JP2001045168A - Data arrival notice system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system that can simply notify the arrival of an electronic mail. SOLUTION: A call section 104 of a transmission system 101 starts calling to a telephone number of a user when an arrived mail is added to user information and terminates the calling within a predetermined duration time. A reception system 111 lights a display section 115 when the time from the start of call until the end of call is equal to the predetermined duration time, terminates the processing when the time is shorter than the predetermined duration time, and operates a changeover switch 112 to connect a public telephone line 110 to a telephone set 121 when the time is longer than the predetermined duration time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data arrival notification system for notifying the arrival of data.

2. Description of the Related Art When a home user uses electronic mail, it is general to use a personal computer having a built-in modem as a terminal and connect the computer to a provider via a telephone line. The e-mail sent to the user is temporarily stored in the provider's mail server computer, so the user accesses the provider, downloads the e-mail addressed to the user via the telephone line, and browses it on the personal computer of the terminal. Become.

In this case, it is necessary to access the provider using a telephone line to determine whether or not the electronic mail addressed to the provider has reached the provider. Therefore, e-mail is not suitable for communication in an emergency or the like. If an e-mail is to be used for emergency contact, the user must frequently access the provider to confirm the incoming call, and the telephone call fee is charged for each confirmation. It is understandable that you will be charged when you download your own mail, but if the call charge is charged simply for confirmation, the call charge will increase wastefully and it is not desirable. The psychological shock to the user when no new email has arrived can be quite large.

On the other hand, it is possible for a provider to notify a user of an incoming e-mail, but it is not realistic for the provider to pay a call charge and notify the user of an incoming call.

The invention corresponding to the above problem is disclosed in
No. -207055. According to the present invention, upon receiving an e-mail addressed to a certain user, the provider connects to the user's terminal via the telephone line and performs only a telephone call. On the other hand, the user's terminal registers the provider's telephone number in advance, and when there is a call, determines the caller using the number display function, and when the call is from the provider, the provider displays the provider with the display device. Is displayed, and the call from the provider is set to be terminated in a certain period of time, so that the user can know the arrival of the e-mail without being charged.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional method has the following problems. (1) The user needs a separate contract for a number display service with a telephone company. (2) Normally, when using e-mail at home, the existing telephone line is shared with the telephone in most cases. Therefore, at the time of notification of e-mail arrival, the telephone ringing tone sounds without the necessity of talking. Would. Further, when a call is made from the provider, the user may erroneously pick up the handset and switch to the talking state. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide a data arrival notification system that simply performs an arrival notification of an electronic mail or the like without using a number display service. I do. Further, the present invention provides a data arrival notification system capable of notifying both a user and a provider of data reception such as e-mail without paying a call charge.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data arrival notifying system for notifying the arrival of data, the data receiving notice including a telephone number of a receiving destination. When new data arrives at the destination, a search unit that searches the telephone number of the data destination from the destination information storage unit, and a telephone number obtained by the search unit are stored in advance. A transmission system including a paging unit that transmits a paging signal having a predetermined duration, a first timer that measures the duration of the paging signal, and a duration registration unit that stores a predetermined duration. A detection unit for detecting a paging signal and comparing the duration stored in the duration registration unit with the duration of the paging signal; and a paging signal detected by the detection unit from the start of the paging signal. A receiving system comprising: a second timer for measuring the duration of the call signal; and at least one display unit for notifying that the detection unit has detected the paging signal having a predetermined duration. The transmission system and the reception system are connected by a telephone line.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data arrival notification system according to the first aspect, wherein the destination information storage unit stores a predetermined duration for each destination and calls the destination. And transmitting a paging signal having the predetermined duration for each receiver.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data arrival notification system according to the second aspect, wherein the duration registration unit registers the duration for each of the plurality of transmission systems, and the display unit displays the duration. The transmission system which transmitted the detected call signal is displayed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data arrival notification system according to the third aspect, wherein the number of display units is equal to the number of durations that can be stored in the duration registration unit, and the number of detection units is equal to the number of the durations. When one of the durations is detected, the display corresponding to the detected duration is displayed.
Notifying that the duration has been detected.

