , the IC card 121 in this example implements a card data storage unit 331, a card data providing unit 332, a card data acquiring unit 333, etc. The card data storage unit 331 stores the card data 320. The card data storage unit 331 is implemented by the storage unit 181 under the control of the information processing unit 182.

The card data providing unit 332 performs processing related to providing the card data 320 stored in the card data storage unit 331. The card data providing unit 332 is implemented by the storage unit 181 and the wireless communication unit 183 under the control of the information processing unit 182. For example, the card data providing unit 332 reads the card data 320 from the card data storage unit 331 (storage unit 181) and provides the card data 320 to the gate controller 104 via the wireless communication unit 183 (via the reader/writer 105).

The card data acquisition unit 333 performs processing related to acquisition of card data. The card data acquisition unit 333 is implemented by the storage unit 181 and the wireless communication unit 183 under the control of the information processing unit 182. For example, the card data acquisition unit 333 acquires the card data 320 provided from the gate controller 104 via the wireless communication unit 183 (via the reader/writer 105), and provides the card data 320 to the data storage unit 331 (storage unit 181) to store the card data 320 in the data storage unit 331 (storage unit 181).

Furthermore, the gate controller 104 in this example implements functional blocks such as the authentication processing unit 221, the card data acquisition unit 342, and the card data provision unit 343. The card data acquisition unit 342 performs processing related to acquiring the card data 320 provided from the IC card 121. The card data acquisition unit 342 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the communication unit 164. For example, the card data acquisition unit 342 acquires the card data 320 provided from the IC card 121 via the communication unit 164 (via the reader/writer 105). For example, the card data acquisition unit 342 also acquires the card data 320 provided from the area server 102 via the communication unit 164 (via the site server 103).

The card data providing unit 343 performs processing related to providing the card data 320. For example, the card data providing unit 343 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the communication unit 164. For example, the card data providing unit 343 provides the card data acquired by the card data acquiring unit 342 to the regional server 102 via the communication unit 164 (via the site server 103). For example, the card data providing unit 343 also provides the card data acquired by the card data acquiring unit 342 to the IC card 121 via the communication unit 164 (via the reader/writer 105).

In addition, the regional server 102 in this example implements functional blocks such as a user data acquisition unit 231, a card data acquisition unit 352, an inbound processing unit 233, an outbound processing unit 234, a card data providing unit 357, a prediction processing unit 235, and a user data providing unit 236.

The card data acquisition unit 352 performs processing related to acquiring the card data 320 provided from the gate controller 104. For example, the card data acquisition unit 352 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and control of the communication unit 164. For example, the card data acquisition unit 352 acquires the card data 320 (at least the identification data (ID) 211) provided from the gate controller 104 via the communication unit 164 (via the site server 103).

The card data providing unit 357 performs processing related to providing card data 320 corresponding to the user data 250 updated through the entry or exit process. For example, the card data providing unit 357 is executed by the CPU 151 through processing and controlling the database 112 (or storage unit 163) and the communication unit 164. For example, the card data providing unit 357 provides part or all of the information included in the user data updated through the entry or exit process to the gate controller 104 via the communication unit 164 (via the station server 103) as the card data 320.

Furthermore, similar to the first embodiment, the central server 101 in this example implements functional blocks such as a user data acquisition unit 241 and a user data providing unit 242 .

Note that the configurations of data to be stored in the database 111 and the database 112 and user data and the like are similar to those of the first embodiment.

<Processing procedures related to entry>

Next, an example flow of processing related to a user entering a station and executed by the above-described information processing system will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 .

First, the gate controller 104, the regional server 102, and the central server 101 initialize settings at the beginning or at other times (steps S311, S321, and S331 in FIG13 ). Thereafter, the central server 101 provides the regional server 102 with initial values and a negative list (a list of identification data (ID) 211 associated with dishonest processing). Note that the negative list may also be provided to the gate controller 104.

Furthermore, the user data acquisition unit 231 of the regional server 102 acquires the user data 250 (step S322) before executing the inbound processing (before step S324). The user data 250 is provided based on the prediction data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211. The user data 250 is provided, for example, from a different regional server 102 or the central server 101. The acquired user data 250 is stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102).

