JP2001236202A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To distribute contents suitable for the picture displaying capabilities of each client terminal so that it is not necessary to perform any special processing at the client terminal side. SOLUTION: A user transmits a contents transmission request from a client terminal 200 to a sever 100. The server device 100 which receives this by a message transmitting and receiving part 107 analyzes the contents of the transmission request by a control part 101. The control part 101 allows a contents preserving part 103 to transmit desired contents to contents working part 105 based on the analytic result. The contents working part 105 which receives this works the contents so that the contents can be made suitable for the picture displaying capabilities of the client terminal. The worked contents are transmitted from the message transmitting and receiving part 107 to the client terminal 200.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly to a communication system for transmitting content on a server device to a client terminal in response to a content transmission request from the client terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When receiving a content transmission request from a client terminal connected to the Internet, a content server that stores the content extracts the desired content and transmits it to the client terminal that has requested the transmission. Hereinafter, such a conventional content distribution method will be briefly described.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example in which terminals having various screen display capabilities are connected to the Internet via an Internet Service Provider (hereinafter abbreviated as “ISP”), a router, or the like. Referring to this figure, VGA (vi
Personal with screen resolution of deo graphics array)
Digital Assistance (hereinafter abbreviated as "PDA") 10
Is connected to the Internet 17 via the ISP 14, and has a Personal Computer (hereinafter abbreviated as “PC”) 11 having an XGA (extended graphics array) screen resolution, and a QCIF (quarter common inter
Personal Dig with screen resolution of mediate format)
Ital Cellular (hereinafter abbreviated as "PDA") 12 is an ISP
15, each is connected to the Internet 17. Also, a PC 13 having a screen resolution of XGA
Is connected to the Internet 17 via a LAN (local area network) 18 and a router 16.

A terminal (1) having these various screen resolutions
0-13) can access the contents on the content servers 19 and 20 also connected on the Internet 17 through the ISPs 14 and 15 and the router 16.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining an operation sequence until the PDA 10 of FIG. 24 receives the content 25 on the content server 20 via the ISP 14. Referring to this figure, the user transmits a content transmission request from PDA 10 to ISP 14. On this occasion,
The address of the content 25 is a URL (uniform resourc
e locator).

[0006] Upon receiving the content transmission request from the PDA 10, the ISP 14 transmits a content transmission request to the content server 20 storing the content 25 at the address specified by the URL. Upon receiving this, the content server 20 transmits the specified content 25 to be transmitted to the ISP 14. IS
P14 transmits the transmitted content 25 to the PDA 10 that is the content transmission request source, and the PDA 10 receives the transmitted content 25. And PDA
The content 25 is displayed on the screen 10 and the user can see it.

[0007]

In such a content distribution method according to the prior art, a certain content is transmitted to any terminal. Therefore, depending on the terminal that has received the content, the content is appropriately transmitted. The inconvenience of not being able to display was caused.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining a case where a problem occurs when the transmitted content is displayed on the screen. Referring to this figure, the contents shown here are:
Title 26, 60x468 pixel advertisement 27, 400x600
Pixel image 28, text 29, and 60x468
It consists of a pixel advertisement 30.

[0009] For content having such a configuration, X
In the case of the PCs 11 and 13 having the screen resolution of GA, the range indicated by the dotted frame 33 is the screen display range. Also, V
In the case of the PDA 10 having the screen resolution of GA, the range indicated by the dotted frame 32, and in the case of the PDC 12 having the screen resolution of QCIF, the range indicated by the smallest dotted frame 31 is the screen display range, respectively. Become.

Therefore, in the PCs 11 and 13, since the content is included in the dotted frame 33, the entire content can be displayed at one time.
In C12, it cannot be displayed at once.

That is, in the PDA 10, since the content is not entirely contained in the dotted frame 32, only the title 26, the advertisement 27, and the image 28 contained in the dotted frame 32 can be displayed on one screen. Furthermore, PDC1
In No. 2, only a part of the title 26, the advertisement 27, and the image 28 included in the dotted frame 31 can be displayed on one screen.

