JP2001077845A - Communication terminal device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a device which can acquire electronic mail according to the operation of a user by setting time intervals for confirming reception to a mail server device according to the kind of electronic mail expected to be received. SOLUTION: A data terminal device TE, when acquiring electronic mail, makes a dial-up connection with an Internet service provider IPS through an analog public network PSTN first, then applies POP through the Internet to inquire the reception of electronic mail addressed to a server device SV, and acquires all received electronic mail when the mail is present. The acquisition of the electronic mail is actuated by a specific acquisition timer. The timer value of the acquisition timer is prescribed differently with time zones according to an acquisition timer table.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval with a mail server device and obtaining an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself, and a control method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a communication terminal device having a function of exchanging e-mail by connecting to the Internet has an e-mail distribution function (MTA (Mail Tra)).
nferAgent) is not provided, the user of the own terminal connects to a mail server device having an account using a predetermined protocol (for example, POP (described later)), and sends an electronic mail addressed to the own terminal. I was asking if mail had been received and getting the e-mail I was receiving.

[0005] Such an e-mail reception confirmation operation is usually performed at a predetermined time interval (for example, 30 minutes), whereby the communication terminal device can acquire an e-mail addressed to the user of the terminal itself. .

[0004]

However, in such a conventional apparatus, since the e-mail reception confirmation operation is always performed to the mail server apparatus at the same time interval, the user, for example, urgently obtains a response mail. Even when the user wants to perform urgent two-way communication by using e-mail, such as when he wants to do so, he cannot urgently obtain a response e-mail.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a communication terminal device capable of performing an e-mail acquisition operation in accordance with a user's operation and a control method thereof.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a communication terminal device for confirming receipt of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself.
A control unit is provided for setting a time interval at which the mail server device confirms reception according to the type of the e-mail to be received.

[0007] Further, in the communication terminal device which confirms the reception of the e-mail at predetermined time intervals with the mail server device and obtains the e-mail addressed to the own terminal, the communication terminal device according to the time zone or the type of the e-mail to be received. And a control means for setting a time interval for confirming reception in the mail server device.

[0008] Further, after confirming the reception of the e-mail to the mail server device at predetermined time intervals, the communication terminal device for acquiring the e-mail addressed to the terminal itself transmits the e-mail requesting urgent response reception, Set the time interval for confirming receipt to the mail server device to a short time value,
After receiving the response e-mail corresponding to the response e-mail, a control means for returning the time interval to the original value is provided.

[0009] Further, in the communication terminal device for confirming the reception of the e-mail to the mail server device at predetermined time intervals and acquiring the e-mail addressed to the own terminal, the time for confirming the reception by the mail server device according to the time zone. While setting the interval, after urgently sending an e-mail requesting response reception, the time interval is set to a short value, and after receiving the corresponding response e-mail, the time interval is set to the original value. It is provided with control means for returning to a value.

[0010] Further, in a communication terminal device for confirming receipt of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself, a received mail reservation registration for inputting and storing an e-mail to be received. Means, and a control means for setting a time interval for confirming reception by the mail server device to a short time until an e-mail to be received registered in the received mail reservation registration means is received.

[0011] Further, in a communication terminal device for confirming receipt of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself, a received mail reservation registration for inputting and storing an e-mail to be received. Means and a time interval for confirming receipt in the mail server device in accordance with the time zone, while shortening the time interval until an e-mail to be received registered in the received e-mail reservation registration means is received. It is provided with control means for setting a time value.

Also, in the control method of a communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval with a mail server device and acquiring the e-mail addressed to the own terminal, the method according to the type of the e-mail to be received, The time interval for confirming the reception in the mail server device is set.

Further, in the control method of the communication terminal device for confirming the reception of the e-mail to the mail server device at predetermined time intervals and acquiring the e-mail addressed to the own terminal, the time period or the type of the e-mail to be received The time interval at which the mail server device confirms reception is set in accordance with the above.

Further, in a control method of a communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail to a mail server device at predetermined time intervals and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the own terminal, an e-mail requesting an urgent response is transmitted. After that, the time interval for confirming reception by the mail server device is set to a short time value, and after receiving the corresponding response e-mail, the time interval is returned to the original value.