When passing through the ticket gate and entering the ticket gate, the user brings the IC card 121 owned by the user close to the reader/writer 105 of the automatic ticket gate. In this case, the card data providing unit 332 of the IC card 121 performs ID authentication processing and provides the identification data (ID) 211 contained in the card data stored in the card data storage unit 331 to the gate controller 104 (step S301).

The authentication processing unit 221 of the gate controller 104 that has acquired the identification data (ID) 211 performs authentication processing on the acquired identification data (ID) 211 (step S312). Then, when the identification data (ID) 211 is authenticated, the card data providing unit 332 of the IC card 121 provides the card data 320 stored in the card data storage unit 331 to the gate controller 104 (step S302).

The card data acquiring unit 342 of the gate controller 104 acquires the card data 320 (step S313 ). Then, the card data providing unit 343 provides the card data 320 acquired by the card data acquiring unit 342 to the area server 102 (step S314 ).

The card data acquisition unit 352 of the regional server 102 acquires the card data 320 (step S323). The user data acquisition unit 231 checks whether the user data 250 corresponding to the acquired card data 320 (the identification data (ID) included in the card data 320) is already stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102). If the user data 250 does not exist in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102), that is, if the regional server 102 made a prediction error, the user data acquisition unit 231 acquires the user data 250 corresponding to the acquired identification data (ID) 211 from the central server 101 (step S324).

In response to the request from the user data acquiring unit 231 of the area server 102 , the user data providing unit 242 of the center server 101 provides the requested user data 250 to the area server 102 (step S332 ).

When the current user data 250 is prepared in the above-described manner, the inbound processing unit 233 of the area server 102 performs inbound processing and updates the current user data 250 corresponding to the processing target as necessary (step S361 in FIG. 14 ).

Note that when information for a different system (such as card data 320) is used for a system such as in this embodiment, it may be necessary to distinguish whether outbound processing has already been performed by the system (information processing system 100) before the inbound processing or by a different system. In this case, the inbound processing unit 233 can make this distinction based on a comparison between the data acquired from the IC card 121 during the inbound processing and the server data (data acquired from the different regional servers 102 or the central server 101). Alternatively, the inbound processing unit 233 can make this distinction based on a comparison between the data acquired from the IC card 121 (such as the inbound/outbound log information 254) and the server data only when data inconsistency is detected by checking the consistency of the data acquired from the IC card 121 during the inbound processing (checking whether the inbound processing has been performed normally).

After the entry processing is completed, the card data providing unit 357 provides part or all of the information included in the updated user data 250 as updated card data 320 to the gate controller 104 (step S362). The card data acquisition unit 342 of the gate controller 104 acquires the card data 320 (step S351). Thereafter, the card data providing unit 343 provides the acquired card data 320 to the IC card 121 to update the card data 320 stored in the IC card 121 to the provided card data 320 (step S352). The card data acquisition unit 333 of the IC card 121 acquires the provided card data 320 and provides the card data 320 to the card data storage unit 331 to update (rewrite) the card data 320 stored in the card data storage unit 331 (step S341).

Furthermore, the prediction processing unit 235 of the regional server 102 predicts the next exit point of the user of the IC card 121 corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 who has performed the entry process (step S363). More specifically, the prediction processing unit 235 predicts the regional server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs as the gate controller 104 that will subsequently read the card data 320 (at least the identification data (ID) 211) from the IC card 121 based on the prediction data (such as the periodic ticket information 253 and the behavior history 255) included in the user data 250 updated by the entry process.

After the prediction is completed, as the gate controller 104 subsequently reads the card data 320 (at least the identification data (ID) 211) from the IC card 121, the user data providing unit 236 provides the user data 250 updated through the entry processing to the regional server 102 predicted to be the regional server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs (step S364).

Furthermore, the user data providing unit 236 also provides the user data 250 updated through the inbound processing to the central server 101 to update the user data 250 stored in the database 111 or the like and managed by the central server 101 (step S365 ).

The user data acquisition unit 241 of the central server 101 acquires the user data 250 and updates the user data 250 managed (stored) in the database 111 or the like (reflecting the update of the user data 250 ) based on the user data 250 (step S371 ).