For this reason, the user has to check the contents while scrolling the screen of the terminal, which is very inconvenient. In particular, when the image is displayed on the PDC 12, the number of colors that can be displayed is also reduced, so that the content such as an image becomes more difficult to see, and a great deal of stress is imposed on the user.

On the other hand, if the content is inappropriately small with respect to the display capability of the client terminal, an extra blank space is generated on the display screen, and on the contrary, the screen becomes unnatural and difficult to see. Was.

[0014] In order to solve such a problem, there has been proposed a method of performing processing so that a client terminal receiving the content can appropriately display a screen.

However, processing the received content into a state suitable for itself for each client terminal that makes a transmission request greatly increases the load on each terminal in terms of memory capacity, cost, etc., and is not appropriate. Did not.

The present invention has been conceived in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to create a content suitable for the screen display capability of each client terminal so that special processing on the client terminal side is not required. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system capable of distribution.

[0017]

To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a communication system includes a receiving unit that receives a content transmission request, and a content that is a target of the received transmission request. A content acquisition unit to acquire, a display capability acquisition unit to acquire information on the screen display capability of the request source of the transmission request, and a processing unit to process the acquired content according to the acquired screen display capability, A transmission unit that transmits the processed content to a request source.

[0018] Preferably, the communication system further includes a content storage unit for storing the content, and the content acquisition unit acquires the content which is a target of the transmission request received from the content storage unit.

According to these inventions, the content obtained by the content obtaining unit is appropriately processed according to the screen display capability of the requester of the transmission request, and then transmitted to the requester. For this reason, the client terminal that has issued the transmission request can appropriately receive the content that can be displayed on its own screen without performing any special processing on the transmitted content.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a communication system which does not require special processing on the client terminal side and can distribute contents in a state suitable for the screen display capability of each client terminal.

Preferably, in the communication system, the processing unit processes the content obtained on a server device including a content storage unit.

Preferably, in the communication system, the processing unit processes the content on a gateway device.

According to these inventions, the processing of the content is performed on the server device or the gateway device. This eliminates the need for the client terminal to perform special processing for screen display.

[0024] More preferably, in the communication system, the processing unit processes the content using a filter.

Preferably, the filter is a CGI (co
mmon gateway interface).

According to this, the content is processed using a filter such as CGI. Therefore, the content can be easily processed.

[0027] Also, preferably, the processing unit is configured to convert the content acquired by the content acquiring unit into an HTML (hybrid).
pertext markup language)
The extracted content is processed using a cascading style sheet (CSS).

[0028] Preferably, the processing unit is configured to convert the content acquired by the content acquiring unit into XML (exteX).
nsible markup language)
SS (cascading style sheet) or XSL (exten
The extracted content is processed using a sible style sheet language).

According to these, when the content is expressed in HTML or XML, according to the expression,
Since the content is processed using the CSS or XSL style sheet, the content can be processed more easily.

Preferably, the processing unit includes a font size changing unit that changes a font size when the content acquired by the content acquiring unit includes a font.

According to this, when a font is included in the content, the font size is changed by the font size changing unit according to the screen display capability of the request source. For this reason, on the client terminal side that has received the content, it is possible to display a font having an appropriate easy-to-see size according to the screen display capability.

Preferably, the processing section includes an image size changing section for changing the size of the image when the content acquired by the content acquiring section includes an image.

According to this, when an image is included in the content, the image size is changed by the image size changing unit according to the screen display capability of the request source. For this reason, the client terminal that has received the content can display an image of an appropriate size suitable for viewing according to the screen display capability.

[0034] Further, preferably, when the scale of the image size to be changed exceeds a predetermined value, the image size changing section displays a display portion of the image included in the acquired content as a character string representing a link to the image. It is characterized by changing to.

According to this, when the scale of the image size to be changed exceeds a predetermined value, that is, when the scale is excessively reduced, the display portion of the image included in the content is changed to a character string representing a link to the image. You. For this reason, by displaying the linked image, the image can be appropriately displayed, and the situation where the image is too small and becomes difficult to see is avoided.

Preferably, the processing section includes a display color number changing section for changing a display color number of the image when the content acquired by the content acquiring section includes an image.