Further, in the control method of the communication terminal device for confirming reception of the e-mail at a predetermined time interval in the mail server device and acquiring the e-mail addressed to the own terminal, the e-mail server device receives the e-mail according to the time zone. While setting the time interval for confirmation, after sending an e-mail urgently requesting a response, setting the time interval to a short time value, and receiving the corresponding response e-mail, Is returned to the original value.

Also, in the control method of the communication terminal device for confirming the reception of the e-mail at a predetermined time interval in the mail server device and obtaining the e-mail addressed to the own terminal, the reception and the input of the e-mail to be received are stored. An e-mail reservation registering means, wherein a time interval for confirming receipt by the mail server device is set to a short time until an e-mail to be received registered in the received e-mail reservation registration means is received. It is.

Also, in the control method of a communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in the mail server device and acquiring the e-mail addressed to the own terminal, the reception of inputting and storing the e-mail to be received is provided. A mail reservation register is provided, and a time interval for confirming reception in the mail server device is set in accordance with a time zone, and the above-mentioned e-mail is registered until the reception e-mail registered in the received mail reservation register is received. The time interval is set to a short time value.

[0018]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a data terminal device TE makes a dial-up connection to an Internet service provider ISP via an analog public network PSTN, thereby connecting to a server device SV connected to the Internet INET and connected to the Internet INET. , Various services can be requested.

Here, the server SV has various communication functions such as a mail server function and a WWW server function. The data terminal device TE has a function of sending e-mail to the mail server function of the server device SV. It has a client function to request transmission and reception.

The user of the data terminal device TE has a user account for connection to the Internet service provider ISP, and the server device SV has a mail account for exchanging electronic mail.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the data terminal device TE.

In FIG. 1, a CPU (central processing unit) 1
Controls the operation of the data terminal device TE. A ROM (read only memory) 2
Is used to store programs to be executed at the time of startup and necessary data.
The memory 3 is for configuring a work area or the like of the CPU 1.

The character generator 4 is for generating graphic character display data, and includes a clock circuit 5.
Is for outputting the current date and time information. The network control device 6 transmits the data terminal device TE to the analog public network P
It is for connecting to the STN, and the data modem 7
Is for exchanging data via the analog public network PSTN.

The magnetic disk device 8 is for storing various data such as various application programs, work data, file data, image information data, etc. The CRT screen display device 9 is a data terminal device T.
It is for displaying a screen for operating E,
The display control unit 10 is for controlling display contents of the CRT screen display device 9.

The keyboard device 11 is used to perform various key operations on the data terminal device TE. The screen pointing device 12 performs an operation such as pointing an arbitrary point on the CRT screen display device 9. The input control unit 13 includes a keyboard device 11 and a screen instruction device 12.
This is for taking in the input information of.

These CPU1, ROM2, RAM3,
The character generator 4, the clock circuit 5, the network control device 6, the data modem 7, the magnetic disk device 8, the display control unit 10, and the input control unit 13 are connected to a bus 14, and data between these components is provided. Are mainly exchanged via the bus 14.

Here, in this embodiment, basically,
The data exchange performed by the data terminal device TE with another terminal (including the server device SV) via the Internet INET includes a transmission protocol up to a transport layer called TCP / IP and a higher-order protocol. This is performed by applying a combination with a layer communication protocol (a so-called protocol suite). For example,
In the exchange of electronic mail data (MTA function) in the server device SV, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer) is used as an upper layer communication protocol.
Protocol) is applied.

The data terminal device TE server device SV
On the other hand, as a protocol applied for confirmation of reception of an e-mail addressed to the user of the terminal and a request for acquisition, a so-called POP (Post Office Protocol)
ol) can be applied.

Communication protocols such as TCP / IP, SMTP, and POP, and data formats and data structures of electronic mails are described in IETF (In).
ternet Engineering Task F
orce), an RFC (Request) issued by an organization that summarizes technical content related to the Internet.
st For Comments) document. For example, TCP is RFC793, IP is RFC
793, SMTP is RFC821, E-mail format is RFC822, RFC1521, RFC1522
(MIME (Multi Purpose Mail
Extension)).

Now, when acquiring the electronic mail, the data terminal device TE first makes a dial-up connection to the Internet service provider ISP via the analog public network PSTN, and then makes the Internet INE
Through T, the server device SV is inquired about the reception of the e-mail addressed to the user by applying the POP, and if there is the received e-mail, all the e-mails are obtained. The acquisition of the e-mail is started by a predetermined acquisition timer.

