JP2001094610A - Electronic mail information transfer control system and electronic mail information transfer control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a portable equipment to download electronic mail information of an information processing terminal and to display the information on itself without the need for connection to a server or the like on a network. SOLUTION: In the case that a portable telephone 2 views electronic mail information in a personal computer(PC) 1, a local wireless link is set up between the personal computer(PC) 1 and the portable telephone 2 under the control of the portable telephone 2. The telephone 2 remotely controls the personal computer(PC) 1 via the local wireless link to download the electronic mail information managed by an electronic mail application in the personal computer(PC) 1 via the local wireless link and the information is displayed on a screen of a display device of the telephone 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic mail information transfer control system and an electronic mail information transfer control method for referring to the contents of electronic mail stored in an information processing terminal device such as a personal computer from an external portable device. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of communication infrastructure such as the Internet, message communication using electronic mail (Email) has begun to be widely used not only in companies but also in ordinary households. For sending and receiving e-mail via the Internet, usually, an information processing terminal such as a personal computer is connected to the Internet via a modem or a LAN in an office, etc., and the information processing terminal is connected to a mail server on the Internet. This is done by exchanging messages. The e-mail sent from the user through the information processing terminal device is
First, the mail account of the user is received by the set mail server, and then transferred to the destination via a number of servers. The destination user can receive mail addressed to himself by connecting to the mail server in which the user's mail account is set.

[0003] Recently, a dedicated mail service for mobile communication terminals such as mobile phones and an e-mail transfer service for viewing e-mails sent to personal computers at work or at home from a mobile phone or the like have been developed. Getting started.

[0004]

However, in the e-mail transfer service, a dedicated e-mail account for a mobile phone is prepared, and an e-mail server in which an e-mail account of a personal computer at work or at home is set. It is necessary to forward mail. For this reason, every time the content of the e-mail is checked, it is necessary to connect the mobile phone to a dedicated mail account for the mobile phone, resulting in an increase in communication costs.

[0005] The electronic mail that has already been distributed is stored in a hard disk device or the like in the personal computer. Therefore, if a portable personal computer or the like is used, the contents of the mail can be checked anytime and anywhere without using a mail transfer service or the like. However, it is very troublesome for the user to operate the personal computers one by one only for checking e-mail, for example, in a train.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has been made in view of the above circumstances. An electronic mail system capable of displaying electronic mail information in an information processing terminal device on a portable device and viewing the electronic mail information without connecting to a server or the like on a network. An object of the present invention is to provide a mail information transfer control system and an electronic mail information transfer control method.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a portable information processing apparatus which transmits and receives e-mail information stored in an information processing terminal capable of transmitting and receiving e-mail via a network. An electronic mail information transfer control system for downloading and displaying on a device,
In response to a link request from the mobile device, connection control means for performing control for establishing a local communication link between the mobile device and the information processing terminal device, and according to the type of the mobile device, And a transfer control unit for controlling transfer of electronic mail information from the information processing terminal device to the portable device.

In the electronic mail information transfer control system, a local communication link can be established between the mobile device and the information processing terminal device under the control of the mobile device, and the local communication link can be established via the local communication link. By transferring the e-mail information in the information processing device to the mobile device,
The electronic mail information of the information processing terminal device can be displayed on the display device of the portable device. Therefore, the user can easily check the mail only by operating the mobile device without operating the information processing terminal device one by one.
In addition, the content can be directly viewed from a portable device without connecting to a server or the like on a network. Furthermore, since the transfer of e-mail information from the information processing terminal device to the portable device is controlled according to the type of the portable device, the transfer can be performed according to the portable device, and the transfer of unspecified large numbers of portable devices having different performances can be performed. It can be used.

That is, in general, portable devices often have small display screen sizes and insufficient memory sizes. Also, the display screen size and the memory size usually differ for each type of portable device. Therefore,
When an electronic mail is viewed on a mobile device, it is important that the information processing terminal device perform transfer control according to the type of the mobile device.

Specifically, it is preferable that the electronic mail information is processed in the information processing terminal device and then transmitted to the portable device. Further, it is preferable that the performance of the portable device is determined on the information processing terminal device side, and a processing process that matches the performance of the portable device is performed. In the processing process, a process of extracting only necessary header information from a header part in the e-mail information, a process of limiting the number of characters (the number of lines) to be transmitted from the title / body, and the like are performed.

As the portable device, a mobile communication terminal such as a portable telephone, a dedicated remote control unit with a display, or the like can be used. The local communication link with the information processing terminal device may be basically either wired or wireless. However, when a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone is used, for example, a local communication link used for a public network connection communication function or the like is usually used. It is preferable to establish a local communication link with the information processing terminal device using a radio wave of a band different from the radio wave frequency band of the above. By using such a radio wave, for example, a personal computer in a bag placed on a net rack in a crowded train is operated using a cellular phone at hand, and is stored in the personal computer. It is possible to realize a usage form such as checking the contents of an e-mail.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the principle of an electronic mail information transfer control system according to one embodiment of the present invention. This electronic mail information transfer control system uses a personal computer (P) used as an information processing terminal device.
C) This is a system for making it possible to freely refer to the electronic mail information stored in the remote control terminal 1 by remote control from an external remote control terminal.
In the present embodiment, a mobile phone 2 which is a portable mobile communication terminal is used as an operation terminal for remotely controlling a personal computer (PC) 1.