[0010] A data arrival notification system according to claim 5 is the data arrival notification system according to claim 1, wherein the data is an electronic mail.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the data arrival notifying system according to the fifth aspect, the receiving system is connected to the telephone, and the receiving system detects a connection destination of the telephone line with the telephone. And a changeover switch that switches between the switch and the detection unit until the detection unit detects the call signal of the predetermined duration. Is connected to the telephone when it is detected that the number exceeds the limit.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the data arrival notifying system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the data is pager data.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of the electronic mail arrival notification system according to the present embodiment. This system includes a transmission system 101 on the provider side and a reception system 111 on the user side. The transmitting system 101 on the provider side and the receiving system 111 on the user side are connected by a public telephone line 110, and the receiving system 111 on the user side is connected to a telephone 121.

The sending system 101 on the provider side includes a user information storage unit 102, a search unit 103, a calling unit 10
4 and a first timer 105.

The user information storage unit 102 stores, for each user, individual information of the user (recipient) handled by the provider. For example, the user's telephone number 1021, calling duration 1022, number of incoming mails 1023, incoming mail 1024 is stored.

When an incoming mail arrives at a certain user via the Internet, that is, when the incoming mail is added to the user information storage unit 102, the search unit 103 retrieves the telephone number and duration of the user who received the mail. A search is made from the information storage unit 102, and the searched telephone number and duration are output to the calling unit 104.

Calling unit 1 connected to public telephone line 110
04 starts a call to the telephone number searched by the search unit 103, and ends the call when the duration reached by the search unit 103 is reached. The first timer 105 is the calling unit 1
04 measures the duration of the call.

The receiving system 111 on the user side connects the public telephone line 110 to the telephone 121 and a detecting unit 11 described later.
3; a detecting unit 113 for detecting a calling signal from the calling unit 104 of the sending system 101 on the provider side; and a duration registering unit 114 (see FIG. 1) whose duration is registered in advance. The first to third duration registration units 114-1 to 114-3) and the display unit 115 (first in FIG. 1) that informs the user that a call signal of the time registered in the duration registration unit 114 has been detected. To the third display units 115-1 to 115-1) and a second timer 116 that measures the duration of the call signal when the detection unit 113 detects the start of the call signal.

The detecting unit 113 detects the paging signal, compares the duration stored in the duration registering unit 114 with the duration of the paging signal measured by the second timer 116, and detects the detected paging signal. If the duration of the signal matches the duration stored in the duration registration unit 114, the display unit 115 displays that the registered call signal has been detected.

Further, the detecting unit 113 includes a second timer 1
The duration measured by 16 is a duration register 11
If the duration is longer than the duration stored in 4, that is, if the ringing signal continues, the changeover switch 112 is operated to connect the public telephone line 110 to the telephone 121.

In FIG. 1, three duration registration units 114 are provided (114-1 to 3-4) so that three types of durations (A to C) can be registered. Not just one. The display unit 115 displays the duration registration unit 1
14 are provided according to the number. In the case of FIG. 1, three display units 115-1 to 115-1 are provided, and the detection unit 113
When detecting the call signal of the duration A registered in the first duration registration unit 114-1, the first display unit 115-1 displays that the call signal of the duration A is detected. Similarly, the detecting unit 113 sets the second duration registering unit 11
When the call signal of the duration B registered in 4-2 is detected, the second display unit 115-2 displays that fact, and the detection unit 113 is registered in the third duration registration unit 114-3. When a call signal of duration C is detected, the third display 1
15-3 indicates that fact. As a method of displaying the detection of the call signal, for example, the display units 115-1 to 115-1 may be turned on or displayed in characters.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system embodying the basic configuration of the electronic mail arrival notification system shown in FIG. This system includes a server computer 201 as a sending system 101 used by a provider, and an adapter 221 as a receiving system 111 used by a user.
And Server computer 201 and adapter 22
1 is connected via a telephone line 110.