According to this, when an image is included in the content, the display color number changing unit changes the display color number of the image according to the screen display capability of the request source. For this reason, the client terminal receiving the content can display an image having an appropriate number of colors suitable for viewing according to the screen display capability.

[0038]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a content communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, content distribution is performed by a client terminal 2 connected to a network.
00 and the server device 100.

The server apparatus 100 includes a message transmission / reception unit 107 for receiving a content transmission request, a content storage unit 103 for storing content, a content processing unit 105 for processing content transmitted from the content storage unit, And a control unit 101 for performing control and the like.

The user sends a request for transmission of desired content from the client terminal 200 to an HTTP (hypertext tra
nsfer protocol) to the server device 100. In the server apparatus 100, the content transmission request is received by the message transmitting / receiving unit 107 and transmitted to the control unit 101. The control unit 101 analyzes the content of the content transmission request, and instructs the content storage unit 103 to transmit the desired content targeted for the transmission request to the content processing unit 105. The control unit 101 also obtains information on the screen display capability of the client terminal, and also gives an instruction on the processing content to the content processing unit 105 based on the information.

The content storage unit 103 includes a control unit 101
In accordance with the instruction, the desired content is extracted and sent to the content processing unit 105. In response to the instruction from the control unit 101, the content processing unit 105 processes the desired content so as to be suitable for the screen display capability of the client terminal. The processed content is sent to the message transmitting / receiving unit 107, from which the client terminal 20
Sent to 0.

Next, contents processing performed by the contents processing unit 105 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a main processing procedure of content in the server apparatus 100.

Referring to FIG. 2, in server device 100,
First, in step S201, the client terminal 2
Information about the screen display capability of 00 is acquired. Specifically, the information includes the size and resolution of the screen, the number of colors that can be displayed, and the like. After these pieces of information are obtained, in step S203, the content processing section 105 performs a process of processing the desired content.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the content processing (step S203) of FIG. In the processing of the content, if the content includes an image, appropriate processing is performed on the image (steps S303 and S305). If the content includes a font, the appropriate processing is performed on the font (step S309). ).

Referring to FIG. 3, first, at step S301
In, it is determined whether or not the desired content contains an image. If an image is included, the image size is changed in step S303, and the image color number is changed in step S305.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S301 that the content does not include an image, the processing in steps S303 and S305 is skipped, and the flow advances to processing in step S307.

In step S307, it is determined whether the content contains a font. If it is included, the font size is changed in step S309, and if it is not included,
The process of step S309 is skipped.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the image size changing process (step S303) in FIG. The image size changing process is performed based on the terminal screen size obtained from the terminal screen display capability.

Referring to FIG. 4, first, at step S401
In, the reference size of the display area when displaying the image on the screen of the client terminal is determined. Here, suppose that the reference size is 25 times the screen size of the client terminal.
Percentage.

Next, in step S403, the size (image size) of the original image included in the image file of the desired content is obtained. Then, in step S405, a comparison between the reference size and the image size is performed.

If it is determined that the image size is larger than the reference size, the process proceeds to step S407, and the image size is reduced. Conversely, when it is determined that the image size is equal to or smaller than the reference size, in step S409, the image size is compared with the terminal reference size to determine whether the image size is appropriate.

If it is determined that the image size is not an appropriate size for the reference size, that is, it is determined that the image size is smaller than necessary, in step 411, the image size is enlarged. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 409 that the image size is appropriate for the reference size, the image size enlargement process is not performed.
That is, in this case, the image size is not changed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the image size reduction process (step S407) of FIG. Referring to FIG. 5, in the image size reduction processing, image size reduction processing (step S507) is performed based on information on the screen display capability of the client terminal, depending on whether the image can be reduced, or ,
It is determined whether to perform image link processing (steps S509 and S511).

First, in step S501, the maximum scale is determined. That is, the image size is the reference size determined in step S401 in FIG. 4 (the reference size of the display area when displaying the image on the screen of the client terminal).
The limit scale (maximum scale) at which the scale processing is performed so as to be within the range is determined. For example, the maximum scale is
30 percent.

Next, in step S503, the actual scale ratio is calculated. That is, step S4 in FIG.
01 and the reference size determined in step S403 in FIG.
From the size of the image (original image) in the desired content obtained in step (1), the actual scale factor is obtained.