A personal computer (PC) 1 is a portable notebook computer, and is used in an office by connecting to a LAN or the Internet 100 in the office. At home, it is used by connecting to the Internet 100 or the like via a modem or the like. On the LAN in the office or on the Internet 100,
A mail server 200 in which a mail account for the personal computer (PC) 1 is set exists. On a personal computer (PC) 1, an e-mail (E
A mail application program is operating, and transmission and reception of an e-mail are executed with the mail server 200 through the e-mail application program.

The electronic mail transmitted from the personal computer (PC) 1 is first received by the mail server 200 and then transferred to the destination via another server or the like. E-mail addressed to the personal computer (PC) 1 is transferred from another server to the mail server 200 and stored therein. Personal computer (P
C) Transmission and reception of e-mail between the server 1 and the mail server 200 is performed using the well-known Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
rotocol) and POP (Post Office Protocol). In this case, the personal computer (PC) 1 operates as a mail client.

The e-mail received by the personal computer (PC) 1 is stored in a local storage device in the personal computer (PC) 1, such as a hard disk device. Regarding the e-mail information stored in the local storage device, even when the personal computer (PC) 1 is used in a mobile environment such as when going out, the user operates the e-mail application of the personal computer (PC) 1. You can see it freely.

In the system of the present embodiment, the personal computer (PC) 1 can be operated without directly operating the personal computer (PC) itself.
The electronic mail information stored in the local storage device of the personal computer (PC) 1 can be downloaded to the mobile phone 2 and viewed. Downloading of e-mail information from the personal computer (PC) 1 to the mobile phone 2 is performed by remotely controlling the personal computer (PC) 1 from the mobile phone 2. Personal computer (P
C) The remote control of 1 is not performed via a global network such as the Internet or a telephone network, but directly using a local communication link established between the personal computer (PC) 1 and the mobile phone 2. Will be By transmitting various operation control commands for remote control from the mobile phone 2 to the personal computer (PC) 1 via this local communication link, remote control by the mobile phone 2 becomes possible, and necessary electronic control is performed when necessary. The mail information can be downloaded from the personal computer (PC) 1 and viewed on the mobile phone 2.

The communication link between the mobile phone 2 and the personal computer (PC) 1 may be basically either wired or wireless. However, in order to further increase the degree of freedom of remote operation, wireless communication, particularly, Most preferably, radio waves are used. This is because, unlike infrared rays, radio waves have little effect on obstacles, and there is no need to directly face the mobile phone 2 and the personal computer (PC) 1. Therefore, by using a radio wave, for example, a personal computer (PC) 1 in a bag placed on a net rack in a crowded train is operated using the cellular phone 2 at hand, and the personal computer (P
C) It is possible to realize a usage form in which the content of the e-mail in 1 is confirmed.

Further, instead of a portable telephone or the like, a dedicated portable remote control unit with a display may be used. Even in this case, the personal computer (PC) 1
Any of wired and wireless communication links can be used.

Referring to FIG. 2, a basic configuration in the case where remote control is performed from the mobile phone 2 by radio waves will be described.

The mobile phone 2 transmits and receives voice or data to and from the mobile phone base station 3 installed in each region using, for example, an 800 MHz band radio wave. The mobile phone base station 3 configures a predetermined wireless area, and realizes communication with the mobile phone 2 within the wireless area. A server 5 is connected to the mobile phone base station 3 via a public line network 4. The mobile phone 2 can also talk using the headset 6.

The portable telephone 2 has a wireless communication interface for transmitting and receiving 800 MHz band radio waves to and from the portable telephone base station 3 and a 2.45 GHz band radio to and from a personal computer (PC) 1. It has a wireless communication interface for transmitting and receiving radio waves.
In addition, the mobile phone 2 has an LC for displaying data.
D, a key operation unit for inputting data, and the like are provided.

The personal computer (PC) 1 and the mobile phone 2 are connected by a radio wave using a specific frequency band different from the radio wave used in the mobile phone system. Specifically, a 2.45 GHz band wireless LAN
(Local Area Network) or Bluetooth system is used. Note that the Bluetooth system is a short-range wireless communication standard, and realizes wireless communication of about 10 m using radio waves in the 2.45 GHz band.

The personal computer (PC) 1 includes:
An antenna unit for transmitting and receiving a radio wave in the 2.45 GHz band to and from the mobile phone 2, an LCD used as a display monitor, a keyboard for inputting data, and the like are provided.

A personal computer (PC) 1
Is equipped with various applications such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, and e-mail software. In addition, here, a communication function for realizing the present system and software for controlling the same are installed. The same applies to the mobile phone 2, in addition to various functions used for general mobile phones such as a function of browsing service information provided from the server 5, an electric field strength detection function, a battery check function, and the like. Has a communication function for realizing the present system and software for controlling the communication function.

Hereinafter, a personal computer (PC) 1
The configuration of the mobile phone 2 will be described separately for a hardware configuration and a software configuration.