The server computer 201 has a CPU 20
2. A hard disk 205 having a memory 203, a clock 204 as a first timer 105, a user information storage unit 102 and storing various software, a network interface 206 connected to the Internet 207 by an ISDN line, a public telephone line 110
And second modems 2081, 208 connected to
2 and a server computer 2 including the above components
And a bus 210 for connecting the components in the device 01.

The server computer 201 receives an e-mail sent from another mail server or the like through the first modem 2081 and the network interface 206, and notifies the user of the arrival of the e-mail through the second modem 2082.

The processing of the search unit 103 is performed by the hard disk 2
05 is realized by software stored in the network interface 20 from the Internet 207.
6 or when the e-mail is received via the first modem 2081, the processing is executed on the CPU 202 and the memory 203.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing of the search unit 103. First, the header of the received e-mail is read, and the recipient of the e-mail is detected (step S301). Subsequently, the user information of the recipient is searched from the user information storage unit 102 in the hard disk 205, the received e-mail is added to the incoming mail 1024 (step S302), and the number of received mails of the user information is incremented by one (step S303). ).

Thereafter, the telephone number of the searched user information is read and output to the second modem 2082 (step S304), and the duration TA is read from the duration 1022 of the user information storage unit 102 to read the second modem 2082.
(Step S305). Note that the value of TA may be set to a different value for each user, or may be set to a value previously reported to the provider by the user.

On the other hand, the processing of the calling unit 104 is realized by the second modem 2082 and software stored in the hard disk 205, and the second modem 2082 receives the telephone number and the duration of the user information. C at the time
It is executed on the PU 202 and the memory 203.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing of the calling unit 104, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the timing of the processing of the calling unit 104. The processing of the calling unit 104 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the telephone line is turned off-hook using the second modem 2082 (step S401). Next, a dial tone (e.g., a 400 Hz sine wave) is detected (step S402). If the dial tone cannot be obtained, an error notification process (e.g., an error notification LED) may be performed because a cause such as a line connection error may be considered.
(Not shown)) to end the process of the calling unit 104 (step S403).

If a dial tone is obtained in step S402, the telephone number read by the above-described processing of the search unit 103 is dialed (step S404). The dial may use either a pulse type or a push type.

After dialing, a ringing tone is detected (step S).
405) If no ringing tone is obtained, it is determined whether a busy tone is obtained (step S406). If the busy tone cannot be obtained, an error notification process, for example, a process of turning on an error notification LED (not shown) is performed, and the process of the calling unit 104 is terminated (step S407). .

If a busy tone is obtained in step S406, this telephone number is temporarily recorded in a buffer (realized by the memory 203 or the hard disk 205) as busy process, and the calling process is executed again after a predetermined time. Is set (step S408). The number of re-executions of the calling process is preferably determined in advance. The distinction between the ringing tone and the busy tone is made based on an arbitrary discriminating method. For example, a 400 Hz ringing tone modulated at 15-20 Hz
If the busy sound is a sine wave and a 400 Hz sine wave without modulation, it may be determined based on the presence or absence of modulation. Alternatively, if a busy sound is obtained without performing the busy process of step S408, the fact that the user is busy may be notified, and the process of the calling unit 104 may be terminated.

If a ringing tone is obtained in step S405, the starting time t1 of the ringing tone is obtained from the clock 204 and stored in a buffer (realized by the memory 203) (step S409). Then, wait until the elapsed time from t1 reaches the duration TA obtained by the search unit 103, that is, (current time-t1)> TA (step S410), and when the duration TA is reached, the telephone line is disconnected. An on-hook state is set (step S411). By the above procedure, the server computer 20 of the provider
When 1 receives a new e-mail, it signals the recipient of duration TA.