Then, in step S505, it is determined whether or not the image can be scaled by comparing the determined maximum scale with the calculated actual scale.
If the calculated scale is within the maximum scale (ie,
If the calculated scale value is greater than or equal to the maximum scale value), the image size is reduced in step 507 according to the calculated actual scale ratio.

For example, if the actual scale is calculated to be 60% with respect to the maximum scale of 30%, the scale (60%) is changed to the maximum scale (30%).
%), The scale processing is performed at the actual scale rate of 60%.

On the other hand, if the calculated scale does not fall within the maximum scale (ie, if the calculated scale is smaller than the maximum scale), the image based on the calculated scale is displayed. The process proceeds to steps S509 and S511 without performing the size reduction process.

For example, there is a case where the actually calculated scale ratio is 25% with respect to the maximum scale ratio of 30%. In such a case, if the scale processing is performed at 25%, the image is too small to be easily viewed.

In step S509, the image display portion in the content is changed to a character string representing a link to the image. That is, the content of the content is changed such that a character string indicating a link to the image is displayed at a position where the image should be originally displayed on the screen of the client terminal. Then, in step S511, the image scaled down to the screen size of the client terminal is connected to the link destination.

The image size changing process shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sample HTML file of desired content. Referring to FIG. 6, this sample file partially includes an image and a text document below the image. Of the portion (61) representing the description in HTML, the portion indicated by 62 is the portion representing the display of the image file. The image size is changed by editing this image file using a filter such as CGI.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of editing an HTML file when performing the link processing (steps S509 and S511) to the image in FIG. here,
FIG. 7A corresponds to the processing in step S509 in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7B corresponds to the processing in step S511 in FIG.

In FIG. 7A, the display portion (62) of the image file of the sample file shown in FIG. 6 is changed to a character string (72) representing a link to an image. This change is performed in the process of step S509 in FIG.
FIG. 7B shows an HTML file for displaying an image at a link destination. This file is created in step S511 of FIG.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are views showing the display result of the content on the client terminal after the image size changing process is performed. With respect to the reference size of the screen of the client terminal, the reference content (80
If the image size of (0) is appropriate, that is, if “Yes” is determined in step S409 of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the image is displayed on the screen in a state where the image size is not changed.

If the image size of the reference content (800) is smaller than the reference size of the screen of the client terminal, the image size is enlarged in step S411 of FIG. An enlarged image 803 is displayed.

If the image size of the reference content (800) is larger than the reference size of the screen of the client terminal and can be reduced in scale, the image size is reduced in step S507 in FIG. Then, a scaled image as shown at 801 is displayed on the client terminal.

On the other hand, as shown by reference numeral 801 in FIG. 9, if the scale processing is performed, the maximum scale is exceeded. If the image is too small, steps S509 and S509 in FIG.
At 511, image link processing is performed. In this case, a character string representing a link to the image is displayed on the display portion of the image, as shown at 902, on the client terminal.
Then, as shown in 903, an image scaled down to the screen of the client terminal is displayed at the link destination.

As described above, on the server apparatus 100, an appropriate image enlargement / reduction process according to the screen size of the client terminal is performed, so that the client terminal side does not need to perform any special processing, and Images can be displayed. If the image is too small, the above-described link processing to the image is performed, so that the problem that the image is difficult to see can be prevented.

Next, the process of changing the number of image colors will be described. FIG. 10 shows a process of changing the number of image colors in FIG.
305) is a flowchart illustrating a subroutine. Referring to FIG. 10, first, in step S1001, the number of colors of an image is obtained from an image file in the content. Next, in step S1003,
The obtained number of colors of the image is compared with the number of colors that can be displayed on the client terminal, and it is determined whether or not the number of colors of the image needs to be changed.

If the number of colors of the image is larger than the number of colors that can be displayed on the client terminal, that is, if “Yes” in step S1003, in step S1005, the number of colors of the image is changed to the number of colors that can be displayed on the screen of the client terminal. The color reduction processing of the image is performed so as to be within the number. At this time, image processing such as dither processing is performed at the same time as color reduction,
The reduction in image quality of the original image due to the color reduction is prevented.