(Configuration of Personal Computer) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the personal computer (PC) 1. Here, the description will focus on the hardware necessary to realize the present system.

The personal computer (PC) 1 includes:
An antenna unit 8, an RF (Radio Frequency) unit 9, and a baseband unit 1 as a wireless module 7 for communicating with the mobile phone 2 using a radio wave in the 2.45 GHz band
0, a memory unit 11, a crystal oscillation unit 12, an AD / DA conversion unit 13, and a microphone / speaker unit 14. Note that a similar wireless module is also mounted on the mobile phone 2. The wireless module 7 and the engine unit 15 which is a main unit of the personal computer are connected via, for example, a serial I / F 16 of the RS-232C standard.

The antenna section 8 is a section for transmitting and receiving a radio wave in the 2.45 GHz band for realizing radio communication with the mobile phone 2. The RF unit 9 controls the antenna unit 8 during reception.
After mixing the radio wave received at the step with the fundamental frequency signal oscillated from the crystal oscillating unit 12 to convert it into an intermediate frequency signal, the radio wave is demodulated into a digital signal that can be handled by the baseband unit 10. The baseband unit 10 performs a protocol process. The signal input via the antenna unit 8 and the RF unit 9 is converted into a data sequence that can be processed by the CPU in the baseband unit 10.

At the time of transmission, the flow is the reverse of that at the time of reception, and the transmission data is converted by the baseband unit 10 into a signal that can be handled by the RF unit 9 according to a predetermined protocol.
The signal is modulated into a radio wave of 5 GHz band and transmitted from the antenna unit 8.

The microphone / speaker unit 14 is a device for inputting and outputting audio signals, and the AD / DA conversion unit 1
3 is connected to the baseband unit 10.

On the other hand, a personal computer (PC) engine unit 15 includes a personal computer engine 17 including a CPU, a memory, a peripheral control circuit, etc., an LED (Light Emitting Diode) 18 for displaying a warning, and a USB (Univ.
ersal Serial Bus) U for connecting peripheral devices
SB interface 19, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 20 used as a display monitor, keyboard 21 for data input, PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Car) for mounting a PC card
d International Association) interface 22 and the like.

FIG. 4 shows a personal computer (PC) 1
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the first embodiment. In FIG. 4, a wireless protocol stack for wireless communication in the 2.45 GHz band is transmitted to a personal computer (PC) engine unit 1.
5 shows a structure in the case of mounting on the 5th side.

As shown in FIG. 4, the personal computer (PC) 1 has an RF unit 9 and a baseband unit 10 as hardware on the wireless module 7 side. LMP (Link Man) for controlling a wireless link between the wireless communication device on the side of the telephone 2
Agement Protocol) 23 and an HCI (Host Control Interface) 24 for performing a serial interface process with the personal computer (PC) engine unit 15 are mounted.

The personal computer (PC) engine unit 15 has an OS (Operating System) that is standardly mounted as a personal computer (PC).
25. Driver software 2 for controlling various peripheral devices
6. In addition to various applications 27 such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, e-mail software, and system software for realizing a remote control function, a wireless protocol stack 28 for 2.45 GHz band wireless communication, and a wireless module 7 The HCI 29 and the like for performing a serial interface process with the side are mounted.

(Configuration of Mobile Phone) FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the first embodiment. Here, the description will focus on the hardware necessary to realize the present system.

The mobile phone 2 includes an antenna unit 31, an RF unit 32, a baseband unit 33, and a memory as a wireless module 30 for communicating with a personal computer (PC) 1 using a radio wave in the 2.45 GHz band. Part 3
4. The crystal oscillator 35 is mounted. The wireless module 30 and the mobile phone engine unit 36 are, for example, RS-
It is connected via a Serial I / F 37 of the 232C standard.

The antenna unit 31 implements wireless communication with the personal computer (PC) 1 at 2.45 GHz.
This part transmits and receives the z-band radio wave. RF unit 32
Is a process of mixing a radio wave received by the antenna unit 31 with a fundamental frequency signal oscillated from the crystal oscillation unit 35 at the time of reception, converting the mixed signal into an intermediate frequency signal, and then demodulating the signal into a digital signal that can be handled by the baseband unit 33. I do.
The baseband unit 33 performs a protocol process. The signal input via the antenna unit 31 and the RF unit 32 is converted into a data sequence that can be processed by the CPU in the baseband unit 33.

At the time of transmission, the flow is the reverse of that at the time of reception, and the transmission data is converted by the baseband unit 33 into a signal that can be handled by the RF unit 32 according to a predetermined protocol, and the RF unit 32 converts the data into a radio wave in the 2.45 GHz band. Modulate and antenna part 31
Originating from

On the other hand, in the mobile phone engine unit 36, in addition to the antenna 40, the RF unit 41, and the baseband unit 42 for the mobile phone, an LCD 43 for data display, a key operation unit 44 for data input, a warning An LED 45 for displaying and the like, a memory 46 for storing data, and the like are provided.

As the common unit 47, an AD / DA conversion unit 48, a microphone / speaker 49, and a power supply unit 50 are provided.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the mobile phone 2. FIG. 6 shows a structure in which a wireless protocol stack for wireless communication in the 2.45 GHz band is mounted on the mobile phone engine unit 36 side.