The information processing system 100 performs processing related to station entry in the manner described above.

<Processing flow related to outbound traffic>

Next, an example flow of processing related to user outbound and executed by the above-described information processing system will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 .

First, the gate controller 104, the regional server 102, and the central server 101 initialize settings at the beginning or at other times (steps S411, S421, and S431 in FIG15 ). Thereafter, the central server 101 provides the initial values and a negative list (a list of identification data (ID) 211 associated with dishonest processing) to the regional server 102. Note that the negative list may also be provided to the gate controller 104.

Furthermore, the user data acquisition unit 231 of the regional server 102 acquires the user data 250 (step S422) before executing outbound processing (before step S424). The user data 250 is provided based on the prediction data corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211. The user data 250 is provided, for example, from a different regional server 102 or the central server 101. The acquired user data 250 is stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102).

When passing through the ticket gate and leaving the ticket gate, the user brings the IC card 121 in the user's possession close to the reader/writer 105 of the automatic ticket gate. In this case, the card data providing unit 332 of the IC card 121 performs ID authentication processing and provides the identification data (ID) 211 contained in the card data 320 stored in the card data storage unit 331 to the gate controller 104 (step S401).

The authentication processing unit 221 of the gate controller 104 that has acquired the identification data (ID) 211 performs authentication processing on the acquired identification data (ID) 211 (step S412). Then, when the identification data (ID) 211 is authenticated, the card data providing unit 343 provides the identification data (ID) 211 to the area server 102 (step S413).

The card data acquisition unit 352 of the regional server 102 acquires the identification data (ID) 211 (step S423). The user data acquisition unit 231 checks whether the user data 250 corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 acquired by the card data acquisition unit 352 is already stored in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102). If the user data 250 does not exist in the database 112 (or the storage unit 163 of the regional server 102), that is, if the regional server 102 made a prediction error, the user data acquisition unit 231 acquires the user data 250 corresponding to the acquired identification data (ID) 211 from the central server 101 (step S424).

In response to the request from the user data acquiring unit 231 of the area server 102 , the user data providing unit 242 of the center server 101 provides the requested user data 250 to the area server 102 (step S432 ).

When the current user data 250 is prepared in the above-described manner, the outbound processing unit 234 of the area server 102 performs outbound processing and updates the current user data 250 corresponding to the processing target as necessary (step S461).

After the exit processing is completed, the card data providing unit 357 provides part or all of the information contained in the updated user data 250 as updated card data 320 to the gate controller 104 (step S462). The card data acquisition unit 342 of the gate controller 104 acquires the card data 320 (step S451). Thereafter, the card data providing unit 343 provides the acquired card data 320 to the IC card 121 to update the card data 320 stored in the IC card 121 to the provided card data 320 (step S452). The card data acquisition unit 333 of the IC card 121 acquires the provided card data 320 and provides the card data 320 to the card data storage unit 331 to update (rewrite) the card data 320 stored in the card data storage unit 331 (step S441).

Furthermore, the prediction processing unit 235 of the regional server 102 predicts the next entry point for the user of the IC card 121 corresponding to the identification data (ID) 211 who has performed the entry process (step S463). More specifically, the prediction processing unit 235 predicts the regional server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs as the gate controller 104 that will subsequently read the card data 320 (at least the identification data (ID) 211) from the IC card 121 based on the prediction data (such as the periodic ticket information 253 and the behavior history 255) included in the user data 250 updated by the exit process.

After the prediction is completed, as the gate controller 104 subsequently reads the card data 320 (at least the identification data (ID) 211) from the IC card 121, the user data providing unit 236 provides the user data 250 updated through the outbound processing to the regional server 102 predicted to be the regional server 102 to which the gate controller 104 belongs (step S464).

Furthermore, the user data providing unit 236 also provides the user data 250 updated through the inbound processing to the central server 101 to update the user data 250 stored in the database 111 or the like and managed by the central server 101 (step S465 ).

The user data acquisition unit 241 of the central server 101 acquires the user data 250 and updates the user data 250 managed (stored) in the database 111 or the like (reflecting the update of the user data 250 ) based on the user data 250 (step S471 ).

The information processing system 100 performs outbound-related processing in the manner described above.