On the other hand, if the number of colors of the image is smaller than the number of colors that can be displayed on the client terminal, that is, step S10
In the case of “No” in 03, no color reduction of the image is performed.

As described above, when the number of colors that can be displayed on the screen of the client terminal is small, appropriate image processing such as dither processing is performed simultaneously with color reduction, so that the display quality of the client terminal is not deteriorated. A process of changing the number of colors of an image appropriate for the ability is performed.

Next, the process of changing the font size will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the font size changing process (step S309) in FIG. First, in step S1101,
It is determined whether or not the screen of the client terminal corresponds to the resolution of the VGA.

If it does not support VGA, in step S1107, the font size (5 mm) for the QCIF screen is applied to the font size. If VGA is supported, in step S1103, XG
It is determined whether or not A is supported.

The screen resolution of the client terminal is XGA
Otherwise, in step S1109, the font size (7 mm) for the VGA screen is applied to the font size. If XGA is supported, the font size (10 mm) for the XGA screen is applied in step S1105.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a sample file when CSS in which a font size is set is attached to content expressed in HTML. <Style> and </ St
The portion indicated by 120 surrounded by yle> is the designation portion of the CSS display style.

The size of the font to be displayed is set in advance according to the resolution of the screen of the client terminal. When a content transmission request is made, the font for which resolution is to be used according to the processing flow of FIG. Is determined. Then, the CSS specifying the determined font
Will be attached to the HTML file as shown in FIG.

In the display style specified by CSS, the characters in the <body> tag of the portion indicated by 121 are displayed at 5 mm (122), and the characters of the <h1> tag are <bo
dy> Displayed in three times the size of the tag characters (123), <
The characters of the h2> tag are displayed at twice the size of the characters of the <body> tag (124), and the characters of the <h3> tag are displayed at 1.5 times the size of the characters of the <body> tag (125). That is.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a font layout actually displayed on the screen of the client terminal as a result of the font size changing process shown in FIG. According to the HTML file shown in FIG. 12, the title is displayed in a size of 15 mm, and the character under the title is 1
It will be displayed with a size of 0 mm. Therefore, X
The font for GA has been selected.
The screen shown at 30 will be displayed.

When the resolution of the screen of the client terminal corresponds to VGA or QCIF, the screens 131 and 132 are displayed, respectively.

As described above, the appropriate font size is determined according to the screen resolution of the client terminal, and the CSS specifying the determined font is attached to the HTML file to distribute the content. Therefore, a very easy-to-read font having a size suitable for the resolution is displayed on the screen of the terminal receiving the content.

Here, as the font size,
Although the case where the resolution corresponds to three types of XGA, VGA and QCIF is shown, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use a size corresponding to a lower or higher type.

As described above, according to the communication system of the first embodiment of the present invention, the content is appropriately processed in accordance with the screen display capability of the client terminal that has made the content transmission request. For this reason,
From the user who made the transmission request, without any special processing on the terminal side, if only the transmission request is issued, it is possible to receive the content in the optimal state for the own screen,
It becomes very convenient.

<Modification> Next, a description will be given of a case where an object such as an advertisement is added to a content in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for processing contents when insertion of an object is considered. Referring to FIG. 14, here, if necessary, an object is inserted between the time when the screen display capability of the client terminal is acquired in step S201 and the time when the content is processed in step S203 (see FIG. 14). Steps S145 and S147) are performed.

As described above, before the content is processed in accordance with the screen display capability of the client terminal,
Since the object insertion processing is performed, appropriate processing is performed with the object inserted.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the object insertion processing (step S147) of FIG. In the object insertion processing, first, in step S1501, a search for a tag for inserting an object into content is performed.

When the content is described in HTML, for example, a <body> tag and a </ body> tag can be used as a tag for inserting an object. When the content is described in XML, an arbitrary tag can be defined as a tag for inserting an object.