As shown in FIG. 6, an RF unit 3 which is hardware
2. There is a baseband section 33, and this baseband section 3
LMP (L) for controlling a wireless link between the personal computer (PC) 1 and a wireless communication device on the side of the personal computer (PC) 1 by wireless radio waves
ink Management Protocol) 51, mobile phone engine 3
HCI that performs Serial interface processing with the H.6
(Host Control Interface) 52 is mounted.

The mobile phone engine unit 36 includes, in addition to an RF unit 41, a baseband unit 42, and a mobile phone protocol stack 53 which are standardly mounted as mobile phones, system software for realizing a remote control function. H, which performs serial interface processing with the application 54 including an application, etc., a wireless protocol stack 55 for wireless communication in the 2.45 GHz band, and the wireless module 30 side.
CI56 is implemented.

(E-mail Information Transfer Processing from Personal Computer to Mobile Phone) FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing of system software implemented on the mobile phone side to realize the system of the present embodiment.

First, when the power of the mobile phone 2 is turned on,
The system software of the mobile phone 2 is executed.
First, the system software displays a menu screen for allowing the user to select a function to be executed (step S60). This menu screen has items such as “E-mail”, “Schedule”, and so on. When “E-mail” is selected, the personal computer (P
C) An inquiry message or the like is displayed for 1 as to whether a wireless link is to be established. When "establishment of wireless link" is selected by the user (YE in step S61)
S), the system software on the mobile phone 2 side is:
Personal computer (PC) by controlling wireless baseband unit 33 to establish a 45 GHz band wireless link
A link request is issued to the 2.45 GHz band non-module 7 on the first side, and a connection control process for establishing a link with the 2.45 GHz band non-module 7 is executed (step S62).

After the establishment of the wireless link, the system software of the mobile phone 2 displays a menu screen for a mail header request on the LCD 43 of the mobile phone (step S6).
3). The mail header request menu screen displays items for selecting whether to request a mail header for all mails including read mails or a mail header for only unread mails.

When any one item of all mail / unread mail is selected by the user, the system software determines that a mail header has been requested (step S).
64, a mail header reception process is executed (step S65). In the mail header receiving process, first,
A remote control command for requesting a mail header is issued to a personal computer (PC) 1 connected by a 2.45 GHz band wireless. This command is received by the system software of the personal computer (PC) 1. At the same time as receiving this command, the system software of the personal computer (PC) 1
C) Extract only necessary information such as Subject (Title), Date (Send Date), From (Sender) from the header part of all mails or unread mails stored in one local storage device, 2.45 together with the count information of all mail or unread mail
The signal is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 by the GHz band radio. In this case, it is not always necessary to send the mail headers for all the cases to be sent at once, and only the information about some cases is first sent in consideration of the size of the memory 46 of the mobile phone 2 and the like. If necessary, the remaining information can be transmitted.

The system software of the mobile phone 2 receives the mail header and the number of mails transmitted from the personal computer (PC) 1, stores them in the memory 46 and displays them on the LCD 43 (step S66). In this case, as shown in FIG.
On the display screen 201 of the LCD 43, the header information of the first mail among the received mails is displayed in the order of Date (transmission date), Subject (title), From (sender), and further, at the lower right of the screen. In the number display area, information indicating the number of the currently displayed mail with respect to the total number of mails is displayed.

In this embodiment, the Subject, Date, and From are extracted from the header of the e-mail and transmitted. However, the present invention is not limited to the header information such as the Subject. Send it to For example, if there is an attached file in addition to the header information, the presence or absence of the attached file can be displayed as an icon on the mobile phone.

If the user has canceled the mail header reception request on the mail header request menu screen (NO in step S64), the system software jumps to the sequence of the link release menu display screen (step S74). If the link release is selected by the user on the link release menu display screen (YES in step S75), the system software performs processing for releasing the wireless link with the personal computer (PC) 1, and executes the processing. finish.

Next, switching / scroll processing of mail information will be described.

First, when the "↑" button or the "↓" button is pressed while the mail header is displayed as shown in FIG. 8 (YES in step S67), the system software sends the corresponding message from the memory 46 accordingly. The mail header of the previous / next mail is displayed by switching the mail header to be read (step S71). If the mail header has not been transmitted from the personal computer (PC) 1, a reception process of receiving the mail header or a reception process of receiving all remaining untransmitted mail headers is performed.

When the “↑” button is pressed, the mail header of the previous mail is displayed, and when the “↓” button is pressed, the mail header of the next mail is displayed, and then “↑” / “↓ Jump to a sequence for determining whether the "" button has been pressed.

Next, the system software determines whether the dial button has been pressed (step S68).
When the mail number (sequential number) is designated by pressing the dial button (YE in step S68)
S), the system software displays the mail header of the designated number in all the mails (step S72), and then jumps to a sequence for determining whether the “↑” / “↓” buttons have been pressed.

If the dial button has not been pressed, the system software determines whether the selection button has been pressed (step S69). If the selection button has been pressed, the system software performs a body receiving process for receiving the body of the mail whose mail header is currently displayed (step S76). In the text receiving process, the currently displayed header information is transferred to a personal computer (P
C) The mobile phone 2 transmits the content of the mail corresponding to the header information to the mobile phone 2 by wireless communication.