<Comparison between inbound processing and outbound processing>

FIG17 is a diagram showing a comparison of inbound processing and outbound processing between a conventional fare adjustment system and an information processing system 100 to which the present technology has been applied.

According to conventional systems, a gate controller performs all of the following: authentication of identification data (ID) (reading identification data (ID)), reading of currency information, period tickets, entry/exit records from IC cards, fare adjustment processing associated with entry and exit processing, and writing of card data to IC cards, as shown in FIG17A. In this case, each of these processes must be completed within the time it takes a user to pass through the ticket gate (the short time it takes for the user to hold the IC card close to the reader/writer).

Figure 17B shows the processing performed by information processing system 100 when a user enters a station, while Figure 17C shows the processing performed when a user exits a station. As shown in Figures 17B and 17C, gate controller 104 of information processing system 100 only performs identification data (ID) authentication (ID reading), card data reading, and card data writing when a user enters or exits a station. Each fare adjustment process (entry or exit) indicated by the shaded area is executed by regional server 102.

In this case, compared to conventional systems, similar to the present embodiment, the information processing system 100 significantly reduces the load imposed on the gate controller 104 and achieves cost reduction. Therefore, the cost of the entire system can be significantly reduced.

Furthermore, the number of regional servers 102 provided is typically smaller than the number of gate controllers 104 provided. In this case, the performance of the regional servers 102 can be improved at a lower cost than that of the gate controllers 104. This allows for increased processing speed for both entry and exit processing without increasing costs. Furthermore, while the regional servers 102 are performing fare adjustment processing, the gate controllers 104 can perform other processing. In this case, fewer restrictions are placed on the processing time of the information processing system 100 than in conventional systems. This makes it easier to add processing to the information processing system 100, making it easier to add new services or implement system changes. In other words, this avoids reducing system flexibility.

In addition, the inbound processing or the outbound processing is performed by the regional server 102 of the information processing system 100. In this case, information such as the negative list does not need to be distributed to the gate controller 104. Therefore, the distribution processing and communication traffic do not increase.

Furthermore, since the gate controller 104 performs less processing, hardware maintenance and software updates in the gate controller 104 are more convenient. Furthermore, since much of the processing is performed by the regional server 102, some processing, such as software updates, can be performed only on the regional server 102, depending on the situation. Consequently, the cost and difficulty associated with hardware maintenance and software updates are not increased.

Furthermore, inbound processing and outbound processing are shared among the plurality of regional servers 102. Therefore, the information processing system 100 reduces excessive concentration of processing load and communication traffic, and makes it easier to implement these processes.

As can be seen from the above, the information processing system 100 provides a system that can improve efficiency while reducing load concentration.

<Software>

The above series of processes can be executed by hardware or by software. When the above series of processes are executed by software, a program constituting the software is installed from a network or a recording medium.

For example, such a recording medium is composed of a removable medium 171 including a recorded program, and is distributed to users to transfer the program separately from the device main body, as shown in FIG3. The removable medium 171 includes magnetic disks (including floppy disks) and optical disks (including CD-ROMs and DVDs). The removable medium 171 also includes magneto-optical disks (such as mini discs (MDs)), semiconductor memories, and the like.

For example, when the removable medium 171 is connected to the drive 165 , the program stored in the removable medium 171 can be read by the drive 165 and installed in the storage unit 163 of each device, such as the central server 101 , the regional server 102 , the site server 103 , and the gate controller 104 .

Alternatively, the program may be provided via a wired or wireless transmission medium, such as a local area network, the Internet, or digital satellite broadcasting. For example, the program may be received via the communication unit 164 and installed in the storage unit 163 of each device, such as the central server 101, the regional server 102, the site server 103, and the gate controller 104. Furthermore, in the case of the IC card 121, for example, the program may be received via the wireless communication unit 183 via the reader/writer 105 and the antenna 184 and installed in the storage unit 181.

Alternatively, the program may be pre-installed. For example, the program may be pre-installed in the storage unit 163, ROM 152, etc. in each device, such as the central server 101, the regional server 102, the site server 103, and the gate controller 104. Furthermore, in the case of the IC card 121, for example, the program may be pre-installed in the storage unit 181.