The timer value of the acquisition timer is shown in FIG.
In accordance with the acquisition timer table shown in FIG. In this case, from 8:00 to 17
The timer value is set to 10 minutes in the hour time zone, and the timer value is set to 30 minutes in other time zones.

When the data terminal device TE transmits an e-mail, the e-mail needs an urgent response e-mail (hereinafter referred to as a "response mail") (hereinafter, such an e-mail is referred to as "response mail"). The mail is referred to as “emergency mail” and the timer value of the acquisition timer is set to a smaller value (for example, 5 minutes) so that the response mail can be acquired more quickly.

After the response mail has been obtained, the timer value of the obtaining timer is returned to the original value, so that the normal e-mail obtaining operation can be resumed.

As information to be referred to when acquiring such a response mail, a transmission history table as shown in FIG. 4 and a reception history table as shown in FIG. 5 are created.

In the transmission history table, one element is created each time an urgent mail is transmitted. Each element is composed of the destination mail address of the urgent mail (the contents of the “To:” field of the header information) and the header information of “To:”. Subject: "field, and a response mail reception flag indicating whether or not a response mail has been received.

When an emergency mail is sent to a plurality of destinations, an element of the transmission history table is created for each destination.

In the reception history table, when an e-mail is received, one element is created for each received e-mail.
m: "field and" Subject
t: "field.

In general, when a user receives an e-mail and composes an e-mail for replying to the e-mail, the "Subject:" field contains "R".
e: (the contents of the “Subject:” field of the original e-mail) is set.

Therefore, for one element of the transmission history table, the destination mail address is set in the "From:" field, and the content of the "Subject:" field is set to "Re: (the content of the" Subject: "field)". Is found, it can be determined that a response mail to the urgent mail has been received.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the response mail about the urgent mail is received, the timer value of the obtaining timer is reduced, and the execution interval of the obtaining operation of the electronic mail is shortened. Is very useful if you require an urgent reply to your email. In addition, since the execution interval of the e-mail acquisition operation is set according to the time period, for example, the e-mail acquisition operation can be performed more frequently during the time period when the user is working. This is very convenient because an e-mail acquisition operation can be performed in accordance with the form of use.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a process when the data terminal device TE transmits an electronic mail.

When an e-mail to be transmitted is created (process 101), it is checked whether the e-mail is designated as an urgent e-mail (decision 102). For example, "Sub
Ject: "field

【emergency】,

When a word such as [urgent] is included, it can be determined that the e-mail at that time is an urgent mail.

If it is an emergency mail and the result of determination 102 is YES, the destination mail address of the electronic mail at that time and the contents of the "Subject:" field are additionally registered in the transmission history table (process 103).
When the result of the determination 102 is NO, the process 103 is not executed.

Next, via the analog public network PSTN,
A dial-up connection is made to the Internet service provider ISP (Process 104), and an e-mail is transmitted to the server SV via the Internet INET (Process 1).
05). And Internet Service Provider I
Terminate the connection with the SP and restore the line (Process 10
6).

FIGS. 7 and 8 show an example of a process for acquiring an electronic mail.

First, the process waits until the acquisition timer times out (NO loop of decision 201). When the acquisition timer times out and the result of the determination 201 becomes YES, a dial-up connection is made to the Internet service provider ISP via the analog public network PSTN (process 202), and a connection is made to the POP server of the server device SV via the Internet INET. (Step 203).

Next, an inquiry is made to the POP server as to whether an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself has been received (step 204). When the POP server notifies that the e-mail has been received (the result of the determination 205 is YE
S), All the received e-mails are obtained from the mail server (step 206).

When the acquisition of the e-mail is completed, the connection with the POP server is terminated (step 207), the connection with the Internet service provider ISP is terminated, and the line is restored (step 208).

Next, the contents of the “From:” field and the contents of the “Subject:” field are additionally registered in the reception history table for all the e-mails received at that time, and the contents of the reception history table are updated. (Process 209).

Next, by referring to the contents of the transmission history table and the reception history table, it is searched by the above-described method whether or not there is an urgent mail that has successfully received the response mail (process 210).