Next, when the body of the mail is received from the personal computer (PC) 1, the system software stores it in the memory 46 and displays the screen on the LCD 43 of the mobile phone 2 (step S77). On the screen displaying the text, it is determined whether the "↑" / "↓" buttons have been pressed and whether the "end" button has been pressed (steps S78, S79). When the "↑" button is pressed, the text is scrolled up and "↓"
If the button has been pressed, the text is scrolled down (step S80).

In this example, the previous / next mail display and the scroll display are realized by the “↑” / “↓” buttons. However, the present invention is not limited to the operation using the buttons. Any device may be used as long as it is an attached operation device.

When the "end" button is pressed on the mail text display screen (YES in step S79),
The system software jumps to the mail header display processing sequence. If the “end” button is not pressed, the process jumps to a sequence for determining whether the “↑” / “↓” buttons are pressed.

In the mail header display screen,
When the “end” button is pressed (YE in step S70)
S), after terminating the mail header display and clearing the screen (step S73), the system software displays a link release menu for executing link release (step S74). If there is a link release request, a process of releasing the wireless link with the personal computer (PC) 1 is executed, and the process ends.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing of system software installed on the personal computer (PC) side to realize the system of the present embodiment.

The establishment of the link between the personal computer (PC) 1 and the mobile phone 2 can be basically started from either the personal computer (PC) 1 or the mobile phone 2, but here, Mobile phone 2
A description will be given of a case where a link is established in response to a link request from.

The system software of the personal computer (PC) 1 first determines whether there is a wireless link establishment request from the mobile phone 2 (step S90). If there is a link establishment request, the system software controls the Baseband unit 10 to establish a 2.45 GHz band wireless link, and performs 2.4 on the mobile phone 2 side.
A process for establishing a link with the 5 GHz band wireless communication module unit 30 is executed (step S91).

After establishing the wireless link, the system software determines whether there is a mail header request from the mobile phone 2 via the wireless link (step S92). If there is a mail header request, the mail software loads the mail header. Perform (Step S93). This mail header loading process is for acquiring stored mail information stored in an electronic mail application mounted on the personal computer (PC) 1. For example, MAPI (Messag
By using the ing Application Programming Interface), the stored mail information possessed by the e-mail application is obtained, only the necessary header information is selected, and the information of the mail header is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 (step S94). The mail header to be transmitted to the mobile phone 2 is determined by setting information on the mobile device registered in advance in the personal computer (PC) 1 using the present system software, or is transmitted from the mobile phone 2 when a link is established. Determined by information.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10, Date (transmission date), Subject (title), F
In addition to information such as rom (sender) and To (destination), information Received indicating what server the e-mail stored in the personal computer (PC) 1 has been relayed, and MIME encoding A large amount of information such as version information, CONTENT type information indicating a character set, etc., is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 as it is. ), Subject (title), From (sender), To (destination), and other necessary information must be scrolled, resulting in a decrease in operability.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to enable only the necessary e-mail information to be efficiently displayed on the mobile phone 2, transfer control of the e-mail information is performed according to the type of the mobile phone used. . Specifically, before transmitting the e-mail information to the mobile phone 2, an e-mail information processing such as selection of a header is performed, and the processed e-mail information is transmitted to the mobile phone 2. The e-mail information processing by the system software is performed based on the type of the mobile phone 2 as a communication partner, that is, the performance (specification). The type (screen size, memory size, etc.) of the mobile phone 2 as a communication partner can be determined from setting information on mobile devices registered in the personal computer (PC) 1 in advance, or The determination can be made from the ID information of the mobile phone transmitted from the mobile phone 2 at the time of link establishment or the like. of course,
Instead of the ID, the screen size, memory size information, and the like may be transmitted from the mobile phone 2 to the personal computer (PC) 1 when the link is established.

If there is no mail header request (NO in step S92), the system software determines whether or not there is a mail body request from the mobile phone 2 via a wireless link (step S96). If there is (YES in step S96), the mail text loading process is executed (step S97). The mail text loading process loads the mail text corresponding to the header information from the stored mail information stored in the electronic mail application, based on the mail header information transmitted from the mobile phone 2. Then, the system software transmits the mail text via the wireless link to the mobile phone 2.
(Step S98).

Thereafter, the system software determines whether or not there is a link release request from the mobile phone 2 via the wireless link (step S95). Is executed, and the process is terminated. The link can be released in response to a link request from a user of the personal computer (PC) 1 input via system software.

(E-mail processing) Next, FIGS.
The mail processing executed by the system software of the personal computer (PC) 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

Usually, a personal computer (PC) 1
There is a large performance difference between the mobile phone 2 and the mobile phone 2 in terms of display screen size, memory size, and the like. In consideration of such a difference in performance, in the mail processing, processing for processing electronic mail information stored in the personal computer (PC) 1 into electronic mail information that matches the performance of the mobile phone 2 is performed. Basically, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11, information (title, date, From,
To extract only the header information extracted by the header extraction process to the mobile phone 2 (step S12).
Is performed.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a specific procedure of the header extraction process.