If the tag for inserting the object cannot be searched, the object is not inserted, but the tag for inserting the object can be searched (step S15).
In the case of “Yes” in step 01, a predetermined object such as an advertisement is inserted in step S1503.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of file editing when an object is inserted into a file described in HTML. Referring to FIG. 16, reference numeral 61 denotes the same HTML sample file as in FIG. here,
The <body> tag and the </ body> tag indicated by 162 are searched as tags for inserting an object, and an object such as an advertisement is inserted below them. Reference numeral 165 denotes an HTML file to which an advertisement has been added. The portions indicated by 163 and 164 are portions describing the added advertisement.

FIG. 17 is a view showing a file in which the objects (advertisement A and advertisement B) shown in FIG. 16 have been inserted. Referring to FIG. 8, 8 is a display result of the content before the object is inserted.
If the object is inserted for 00, 170
0, advertisement A (1701) and advertisement B (1
702) will be added.

[0093] As described above, the content processing is performed on the content 1700 after the insertion of the object. Therefore, even when the object is inserted, the processing of the content is performed appropriately.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
A communication system according to the embodiment will be described.
The communication system according to the present embodiment is slightly different from the communication system according to the first embodiment in the method of processing the content shown in FIG. That is, in the first embodiment, the CSS is used only for the font size changing process, but in the present embodiment, the CSS is used for not only the font size changing process but also the image changing process. Do.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the flow of the content processing according to this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 18, when it is determined in step S301 that the content includes an image, first,
In step S1803, a process of determining the resolution of the image is performed. That is, the resolution used when displaying the image of the content is determined from the resolution of the screen of the client terminal. Next, the number of display colors is determined. That is, the number of colors used when displaying an image is determined from the number of colors that can be displayed on the client terminal. As a result of these determinations, in step S1806, an image to be actually used is determined, and CSS specifying a display style corresponding to the determined image is attached to the file.

The subsequent processing, that is, the font size changing processing when the content includes a font (steps S307 and S309) is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the image resolution determination process (step S1803) of FIG. Here, as an example, a case is shown in which an image for one of three types of image resolutions of XGA, VGA and QCIF is applied. Referring to the figure, first, in step S1901, it is determined whether the resolution of the screen of the client terminal is compatible with VGA.

If it does not support VGA, in step S1907, it is determined that the image resolution is to apply the image for QCIF. If VGA is supported, it is determined in step S1903 whether or not the screen resolution of the client terminal is compatible with XGA.

If the image is not compatible with XGA, it is determined in step S1909 that the image resolution is to be applied to the image for VGA. On the other hand, when the image resolution corresponds to XGA or more, it is determined in step S1905 that the image resolution is to be applied for the XGA.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the display color number determination process (step S1805) in FIG. Here, as an example, a case is shown in which any one of 2, 16, and 256 colors is applied to the number of colors for displaying an image. Referring to FIG. 20, first, in step S2001, it is determined whether or not the screen of the client terminal supports 16 display colors.

If the screen display color of the client terminal does not correspond to the display of 16 colors, it is determined in step S2007 to apply a two-color image. If it corresponds to display of 16 colors or more, step S2003
In, it is determined whether the display color corresponds to 256 colors.

If the display does not support 256 colors,
In step S2009, it is determined that a 16-color image is to be applied. If the display supports 256 colors or more, it is determined in step S2005 that a 256-color image is to be applied.

In this way, the image resolution to be applied is determined according to the image resolution determination processing shown in FIG.
When the number of display colors to be applied is determined according to the number-of-display-colors determination process shown in FIG.
In step S1806 of FIG. 8, the image actually used is determined, and the content is edited (editing the file) accordingly.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example in which the content is processed using the CSS so as to use the image determined according to the above processing. Referring to this figure, HTM
Of the files described in L, <style> and </ style
The portion indicated by 210 surrounded by> is the designated portion of the CSS image display style.

Here, according to the examples of FIGS. 19 and 20, three types of image resolutions QCIF, VGA and XGA
And IDs for 9 combinations of 2 types, 16 colors and 256 colors of three types of display colors. For example, if the image resolution is QCIF and the number of display colors is two, the image ID is "QCIF-2" and the image resolution is XGA
In addition, an ID having 16 display colors is defined as “XGA-16”.