Next, referring to FIG.
1 will be described in detail. The adapter 221 is connected to the CPU 22
2, a memory 223, a clock 224 as the second timer 116, and an LED 225 as the display unit 115 (FIG.
The first to third LEDs 225-1 to 225-3), a changeover switch 229 corresponding to the changeover switch 112, a switch driver 226 for operating the changeover switch 229, a telephone interface 227 for detecting a telephone dial tone, a selection switch 228, And an adapter 22 including the above components
1 comprises a bus 230 for connecting each component.

The memory 223 includes a duration registering unit 114. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, three types of duration TA,
Since TB and TC can be stored in advance, for example, when the user has contracted with three providers, the duration can be registered for each provider. It is also possible to register the duration for each sender of the mail. The durations TA, TB, and TC registered in the duration registration unit 114 have the same values as the durations 1022 stored in the user information storage unit 102 of the transmission system 101.

The first to third LEDs 225-1 to 225-3 are:
First to third duration registration units 114-1 to 114-3, respectively
Are provided for each of the LED2 and when a certain duration is detected by a method described later, the LED2 assigned to the duration registration unit 114 in which the detected duration is stored.
25 lights up.

The selection switch 228 is a switch for the user to select the changeover switch 229 or the personal computer 242 as the connection destination of the public telephone line 110. When the telephone line is used by the adapter 221 or the telephone 241, the selection switch 228 is set to the changeover switch 2.
To switch to the 29 side and to send and receive e-mail using the personal computer 242, select the switch 2
28 is switched to the personal computer 242 side. The changeover switch 229 transmits a signal from the public telephone line 110 to the telephone interface 227 or the telephone 24.
Switch to 1 side.

In the initial state, the first to third LEDs 22
Reference numerals 5-1 to 5-1 indicate a light-off state, and the selection switch 228 is set on the changeover switch 229 side, and the changeover switch 229 is set on the telephone interface 227 side. The processing of the detection unit 113 is realized by hardware of the telephone interface 227 and software stored in the memory 223.

Next, the operation in which the detecting unit 113 detects the duration of the call signal will be described. Since the telephone ringing signal is usually formed by repeating the on / off of the signal, the durations TA, TB, and TC may be set to be shorter than the time during which the telephone ringing signal is on. This is because when the duration is set to be equal to or longer than the ringing signal on time, the ringing signal is turned on after the set ringing signal on time because the ringing signal on time is preset. This is because it is difficult to distinguish between a normal telephone call signal and a signal from a provider. For example, when the ringing signal repeats on for 1 second and off for 2 seconds, the durations TA, TB, and TC may be set in a range exceeding 0 second and less than 1 second.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing of the detecting section 113, and FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the operation of detecting the duration of the calling signal by the detecting section 113. The processing of the detection unit 113 will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the telephone interface 227 detects a calling signal (for example, a sine wave of about 75 V 16 Hz) (step S601).

When a call signal is obtained in step S601, the start time t2 of the call signal is obtained from the clock 224 and stored in a buffer (realized by the memory 223) (step S602).

Subsequently, the end of the calling signal is detected (step S603), and when the calling signal ends, the end time t3
Is obtained from the clock 224 and stored in a buffer (realized by the memory 223) (step S604).

The duration t of the ringing signal detected here
3-t2 is obtained, and the duration registration unit 114 of the memory 223 is obtained.
If the duration is any of TA, TB, TC, ie if it is a notification from the provider, the detected duration is stored in the duration registration stored in comparison with TA, TB, TC stored in LED2 assigned to unit 114
25 is turned on (steps S605 to S610).

That is, it is checked whether or not t3−t2 = TA (step S605). If t3−t2 = TA, the first LED 225-1 is turned on to notify the user (step S608).

In step S605, t3−t2 = T
If it is not A, it is checked whether t3−t2 = TB (step S606), and if t3−t2 = TB, the second
LED 225-2 is turned on (step S60).
9).