The system software of the personal computer (PC) 1 receives the ID or the screen size information from the mobile phone 2 when the link is established (step S21). On the personal computer (PC) 1 side,
A table as shown in FIG. 14A showing the correspondence between the ID and the performance (screen size, memory size, etc.) of the mobile phone is registered in advance, and even if the screen size information is not directly received, the mobile phone can be identified from the ID. Can be determined. Since the display screen size and the memory size are different depending on the mobile phone to be used, the ID or the screen size information is transmitted from the mobile phone 2 at the time of establishing the link, so that the header extraction processing according to the type of the mobile phone used Can be performed. Also, since there is often a correlation between the memory size and the screen size, a table showing the relationship between the memory size and the screen size is registered in the personal computer (PC) 1 as shown in FIG. If so, when the link is established, the memory size may be received from the mobile phone 2.

The system software on the side of the personal computer (PC) 1 compares the screen size of the mobile phone 2 with a predetermined threshold value, so that the title, date, From, number of items, To Or extract these titles, dates, F
It is determined whether header information to be transmitted is further selected from rom, the number of cases, and To. The number of cases is the number information of all mails or the number of unread mails managed by the electronic mail application in the personal computer (PC) 1, and is actually different from the header information. However, in this example, the number-of-items information is displayed together with the header on the mail header display screen, so the number of items is treated in the same manner as the header.

Priority is assigned to each of the title, date, From, the number of items, and To, and the items are sequentially excluded from transmission targets in ascending order of priority. In this example, the following priorities are used.

1: Title 1: FROM 2: Date 3: Number of cases 4: To That is, if the screen size is equal to or larger than the threshold X (YES in step S22), all of the title, date, From, number of cases, and To are extracted. Is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 (step S23). If the screen size is smaller than threshold value X and equal to or greater than threshold value Y (YES in step S24), the title, date, From, and number of items are extracted and transmitted to mobile phone 2 (step S24). S25). Further, if the screen size is smaller than the threshold value Y and equal to or larger than the threshold value Z (YE in step S26).
S), title, date, and From are extracted and transmitted to the mobile phone 2 (step S27).

As described above, the mail header is optimally displayed in accordance with the screen size of the mobile phone 2 to be used, by excluding one from the transmission target one by one in ascending priority order according to the screen size. Becomes possible.

FIG. 13 shows a procedure of processing for limiting the number of characters of a title.

The number of characters in the title differs for each e-mail, and some titles have a long title extending over many lines. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the title is the mobile phone 2
Is performed to limit the number of characters (the number of lines) to be transmitted as a title so that the number of lines falls within a predetermined number of lines in the entire screen.

That is, when the screen size is equal to or larger than the threshold value X (YES in step S31), transmission of all title lines is performed (step S32). If the screen size is smaller than the threshold value X and equal to or larger than the threshold value Y (YES in step S33), the last one line is excluded from the transmission target, and transmission of only the title all lines minus one line is performed. This is performed (step S34). Further, if the screen size is smaller than the threshold value Y and equal to or larger than the threshold value Z (YES in step S35), the last two lines are excluded from transmission targets, and transmission of only all title lines−2 lines is performed. (Step S3
6). Then, when a command corresponding to the “↓” button is transmitted from the mobile terminal 2 (step S37), transmission of the remaining lines is performed (step S38).

Note that such a character number limiting process can be applied not only to a title but also to a text display. This character number restriction processing may be performed based on the memory size of the mobile phone 2. In this case, the flow control of the transmission information is performed by the personal computer (PC) 1 so that the memory of the mobile phone 2 does not overflow. Since the memory size of the mobile phone 2 is already recognized by the personal computer (PC) 1, the flow control can be performed based on the relationship between the transfer data amount and the memory size. In addition, mobile phone 2
When there is a risk that the memory on the side overflows, it is transferred from the mobile phone 2 to a personal computer (PC).
1 may be notified and the transfer of the e-mail information may be temporarily interrupted accordingly.

The above-described restriction of the header information and the processing of restricting the number of characters in the title / text are performed by the personal computer (P
C) It may be performed on the mobile phone 2 side instead of the 1 side. In this case, all information is transmitted from the personal computer (PC) 1 to the mobile phone 2,
On the side, necessary information may be selected and displayed, and other unnecessary information may be saved if the memory size permits, and discarded if the memory size exceeds the memory size.

(New Arrival Mail Notification) Next, a description will be given of a process of notifying the mobile phone 2 of whether a new mail exists in the personal computer (PC) 1 or not.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the processing of system software implemented on the mobile phone.

First, when the power of the mobile phone 2 is turned on,
The system software on the mobile phone 2 first displays a menu screen for allowing the user to select a function to be executed (step S100). This menu screen has items such as “E-mail”, “Schedule”,.... When “E-mail” is selected, it is determined whether a wireless link is established with the personal computer (PC) 1 or not. An inquiry message is displayed. When "establishment of wireless link" is selected by the user (step S
101), the system software of the mobile phone 2 controls the wireless baseband unit 33 to establish a 2.45 GHz band wireless link, and transmits the information to the 2.45 GHz band non-module 7 of the personal computer (PC) 1. A link request is issued, and a connection control process for establishing a link with the 2.45 GHz band non-module 7 is executed (step S102).