Note that the program executed by the computer may be a program that is executed time-sequentially in the order described in this specification or a program that executes processing in parallel or when necessary (such as when called).

Furthermore, the steps explaining the program recorded in the recording medium include not only processes executed chronologically in the order discussed herein but also processes executed in parallel or individually rather than chronologically.

Furthermore, the processing in each of the above steps may be performed by any of the above devices or any device other than the above devices. In this case, the device performing the processing is configured to perform the functions (functional blocks, etc.) required to perform the processing. The device performing the processing is also configured to receive information transmission required for the processing.

<Other>

Furthermore, according to this specification, a system refers to a collection of multiple constituent elements, such as devices and modules (components), and includes both cases where all constituent elements are contained in the same housing and cases where some of the constituent elements are not contained in the same housing. Therefore, multiple devices housed in separate housings and connected via a network, as well as a single device including multiple modules housed in a single housing, are both considered systems.

Furthermore, according to the foregoing description, a configuration discussed as a single device (or processing unit) may be divided into multiple devices (or processing units). Conversely, a configuration discussed as multiple devices (or processing units) may constitute a single device (or processing unit). Obviously, the configuration discussed herein may be added to the configuration of each device (or each processing unit). Furthermore, when the configuration and operation of the entire system are substantially the same, a portion of the configuration of a particular device (or processing unit) may be incorporated into the configuration of another device (or another processing unit).

While preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to these examples. It is apparent that various variations and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technical spirit of the present disclosure as set forth in the claims. Therefore, it should be understood that such variations and modifications are also encompassed within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the present technology is applicable to a cloud computing system in which a plurality of devices share one function and perform processing in cooperation with each other via a network.

Furthermore, the various steps discussed with reference to the aforementioned flowcharts may be shared and executed by a plurality of devices, rather than being executed by one device.

Furthermore, in the case where a plurality of processes are included in one step, the plurality of processes included in one step may be shared and executed by a plurality of devices, rather than being executed by one device.

In addition, the present technology can be implemented by any structure installed on the aforementioned device or the device constituting the aforementioned system, such as a processor as a large-scale integrated system (LSI), a module including multiple processors, a unit including multiple modules, and an assembly that adds other functions to a unit (i.e., a structure that is a part of the device).

Note that the present technology can have the following configurations.

(1) An information processing system comprising:

one or more central servers, one or more regional servers assigned to each central server;

a plurality of regional servers, each regional server belonging to one or more of the central servers, one or more gate controllers different from each other being assigned to each regional server; and

Multiple gate controllers, each gate controller belongs to a corresponding regional server and communicates with a storage device, wherein

Each central server includes a management unit that manages user data based on identification data, the user data being data about the user.

Each region server consists of:

a user data acquisition unit configured to acquire user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data;

a first identification data acquisition unit that acquires identification data from a gate controller assigned to a corresponding regional server, and

a user data processing unit that processes user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the first identification data acquiring unit and acquired by the user data acquiring unit, and

Each gate controller includes:

a second identification data acquisition unit that acquires identification data from a storage device storing the identification data, and

An identification data providing unit is configured to provide the identification data acquired by the second identification data acquiring unit to a regional server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs.

(2) An information processing method for an information processing system, the information processing system comprising:

one or more central servers, one or more regional servers assigned to each central server;

a plurality of regional servers, each regional server belonging to one or more of the central servers, one or more gate controllers different from each other being assigned to each regional server; and

Multiple gate controllers, each gate controller belongs to a corresponding regional server and communicates with a storage device, wherein

Each central server manages user data, which is data about a user, based on identification data.

Each regional server acquires user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data, acquires the identification data from a gate controller assigned to the corresponding regional server, and processes the acquired user data, the user data corresponding to the acquired identification data; and

Each gate controller obtains identification data from a storage device storing identification data, and provides the obtained identification data to a regional server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs.

(3) An information processing device, the information processing device belonging to one or more central servers, one or more gate controllers assigned to the information processing device, the information processing device comprising:

a user data acquisition unit configured to acquire user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data, the user data being data about the user;

an identification data acquisition unit that acquires identification data read from a storage device storing identification data and provided from a gate controller assigned to the information processing device; and

A user data processing unit processes user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquiring unit and acquired by the user data acquiring unit.