When one response mail is found (judgment 2
11 is YES), the response mail reception flag of the corresponding urgent mail is updated to ON (process 212), and it is checked whether or not the search for all the urgent mails has been completed (decision 213). When the result of the determination 213 is NO, the process returns to the process 210 to execute the process for the remaining emergency mail.

When the result of the judgment 210 is YES or when the result of the judgment 211 is NO, the current time is acquired from the clock circuit 5 (step 214), and the acquisition timer is referenced by referring to the acquisition timer table. The timer value is obtained, and the timer value is set in the acquisition timer (process 215).

Next, the transmission history table is checked to determine whether or not there is at least one element for which the response mail reception flag is turned on (decision 216).
When it becomes ES, the timer value of the acquisition timer is updated to the response mail reception interval for the emergency mail (Process 2
17). When the result of the determination 216 is NO, the process 217 is not executed.

Next, the acquisition timer is restarted (step 21).
8) Return to decision 201.

On the other hand, when the POP server is inquired of the reception of the e-mail when it is informed that there is no reception, and when the result of the determination 205 is NO, the connection with the POP server is terminated (step 219). ), The connection with the Internet service provider ISP is terminated, the line is restored (step 220), the process proceeds to step 214, and the subsequent processes are executed.

In the above-described embodiment, after the emergency mail is transmitted, the timer value of the obtaining timer is set to a small value until the corresponding response mail can be received, so that the frequency of obtaining the electronic mail is increased. To be able to respond to the user's request, but when the user is going to receive the e-mail, make the e-mail more frequent and immediately after the e-mail arrives at the mail server If the user can read the e-mail, the usability of the e-mail is improved.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, a received mail reservation table for registering information on the electronic mail to be received is created. Each element of the received mail reservation table includes “Fro” in the header information of the e-mail to be received.
m: "field and a reception flag indicating whether or not the electronic mail has been received. In addition, each element of the received mail reservation table is manually input by a user using an appropriate input application,
be registered.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show an example of a process when the data terminal device TE acquires an electronic mail in this case.

First, the process waits until the acquisition timer times out (NO loop in decision 301). If the acquisition timer times out and the result of determination 301 is YES, dial-up connection is made to the Internet service provider ISP via the analog public network PSTN (process 302), and connection is made to the POP server of the server device SV via the Internet INET. (Step 303).

Next, an inquiry is made to the POP server as to whether an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself has been received (step 304). When the POP server notifies that the e-mail has been received (the result of the determination 305 is YE
S), All the received e-mails are acquired from the mail server (process 306).

When the acquisition of the e-mail is completed, the connection with the POP server is terminated (step 307), the connection with the Internet service provider ISP is terminated, and the line is restored (step 308).

Next, for each e-mail received at that time, the content of the “From:” field registered in the received mail reservation table matches the content of the “From:” field of the header information of the e-mail. Search for and check if there is a request to be made, and if a reserved mail is received, change the value of the reception flag in the corresponding received mail reservation table to “ON” and update the contents of the received mail reservation table Yes (process 310, judgment 3
11, processing 312, judgment 313).

When the process for the received mail reservation table is completed, the current time is obtained from the clock circuit 5 (process 314), and the timer value of the obtain timer is obtained by referring to the obtain timer table. The value is set in the acquisition timer (process 315).

Next, the received mail reservation table is checked, and
It is determined whether there is at least one element for which the reception flag is turned off (decision 316), and the result of decision 316 is YES.
, The timer value of the acquisition timer is updated to the reservation mail reception interval (process 317). Decision 31
When the result of No. 6 is NO, the process 317 is not executed.

Next, the acquisition timer is restarted (process 31).
8) Return to decision 301.

On the other hand, when the POP server is inquired of the reception of the e-mail when it is informed that there is no reception, and the result of determination 305 is NO, the connection with the POP server is terminated (step 320). ), The connection with the Internet service provider ISP is terminated, the line is restored (process 321), the process proceeds to process 314, and the subsequent processes are executed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the user intends to receive the e-mail, the e-mail is obtained more frequently. Can read the e-mail, thereby improving the usability of the e-mail.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to a terminal connected to the Internet INET by making a dial-up connection to the Internet service provider ISP via the analog public network PSTN has been described. The invention is based on the Internet IN
The same applies to terminals that are always connected to the ET.