The display method of the HTML tag having each ID is represented by a display: none parameter (non-display),
Or, it is set to one of the display: inline parameters (display). By changing this parameter, the content to be displayed is determined according to the display capability of the client terminal.

In this example, it is determined that the image for VGA is to be applied in the resolution determination processing of the image in FIG. 19, and that the image of 256 colors is determined in the determination processing of the number of display colors in FIG. It shows the case where it was done. Therefore, only the tag having the ID of “VGA-256” indicated by 212 is displayed: inline, that is, displayed, and the tags having other IDs are displayed: none, that is, not displayed.

Here, the description part 211 is a CSS
This is a part for controlling display of an image using the ID defined in the above. Here, only the tag having the ID of “VGA-256” is to be displayed.
An image for GA-256 will be displayed.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a layout that can be generated by editing an HTML file using CSS. In the case of the HTML file shown in FIG. 21, an image for VGA and 256 colors shown in 221 is displayed. If the HTML file is, for example, X
When the image is set to display the image for GA and 256 colors, the image indicated by 220 is displayed, and when the image for QCIF and 256 colors is set, the image indicated by 222 is displayed.

As described above, the screen to be applied is determined from the screen display capability of the client terminal, and the CSS parameters are changed accordingly. Therefore, it is possible to easily process the contents into contents suitable for each client terminal.

As for the font size changing process, the CSS attached to the HTML file is changed using a filter such as CGI as in the method described in the first embodiment (FIGS. 11 and 12). It is done by doing.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, processing into nine types of images is possible, but this type can be freely changed, and the number of types can be increased. The more it is done, the more accurately it is possible to respond to the capabilities of the client terminal.

In the embodiment shown this time,
Although the image size change, the display color number change, and the font size change have been described as the content processing methods, other appropriate processing may be performed.

Although a description using a specific sample file is omitted, a content file described in XML is converted to CSS or XSL according to a similar processing method.
By using a style sheet such as, the content can be processed according to the screen display capability of the client terminal.

[Third Embodiment] Lastly, a communication system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 23 is an overall configuration diagram showing a content communication system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Referring to this figure, in the present embodiment, when content is distributed from content server device 150 in response to a content transmission request from client terminal 200, the content is distributed not in content server device 150 but in gateway device 300. Then, the content is processed.

The gateway device 300 includes a message transmitting / receiving unit 107 for transmitting / receiving a content transmission request and the like, a content processing unit 105, and a control unit 1 for controlling these.
01 is included.

The user transmits a request for transmitting desired content from the client terminal 200 to the gateway device 300 using a protocol such as HTTP. In the gateway device 300, the content transmission request is received by the message transmission / reception unit 107, and the content is transmitted to the control unit 101.
Analyze with.

The control unit 101 specifies the position of the server device 150 storing the content requested by the client terminal, and sends a message transmission request to the message transmission / reception unit 107 to the server device 150. Give instructions. Further, the control unit 101 also acquires information on the screen display capability of the client terminal, and gives an instruction of the processing content to the content processing unit 105 based on the information.

The message transmission / reception unit 107 is
1 sends a content transmission request to the server 150
Send to The server device 150 that has received the transmission request transmits the specified content targeted for the transmission request to the gateway device 300. Gateway device 30
0, the content transmitted by the message transmitting / receiving unit 107 is received, and the received content is transmitted to the content processing unit 105.
Send to

The content processing unit 105 processes the received content according to the instruction of the control unit 101 so as to be suitable for the screen display capability of the client terminal. The processed content is sent to the message transmitting / receiving unit 107,
From here, it is transmitted to the client terminal 200.

The processing of the content can be performed in the same manner as in the method described in the first or second embodiment. It should be noted that when an object is inserted or the like, the processing is appropriately performed by following the processing procedure as shown in FIG.

As described above, when the content is processed in the gateway device, even if the server used by the client terminal cannot process the content, the content on the server is transmitted via the gateway device. By accessing the content, the client terminal can receive appropriately processed content.

Note that FIG. 1 or FIG. 23 shows a communication system in which the content processing unit 105 and the like exist in the server device or the gateway device.
However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and the present invention can be applied to a configuration in which content processing can be performed somewhere other than the client terminal on the network.