(4) An information processing device according to (3), wherein the user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided by different information processing devices belonging to one or more central servers based on the prediction data, and one or more gate controllers different from each other are assigned to the different information processing devices.

(5) The information processing device according to (3) or (4), wherein the user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided from a corresponding central server based on the prediction data.

(6) The information processing device according to any one of (3) to (5), wherein the user data acquisition unit acquires the user data from a corresponding central server when the user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit is not provided.

(7) The information processing device according to any one of (3) to (6), wherein

The prediction data is data used to predict the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, and the gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device, and

Based on the prediction data, the user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided according to the prediction of the information processing device for the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, and the gate controller then reads identification data from the storage device.

(8) The information processing device according to (7), wherein

The prediction data includes data related to the behavior history of the user of the storage device, the storage device stores identification data corresponding to the prediction data, and

Based on data related to the user's behavior history, the user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided according to prediction by the information processing device for the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, and the gate controller then reads identification data from the storage device.

(9) The information processing device according to (7) or (8), wherein

The predicted data includes data related to a commuter ticket of a user of the storage device, the storage device storing identification data corresponding to the predicted data, and

The user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided according to prediction by the information processing device for the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, based on data related to the user's commuter ticket, and the gate controller then reads identification data from the storage device.

(10) The information processing device according to any one of (3) to (9), wherein

The user data includes identification data and data related to the user's inbound and outbound history, and

The user data processing unit updates data related to the entry and exit history and included in the user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

(11) The information processing device according to (10), wherein

The user data also includes data on the amount of registered electronic money, and

The user data processing unit updates data related to an amount of registered electronic money and included in the user data of the user, based on entry or exit of the user corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

(12) The information processing device according to (11), wherein

The user data also includes data related to the commuter ticket, and

The user data processing unit updates data related to the amount of registered electronic money and included in the user data of the user as necessary based on the user's entry or exit and data related to the commuter ticket corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

(13) The information processing device according to any one of (3) to (12), further comprising:

a prediction unit that predicts an information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, and the gate controller then reads identification data from the storage device; and

A user data providing unit provides the user data processed by the user data processing unit to a different information processing device predicted by the prediction unit as an information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, and the gate controller then reads identification data from the storage device.

(14) The information processing device according to (13), wherein the user data providing unit further provides the user data processed by the user data processing unit to a corresponding central server.

(15) The information processing device according to any one of (3) to (14), wherein

The user data includes data related to the user's inbound and outbound history.

The identification data acquisition unit acquires data related to the entry and exit history of the user, which is read from the storage device and provided from the gate controller assigned to the information processing device, and

The user data processing unit updates data related to the user's entry and exit history and included in the user data corresponding to the identification data and data related to the user's entry and exit history and acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

(16) The information processing device according to any one of (3) to (15), wherein

The user data includes data related to the amount of registered electronic money,

The identification data acquisition unit acquires data related to the amount of registered electronic money, which is read from the storage device and provided from the gate controller assigned to the information processing device, and

The user data processing unit updates data related to the amount of registered electronic money and included in the user data corresponding to the identification data and data related to the amount of registered electronic money and acquired by the identification data acquisition unit.

(17) The information processing device according to (16), wherein

The user data also includes data related to the commuter ticket, and

The user data processing unit updates the data related to the amount of registered electronic money and contained in the user data and the data related to the amount of registered electronic money and acquired by the identification data acquisition unit based on the user's entry or exit and data related to the commuter ticket when necessary.

(18) An information processing device according to any one of (3) to (17), wherein a gate controller assigned to the information processing device is set in a physical area different from a physical area in which a gate controller assigned to a different information processing device is set.

(19) The information processing device according to any one of (3) to (18), further including a storage unit that stores the user data.

(20) An information processing method, the information processing method belonging to one or more central servers, one or more gate controllers different from each other being assigned to the information processing method, the information processing method comprising:

acquiring user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on the prediction data corresponding to the identification data, the user data being related to data about the user;

acquiring identification data read from a storage device storing identification data and provided from a gate controller assigned to the information processing method; and

The acquired user data is processed, the user data corresponding to the acquired identification data.