After the establishment of the wireless link, the system software of the mobile phone 2 displays a menu screen for requesting a new mail on the LCD 43 of the mobile phone (step S10).
3). The new mail request menu screen displays items for allowing the user to select whether to request new mail. If there is a new mail request from the user (YES in step S104), the system software transmits a new mail notification request command via a wireless link to request the personal computer (PC) 1 to notify the new mail (step S105). ).

Then, a personal computer (PC)
If a new mail notification has been sent from No. 1 (YES in step S106), the system software rings the incoming notification bell of the mobile phone 2 to notify the user that there is a new mail (step S107). ). At this time, the notification sound to notify the incoming call should be different from the incoming call notification sound from the public line to make it easy for the user to identify whether it is a mail notification or a telephone call. Can be. Further, the user may be notified by vibration using a vibration function or the like, instead of the ringing bell.

Finally, it is determined whether or not there is a wireless link release request from the user. If there is a link release request (YES in step S108), the system software communicates with the personal computer (PC) 1. A process for releasing the wireless link is performed, and the process ends.

FIG. 16 shows a personal computer (P
C) shows a flowchart of the system software on the 1 side.

The system software of the personal computer (PC) 1 first determines whether there is a wireless link establishment request from the mobile phone 2 (step S110). If there is a link establishment request, the system software controls the Baseband unit 10 to establish a 2.45 GHz band wireless link, and the system software 2.
A process for establishing a link with the 45 GHz band wireless communication module unit 30 is executed (step S111).

After the establishment of the wireless link, the system software determines whether there is a new mail notification request from the portable telephone 2 via the wireless link (step S112).

If there is a new mail notification request (YES in step S112), the system software proceeds to a new mail check process (step S113), and determines whether there is any new mail. The process of checking for new mail is performed by the system software of the mobile phone of the present embodiment at regular time intervals to determine whether there is a new mail.
0, and specifically, in an environment where the personal computer (PC) 1 is connected to a LAN, a new mail using a POP (Post Office Protocol) or the like is sent to an e-mail server in the local area. This is a method of inquiring about the presence / absence of "". Since this inquiry is performed regularly, the presence or absence of a new mail can be immediately known when a new mail notification request comes. In addition, if a setting is made to automatically receive distribution, when a new mail arrives at the mail server 200, it is immediately received and received by a personal computer (PC).
It is also possible to save it in 1.

If there is a new mail (in the mail server or PC 1), the system software notifies mobile phone 2 that there is a new mail (step 11).
4). Finally, it is determined whether or not a wireless link release request has been issued (step S115).
Then, a process for releasing the wireless link with the server is executed, and the process ends. The process of checking for new mail is repeatedly performed until a link release request is issued. Therefore, if an operation for issuing a new mail notification request is performed once, the new mail is sent to the mobile phone 2 when it arrives. The user can be notified by the incoming call bell.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since communication is performed using the 2.45 GHz band wireless communication as a communication means for e-mail transfer, a wired connection such as RS232C or an infrared communication is used. The electronic mail information can be transferred without worrying about the range or position where the infrared light can reach. In particular, by performing the mail processing, efficient data transfer and easy-to-read display can be realized.

The personal computer (PC) 1
Of course, the mobile phone 2 may be used for connection to the mail server 200 from. In this case, the electronic mail information received by the personal computer (PC) 1 via the mobile phone 2 is again downloaded from the personal computer (PC) 1 to the mobile phone 2 so that the necessary electronic mail information can be transferred to the mobile phone 2 in real time. 2 can be seen.

Further, in the present embodiment, the electronic mail information downloaded from the personal computer (PC) 1 is displayed on the screen of the portable telephone 2, but the electronic mail information is converted into a voice signal by voice synthesis, and the voice signal is converted. You may make it output from the mobile telephone 2 by voice.

[0095]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The electronic mail information of the information processing terminal device can be displayed and viewed on a portable device without connecting to a server or the like on a network. Further, by performing the transfer control according to the type of the portable device, the necessary e-mail information can be displayed in a legible manner even when a portable device having a small screen size is used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic mail information transfer control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view for explaining a configuration when a radio wave is used in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a personal computer used in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary block diagram showing a software configuration of a personal computer used in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a mobile phone used in the system of the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary block diagram showing a software configuration of the mobile phone used in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary flowchart showing a processing procedure executed on the mobile phone side in the electronic mail information transfer processing in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary view showing an example of a screen display of the mobile phone used in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart showing the processing procedure executed on the personal computer side in the electronic mail information transfer processing in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary view for explaining the configuration of electronic mail information in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the procedure of a mail processing process executed by the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the procedure of a header extraction process executed by the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the procedure of title transmission control processing executed by the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an exemplary view showing an example of a table registered in a personal computer used in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an exemplary flowchart showing the processing procedure executed on the mobile phone side in the new mail notification processing in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary flowchart showing the processing procedure executed on the personal computer side in the new mail notification processing in the system of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Personal computer 2 ... Mobile telephone 3 ... Mobile telephone base station 4 ... Public line network 5 ... Server 7 ... Wireless module part 8 ... 2.45 GHz band wireless communication antenna part 15 ... Personal computer engine part 20 ... LCD 21 ... Keyboard 28: 2.45 GHz band wireless communication protocol stack 29: HCI (Host Control Interface) 30: Wireless module unit 31: 2.45 GHz band wireless communication antenna unit 38: Antenna contraction detection unit 39: Flipper open / close detection unit 40: 800 GHz band wireless communication antenna 43: LCD 44: key operation unit 53: mobile phone protocol stack 55: 2.45 GHz band wireless communication stack 100: Internet 200: mail server