The embodiment disclosed this time is an example in all respects, and should not be considered as limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a content communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a main processing procedure of content in the server apparatus 100.

FIG. 3 shows the contents processing (step S20) of FIG.
It is a flowchart which showed the subroutine of 3).

FIG. 4 is a process for changing the image size shown in FIG. 3 (step S3);
It is a flowchart which showed the subroutine of 03).

FIG. 5 is a process for reducing the image size shown in FIG. 4 (step S4);
It is a flowchart which showed the subroutine of 07).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a sample HTML file of desired content.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of editing an HTML file when performing link processing to images (steps S509 and S511) in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display result of the content on the client terminal after the image size changing process is performed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display result of the content on the client terminal after the image size changing process is performed.

FIG. 10 shows a process for changing the number of image colors shown in FIG. 3 (step S3).
It is a flowchart which showed the subroutine of 05).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of a font size changing process (step S309) in FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a sample file when CSS in which a font size is set is attached to content expressed in HTML.

13 is a diagram showing an example of a font layout actually displayed on the screen of the client terminal as a result of the font size changing process shown in FIG. 11 being performed.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in which content processing is performed in consideration of object insertion.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of an object insertion process (step S147) of FIG.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of file editing when an object is inserted into a file described in HTML.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a file in which the objects (advertisement A and advertisement B) shown in FIG. 16 have been inserted.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a flow of content processing according to the embodiment.

19 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the image resolution determination process (step S1803) of FIG.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a process of determining the number of display colors in FIG. 18 (step S)
It is a flowchart which showed the subroutine of 1805).

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example in which content processing is performed using CSS so as to use an image determined according to the above processing.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a layout that can be generated by editing an HTML file using CSS.

FIG. 23 is an overall configuration diagram illustrating a content communication system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24: Terminal having various image display capabilities is Intern
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of connection to the Internet via an et Service Provider, a router, and the like.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an operation sequence until the PDA 10 of FIG. 24 receives the content 25 on the content server 20 via the ISP 14.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining a case where inconvenience occurs when displaying transmitted content on a screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 server device, 101 control unit, 103 content storage unit, 105 content processing unit, 107 message transmission / reception unit, 150 server device, 200 client terminal, 300 gateway device.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akemi Yamaguchi 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Ema 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka (72) Inventor Shinji Koyama 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka F-term (reference) 5B069 BC10 CA02 CA06 DB18 DC03 DD11 HA13 LA03 5B089 GA31 HA10 JB02 KA02 KA03 KH22 KH23 LB14

Claims (12)

[Claims] A receiving unit that receives a content transmission request from a client terminal; a content obtaining unit that obtains the content that is a target of the received transmission request; and a display that obtains a screen display capability of the client terminal. A communication system comprising: a capability acquisition unit; a processing unit configured to process the acquired content according to the acquired screen display capability; and a transmission unit configured to transmit the processed content to the client terminal. . 2. The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: a content storage unit that stores content, wherein the content acquisition unit acquires the content that is the target of the received transmission request from the content storage unit. . 3. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the processing means processes the acquired content on a server device including the content storage means. 4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit processes the acquired content on a gateway device. 5. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit processes the acquired content using a filter.
The communication system according to claim 1. 6. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein the filter includes a CGI. 7. The content processing device according to claim 5, wherein, when the content obtained by the content obtaining device is expressed in HTML, the processing device processes the obtained content using CSS. 7. The communication system according to 6. 8. The content processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the content obtained by the content obtaining means is expressed in XML, the processing means processes the obtained content using CSS or XSL. Or 6
A communication system according to claim 1. 9. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes a font size changing unit that changes a size of the font when the content acquired by the content acquiring unit includes a font. Communication system. 10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes an image size changing unit that changes a size of the image when the content acquired by the content acquiring unit includes an image. Communication system. 11. The image size changing unit changes a display portion of an image included in the acquired content to a character string representing a link to the image when a scale ratio of the image size to be changed exceeds a predetermined value. The communication system according to claim 10, wherein the communication is performed. 12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes a display color number changing unit that changes a display color number of the image when the content acquired by the content acquiring unit includes an image. A communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.