Reference Signs List

100 Information Processing Systems

101 Central Server

102 region servers

103 Site Server

104 Gate Controller

105 Reader/Writer

111 Database

112 Database

121 IC card

Line 130

131 sites

151 central processing unit

152 Read-only memory

153 Random Access Memory

154 bus

160 Input/Output Interfaces

161 Input Unit

162 output units

163 storage units

164 Communication Unit

165 Driver

171 Removable Media

181 storage units

182 Information Processing Unit

183 Wireless Communication Unit

184 Antenna

201 ID storage unit

202 ID providing unit

211 Identification data (ID)

221 Authentication Processing Unit

222 ID providing unit

231 User data acquisition unit

232 ID acquisition unit

233 Inbound Processing Unit

234 Outbound Processing Unit

235 Prediction Processing Unit

236 User data providing unit

241 User data acquisition unit

242 User data providing unit

252 Currency Information

253 Commuter Ticket Information

254 Entry/Exit Record Information

255 Behavioral History

256 User Information

310 Line

311 Site

320 card data

331 card data storage unit

332 Card data providing unit

333 card data acquisition unit

342 Card Data Acquisition Unit

343 Card Data Provider Unit

352 Card Data Acquisition Unit

357 Card data providing unit.

Claims (19)

1. An information processing system, comprising: One or more central servers, and one or more regional servers are assigned to each central server; Multiple regional servers, each belonging to one or more central servers, and one or more gate controllers, distinct from each other, assigned to each regional server; and Multiple turnstile controllers, each belonging to a corresponding area server and communicating with the storage device, wherein... Each central server includes a management unit that manages user data based on identification data, which is data about the user, wherein the identification data corresponds to the identifier of the storage device. Each region server includes: The user data acquisition unit acquires user data corresponding to the identification data and provides it based on the predicted data corresponding to the identification data. The first identification data acquisition unit acquires identification data from the gate controller allocated to the corresponding area server, and A user data processing unit processes user data that corresponds to the identifier data acquired by the first identifier data acquisition unit and is also acquired by the user data acquisition unit. A prediction unit predicts a specific region server among the plurality of region servers based on processed user data from a corresponding region server, wherein the specific region server is different from the corresponding region server. The specific gate controller among the plurality of gate controllers then reads identification data from the storage device based on the prediction of the specific region server, and the specific gate controller is associated with the specific region server. The user data providing unit provides the processed user data to the specific area server, and Each gate controller includes: The second identification data acquisition unit acquires the identification data from the storage device storing the identification data, and The identification data providing unit provides the identification data obtained by the second identification data acquisition unit to the area server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs. 2. An information processing method for an information processing system, the information processing system comprising: One or more central servers, and one or more regional servers are assigned to each central server; Multiple regional servers, each belonging to one or more central servers, and one or more gate controllers, distinct from each other, assigned to each regional server; and Multiple turnstile controllers, each belonging to a corresponding area server and communicating with the storage device, wherein... Each central server manages user data based on identifier data, which is data about the user, where the identifier data corresponds to the identifier of the storage device. Each area server acquires user data corresponding to identification data and based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data. It acquires identification data from the gate controller assigned to the corresponding area server and processes the acquired user data, which corresponds to the acquired identification data. Based on the processed user data for the corresponding area server, it predicts a specific area server among the plurality of area servers and provides the processed user data to the specific area server, wherein the specific area server is different from the corresponding area server. The specific gate controller among the plurality of gate controllers then reads the identification data from the storage device based on the prediction for the specific area server, and the specific gate controller is associated with the specific area server. Each gate controller retrieves the identification data from the storage device that stores the identification data, and provides the retrieved identification data to the area server to which the corresponding gate controller belongs. 3. An information processing device, wherein the information processing device belongs to one or more central servers, and one or more gate controllers are assigned to the information processing device, the information processing device comprising: User data acquisition unit, which acquires user data corresponding to identification data and based on prediction data corresponding to the identification data, wherein the user data is data about the user; An identification data acquisition unit acquires identification data read from a storage device storing identification data and provided from a gate controller allocated to the information processing device. User data processing unit, which processes user data corresponding to the identification data obtained by the identification data acquisition unit and obtained by the user data acquisition unit; A prediction unit predicts a specific information processing device based on processed user data, wherein the specific information processing device is different from the information processing device described above. A specific gate controller associated with the specific information processing device then reads identification data from the storage device based on the prediction of the specific information processing device. The user data providing unit provides the processed user data to the specific information processing device. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the user data acquisition unit acquires user data provided by different information processing devices belonging to one or more central servers based on the predicted data, and one or more gate controllers that are different from each other are assigned to the different information processing devices. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the user data acquisition unit acquires the user data provided from the corresponding central server based on the prediction data. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, in the absence of user data corresponding to the identification data acquired by the identification data acquisition unit, the user data acquisition unit acquires the user data from a corresponding central server. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein The predicted data is data used to predict the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs. The gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device. Based on the predicted data, the user data acquisition unit acquires the user data provided by the information processing device according to the prediction of the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, and the gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein The prediction data includes data related to the user's behavioral history on the storage device, which stores the identification data corresponding to the prediction data, and Based on data related to the user's behavioral history, the user data acquisition unit acquires the user data provided by the information processing device according to the prediction of the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, and the gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein The prediction data includes data related to periodic tickets for users of the storage device, which stores the identification data corresponding to the prediction data, and Based on data related to the user's periodic ticket, the user data acquisition unit acquires the user data provided by the information processing device according to the prediction of the information processing device to which the gate controller belongs, and the gate controller then reads the identification data from the storage device. 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein The user data includes the identification data and data related to the user's entry and exit history, as well as... The user data processing unit updates data that is related to the entry and exit history and is included in the user data corresponding to the identification data obtained by the identification data acquisition unit. 11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein The user data also includes data related to the amount of registered electronic currency, and Based on the user's entry or exit from the station corresponding to the identification data obtained by the identification data acquisition unit, the user data processing unit updates the data related to the amount of the registered electronic currency and included in the user's user data. 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein The user data also includes data related to period tickets, and Based on the entry or exit data of the user corresponding to the identification data obtained by the identification data acquisition unit and the data related to the periodic ticket, the user data processing unit updates the data related to the amount of the registered electronic currency and included in the user's user data. 13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the user data providing unit also provides the user data processed by the user data processing unit to the corresponding central server. 14. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein The user data includes data related to the user's entry and exit history. The identification data acquisition unit acquires data related to the user's entry and exit history, reads data from the storage device, and obtains data provided by the gate controller allocated to the information processing device. The user data processing unit updates data related to the user's entry and exit history and included in the user data corresponding to the identification data, as well as data related to the user's entry and exit history and acquired by the identification data acquisition unit. 15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein The user data includes information related to the amount of registered electronic currency. The identification data acquisition unit acquires data related to the amount of registered electronic currency by reading data from the storage device and data provided by the gate controller allocated to the information processing device. The user data processing unit updates data related to the amount of the registered electronic currency and included in the user data corresponding to the identification data, as well as data related to the amount of the registered electronic currency and acquired by the identification data acquisition unit. 16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein The user data also includes data related to period tickets, and The user data processing unit updates data related to the amount of the registered electronic currency and included in the user data, as well as data related to the amount of the registered electronic currency and acquired by the identification data acquisition unit, based on the user's entry or exit data and data related to the periodic ticket. 17. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the gate controller assigned to the information processing apparatus is located in a physical area different from the physical area set by the gate controller assigned to a different information processing apparatus. 18. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 further includes a storage unit for storing the user data. 19. An information processing method belonging to one or more central servers, wherein one or more gate controllers, distinct from each other, are assigned to the information processing method, the information processing method comprising: In information processing devices Acquire user data corresponding to the identification data and provided based on the predicted data corresponding to the identification data, wherein the user data relates to data about the user; The identification data is read from the storage device storing the identification data and provided by the gate controller assigned to the information processing method; The acquired user data is processed, and the user data corresponds to the acquired identifier data; Based on the prediction of a specific information processing device based on processed user data, wherein the specific information processing device is different from the information processing device, a specific gate controller associated with the specific information processing device then reads identification data from the storage device based on the prediction of the specific information processing device; and The processed user data is provided to the specific information processing device.