If t3-t2 = TB is not satisfied in step S606, it is checked whether t3-t2 = TC (step S607). If t3-t2 = TC, the third LED is determined.
225-3 is turned on (step S610).

When the duration T is not any value, that is, in FIG. 6, when NO in steps S605, S606, and S607, it is determined that the notification is not from the provider, and the switch driver 226 is started. Then, the switch 229 is switched to connect the public telephone line 110 to the telephone 241 (step S611). Telephone 241 generates a ringing bell only when connected to public telephone line 110. That is, the telephone 241 does not generate a ringing tone for a ringing signal within the duration.

When an incoming call notification is obtained through the above steps, the user switches the selection switch 228 to connect the personal computer 242 to the public telephone line 110, accesses the provider, and downloads a mail addressed to the user. Become.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining detection of a normal telephone call signal. It is assumed that the telephone call signal repeats on for 1 second and off for 2 seconds. TA, TB,
In TC, different times of less than one second are set. The detecting unit 113 determines that the duration of the call signal 800 is t2-t.
When detecting that 3 = 1 second, the operation switch driver 226 is activated, and the public telephone line 110 is connected to the telephone 241.
Connect to The ringing bell of the telephone 241 indicates the ringing signal 8
What is necessary is just to set to start ringing from the ringing signal 801 two seconds after the end time t3 of 00.

The duration t detected by the detection unit 113
3-T2 is a comparison between TA, TB, and TC. For example, when comparing with TA, a small error E is set because there is actually a measurement error, and (t3-t2-TA) ＾ 2 < E ＾
If it is 2, it may be determined that they are the same (＾ 2 represents the square).

By constructing the system as described above, both the user and the provider do not have to pay the call fee.
The user can know the arrival of the new e-mail. Further, when the telephone line is shared by the e-mail terminal and the telephone, it can be set so that the telephone ringing tone does not sound when the e-mail is notified.

In particular, since the system according to the present embodiment can set a plurality of durations of the call signal, even if one user uses a plurality of providers, if a different duration is set for each provider, any provider can be used. It is easy to see if it is an incoming call notification. For example, in the above embodiment, three types of durations can be set. If TA is set for the duration of the user information of Company A, TB is set for Company B, and TC is set for Company C, the incoming notification from Company A is not received. The first LED 225
-1 lights up, and there is an incoming notification from Company B.
The ED 225-2 is turned on, and the third LED 225-3 is turned on when there is an incoming call notification from the company C. It is also possible to set a duration for a particular mail sender.

In the above embodiment, the electronic mail arrival notification system has been described. However, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a data arrival notification system other than the electronic mail. Also available. That is, if the sending system sets the duration of TA, TB, TC, etc. for each of the data A, B, and C and outputs a calling signal, any of the data A, B, and C is turned on by the LED of the receiving system. It is possible to know whether the data has been output from the transmission system.

The duration is not limited to the three types of TA, TB, and TC, and can be set as fine as the resolution of the detection unit 113 allows.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes other embodiments with many changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention.

[0056]

As is apparent from the above description, the data arrival notification system according to the present invention includes a destination information storage unit for storing destination information including a telephone number of a destination, and a new destination information storing unit. When the data arrives, a search unit that searches for a telephone number of the data receiving destination from the receiving information storage unit, a calling unit that transmits a calling signal of a predetermined duration to the telephone number obtained by the searching unit, A transmission system comprising: a first timer for measuring a duration of a paging signal; a duration registration unit for storing a predetermined duration; and a paging signal detected and stored in the duration registration unit. A detector for comparing the duration with the duration of the paging signal; a second timer for measuring the duration of the paging signal from the start of the paging signal detected by the detector; And a receiving system having at least one display unit for notifying that the detecting unit has detected a calling signal between the transmitting unit and the receiving system. The transmitting system and the receiving system are connected by a telephone line.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the user can easily know the arrival of a new e-mail without paying a call charge for both the user and the provider and without using a function such as a number display. Also, when the telephone line is shared between the e-mail terminal and the telephone, it can be set so that the ringing tone of the telephone does not sound at the time of the e-mail arrival notification, so that the user mistakenly picks up the handset and puts the telephone into a call state. Such a thing disappears.