Although the above embodiments have been described with reference to a case where the present invention is applied to a system for sending and receiving e-mail using the Internet, the present invention is similarly applied to other e-mail systems. Can be.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When receiving an e-mail response to an urgent mail, when the user requests an urgent reply to the e-mail because the timer value of the acquisition timer is reduced and the execution interval of the e-mail acquisition operation is shortened In addition, an effect of being very effective is obtained. In addition, since the execution interval of the e-mail acquisition operation is set according to the time period, for example, the e-mail acquisition operation can be performed more frequently during the time period when the user is working. An operation of acquiring an e-mail according to the usage mode can be performed, which is very convenient.

Further, when the user intends to receive the e-mail, the e-mail is obtained more frequently, so that the user can view the e-mail immediately after the e-mail arrives at the mail server. Thus, there is an effect that the usability of the e-mail is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a data terminal device TE.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an acquisition timer table.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a transmission history table.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a reception history table.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a process when the data terminal device TE transmits an electronic mail.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing when the data terminal device TE acquires an electronic mail.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart (continued) illustrating an example of processing when the data terminal device TE acquires an electronic mail.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a received mail reservation table.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing another example of the process when the data terminal device TE acquires an electronic mail.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart (continued) showing another example of the process when the data terminal device TE acquires an electronic mail.

[Explanation of symbols]

 TE data terminal equipment

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval to a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself. A communication terminal device comprising: a control unit for setting a time interval for confirming reception. 2. A communication terminal device for confirming receipt of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval with a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to its own terminal, according to a time zone or a type of an e-mail to be received. And a control unit for setting a time interval for confirming reception in the mail server device. 3. A communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail to a mail server device at predetermined time intervals and obtaining an e-mail addressed to its own terminal. Control means for setting a time interval for confirming receipt to the mail server device to a short time value, and for returning the time interval to the original value after receiving a response electronic mail corresponding thereto. Communication terminal device. 4. A communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself. While setting the interval, after urgently sending an e-mail requesting response reception, the time interval is set to a short value, and after receiving the corresponding response e-mail, the time interval is set to the original value. A communication terminal device comprising control means for returning to a value. 5. A communication terminal device for confirming receipt of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself. Means, and a control means for setting a time interval for confirming reception to the mail server device to a short time value until an e-mail to be received registered in the received mail reservation registration means is received. Communication terminal device. 6. A received mail reservation registration for inputting and storing an e-mail to be received in a communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and obtaining an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself. Means and a time interval for confirming receipt in the mail server device in accordance with the time zone, while shortening the time interval until an e-mail to be received registered in the received e-mail reservation registration means is received. A communication terminal device comprising control means for setting a time value. 7. A control method of a communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval to a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the own terminal, the method comprising: A method for controlling a communication terminal device, wherein a time interval for confirming reception is set in a mail server device. 8. A control method of a communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the own terminal, comprising the steps of: A method for controlling a communication terminal device, wherein a time interval for confirming reception in the mail server device is set in accordance with the following. 9. A control method of a communication terminal device for confirming receipt of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval to a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the own terminal, wherein an e-mail requesting urgent response reception is transmitted. Thereafter, the time interval for confirming receipt by the mail server device is set to a short time value, and after receiving the corresponding response e-mail, the time interval is returned to the original value. Control method of a communication terminal device to perform. 10. A control method of a communication terminal device for confirming receipt of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and obtaining an e-mail addressed to the own terminal, wherein the e-mail is received by the mail server device according to a time zone. While setting the time interval for confirmation, after sending an e-mail urgently requesting a response, setting the time interval to a short time value, and receiving the corresponding response e-mail, Is returned to the original value. 11. A method of controlling a communication terminal device for confirming receipt of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself. A mail reservation registering means, wherein a time interval for confirming receipt by the mail server device is set to a short time until an e-mail to be received registered in the received mail reservation registering means is received. A method for controlling a communication terminal device. 12. A control method of a communication terminal device for confirming reception of an e-mail at a predetermined time interval in a mail server device and obtaining an e-mail addressed to the terminal itself. A mail reservation registration unit is provided, and a time interval for confirming reception in the mail server device is set according to a time zone, and the above-mentioned e-mail is registered until the reception e-mail registered in the reception mail reservation registration unit is received. A method for controlling a communication terminal device, wherein a time interval is set to a short time value.