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page F term (reference) 5K030 GA16 HA06 HC01 HC09 HD03 JL01 JL08 JT02 JT09 KA06 LB02 LB03 LD13 LD14 LD17 LE11 5K067 AA34 AA41 BB04 DD17 DD53 EE32 FF23 FF26 FF27 FF28 HH14 EJ25 CB15 JJ25 CC15A JJ27 KK56

Claims (14)

[Claims] An electronic mail information transfer control system for downloading and displaying electronic mail information stored in an information processing terminal device capable of transmitting and receiving electronic mail via a network to a portable device. Connection control means for performing control for establishing a local communication link between the mobile device and the information processing terminal device in response to a link request from the mobile device; And a transfer control means for controlling transfer of electronic mail information from the information processing terminal device to the portable device. 2. The electronic mail information processing means according to claim 1, wherein said transfer control means includes electronic mail information processing means for performing predetermined processing on electronic mail information to be downloaded from said information processing terminal device to said portable device. 2. The electronic mail information transfer according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail information processed by the electronic mail information is transferred from the information processing terminal device to the portable device via the communication link. Control system. 3. The electronic apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a type determination unit configured to determine a type of the mobile device, wherein the electronic mail information processing unit is configured to determine the type of the mobile device according to the type of the mobile device determined by the type determination unit. 3. A process for processing information.
Described e-mail information transfer control system. 4. The portable device further comprises means for displaying the e-mail information transferred from the information processing terminal device on a display device of the portable device, wherein the type discriminating means includes ID information, screen size information, or 4. The electronic mail information transfer control system according to claim 3, wherein the type of said portable device is determined based on memory size information. 5. The information transmitted from the portable device to the information processing terminal device via the communication link or the information of the portable device registered in the information processing terminal device in advance. 4. The electronic mail information transfer control system according to claim 3, wherein the type of the portable device is determined based on the information. 6. A means for transmitting a command for inquiring the presence or absence of a new mail from the portable device to the information processing terminal device via the communication link, and the information processing terminal in response to the command. Means for detecting whether there is a new mail addressed to the device, and, if there is a new mail, information indicating the presence of the new mail from the information processing terminal device to the portable device via the local communication link. 2. The electronic mail information transfer control system according to claim 1, further comprising a transmitting unit. 7. The information processing terminal device and the portable device are provided with a wireless communication interface for transmitting and receiving a radio wave in a predetermined frequency band, respectively. The electronic mail information transfer control system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail information transfer control system is realized by using a wireless communication interface of each of the portable devices. 8. The mobile device is a mobile communication terminal device, having first and second wireless communication interfaces for performing communication using wireless waves of different frequency bands, and wherein the first and second wireless communication interfaces are provided. Is used for local communication with the information processing terminal device, and the other of the first and second wireless communication interfaces is used for communication with a base station for connecting to a public network. The electronic mail information transfer control system according to claim 1, wherein: 9. A first radio communication interface means for communicating with a base station by radio waves to connect to a public network, and radio waves in a frequency band different from a radio wave of the first radio communication interface means. A second wireless communication interface means for performing local communication with a partner device using the second wireless communication interface; and an information processing terminal device capable of transmitting and receiving e-mail via a network. Means for remotely operating the information processing terminal device to download electronic mail information stored in the information processing terminal device from the information processing terminal device. 10. An information processing terminal device capable of transmitting and receiving e-mail via a network, comprising: a local storage device for storing received e-mail information; Communication interface means for performing communication, and transfer control means for controlling transfer of electronic mail information from the information processing terminal device to the portable device according to the type of the portable device. Information processing terminal device. 11. The information processing terminal device according to claim 10, wherein said transfer control means operates in accordance with a remote control command transmitted from said portable device via said communication interface means. 12. An electronic mail information transfer control method for downloading electronic mail information stored in an information processing terminal device capable of transmitting and receiving electronic mail via a network to a portable device for display. Performing a control for establishing a local communication link between the mobile device and the information processing device in response to a link request from the mobile device; and, depending on a type of the mobile device, Controlling the transfer of e-mail information from the information processing terminal device to the portable device. 13. An electronic mail information processing step of performing predetermined processing on electronic mail information to be downloaded from the information processing terminal device to the portable device, wherein the electronic mail information is processed by the electronic mail information processing step. 13. The electronic mail information transfer control method according to claim 12, wherein the electronic mail information after the transfer is transferred from the information processing terminal device to the portable device via the local communication link. 14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a type determining step of determining a type of the mobile device, wherein the e-mail information processing step includes a step of determining the type of the electronic information according to the performance of the mobile device determined by the type determining step. 14. The electronic mail information transfer control method according to claim 13, wherein processing is performed.