In particular, since the system according to the present invention can set a plurality of durations of the call signal, even if a single user uses a plurality of providers, if a different duration is set for each provider, the provider of any provider can be set. It is easy to see if it is an incoming call notification. Further, the system according to the present invention can be applied to a system other than the electronic mail arrival notification, and can be used for a system for transmitting a plurality of symbols such as a pager.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an electronic mail arrival notification system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system that embodies the basic configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of a search unit 103.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of a calling unit 104;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the timing of processing of a calling unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of a detection unit 113.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation in which the detection unit 113 detects the duration of a call signal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining detection of a normal telephone call signal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 sending system 102 user information storage unit 1021 telephone number 1022 duration 1023 incoming mail number 1024 incoming mail 103 search unit 104 calling unit 105 first timer 110 public telephone line 111 receiving system 112 changeover switch 113 detecting unit 114-1 first Duration registration unit 114-2 second duration registration unit 114-3 third duration registration unit 115-1 first display unit 115-2 second display unit 115-3 third display unit 115 Second timer 121 telephone

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04M 1/00 (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Kuroyama 1006 Odakadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. F-term (Reference) 5B089 GA11 GA21 GA25 GA26 GA36 HA01 JA31 KA02 KB10 KB11 KC44 KG01 LA13 LB11 MC06 5K027 BB14 EE02 EE15 FF22 GG08 HH26 5K030 HA01 HA06 HB15 HC01 KA07 KA21 LA12 LB02 LD14 5K011 BB23H13 BB21H13 BB02H13 LL00 LL01 MM06 NN17 PP07 QQ03 QQ18 UU05

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A data arrival notification system for notifying the arrival of data, a destination information storage unit for storing destination information including a telephone number of a destination, and when new data arrives at the destination, the data is received. A retrieval unit for retrieving the telephone number of the destination from the destination information storage unit; a call unit for transmitting a call signal of a predetermined duration to the telephone number obtained by the search unit; A transmission system comprising: a first timer for measuring a duration; a duration registration unit for storing the predetermined duration; and a paging signal detected and stored in the duration registration unit. A detector for comparing the duration with the duration of the ringing signal; and a second measuring the duration of the ringing signal from the start of the ringing signal detected by the detector. A timer, and at least one display unit a calling signal duration that said predetermined notifying that the detection unit has detected,
A data receiving notification system comprising: a receiving system comprising: a transmitting system; and the transmitting system and the receiving system are connected by a telephone line. 2. The data arrival notification system according to claim 1, wherein the destination information storage unit stores the predetermined duration for each destination, and the calling unit stores the predetermined duration for each destination. A data arrival notification system for transmitting a call signal having the predetermined duration. 3. The data arrival notification system according to claim 2, wherein the duration registration unit registers the duration for each of the plurality of transmission systems, and the display unit transmits the detected call signal. A data transmission notification system, wherein the data transmission notification system displays the transmitted transmission system. 4. The data arrival notification system according to claim 3, wherein the display units are provided in the same number as the number of durations that can be stored in the duration registration unit, and the detection unit determines one of the durations. When detected,
The data arrival notification system, wherein the display unit corresponding to the detected duration notifies that the duration has been detected. 5. The data arrival notification system according to claim 1, wherein said data is an electronic mail. 6. The data arrival notification system according to claim 5, wherein the reception system is connected to a telephone, and the reception system further includes a changeover switch for switching a connection destination of the telephone line between the detection unit and the telephone. The changeover switch is provided with the detection unit, and the detection unit sets the predetermined duration until the detection unit detects the calling signal having the predetermined duration. A data arrival notification system for connecting to a telephone when an excess is detected. 7. The data arrival notification system according to claim 1, wherein the data is pager data.