JP2002078020A - Distribution system, portable wireless terminal, distribution method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a distribution system that properly distributes contents to a portable wireless terminal without error. SOLUTION: When the portable wireless terminal makes a distribution request to a server, the server discriminates a reception environment of the portable wireless terminal and distributes contents to the portable wireless terminal when the reception environment is excellent, but the server does not distribute the contents when the reception environment is not excellent. In this case the server stops the distribution itself or the server executes the discrimination of the reception environment for each prescribed period and executes the distribution when the server discriminates that the reception environment is excellent or the server executes the discrimination of the reception environment at a designated point of time after that and the server distributes the contents when the server discriminates that the reception environment is excellent.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable radio terminal such as a portable telephone device, a distribution system including a server and a portable radio terminal, and a distribution method in the distribution system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art PDC (Personal Digital Cellular)
The use of mobile telephone devices in a mobile communication network by such a method has become widespread, and not only telephone calls but also various information services have been realized. In particular, a distribution service of various contents from a server to a terminal device via a communication network is also realized, and a general user can electronically purchase contents such as music data, video data, and text data. Such distribution services are:
By being made available from a portable wireless terminal such as a mobile phone device, for example, a user having a mobile phone device can receive distribution of content such as music at any time and at any place. It is possible.

[0003]

Considering that a portable wireless terminal receives a distribution from a server, there is the following problem. Delivery of content is usually done for a fee, and in the form of data purchase for the user, it is necessary to download reliable and high-quality content data to the user's terminal. No. However, in the case of a portable wireless terminal, there is a high possibility that the receiving environment will adversely affect the download operation, as compared to a terminal connected by wire.

That is, in a portable telephone device, it cannot be guaranteed that communication can always be performed in a favorable electric field condition, and depending on the location, communication becomes impossible in an area where communication is not possible, that is, a so-called out of service area, or the electric field strength becomes weak. Or Depending on such radio wave conditions, it is possible that communication is interrupted during download or data is partially lost, so that content data is not properly provided to the user.

[0005] In addition, the portable telephone device performs radio communication with base stations provided everywhere, but also when the communication line between the base station and a large number of portable telephone devices is congested. Noise may be mixed in the content data, and high-quality data cannot be provided. In such a case, the data transmission rate is reduced, and the download time of the content is lengthened. This is undesirable for the user.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing problems, it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to execute the distribution of contents to portable radio terminals reliably and as high-quality data.

Therefore, the present invention comprises a portable wireless terminal connected to a communication network via a wireless transmission path, and a server connected to the communication network and capable of delivering content data to the portable wireless terminal. In the distribution system, the portable wireless terminal is configured as follows.
That is, the portable wireless terminal has an operation unit for performing an operation for requesting distribution of predetermined content data from the server, a determination unit for determining a reception environment, and when an operation for requesting distribution is performed by the operation unit, Control means for making a distribution request to the server based on a result of the determination of the reception environment by the determination means; and storage means for storing content data distributed from the server in response to the distribution request. To be.

[0008] Here, the determining means determines, as the receiving environment, a received radio wave condition in the wireless transmission path or a congestion state of a communication line in the wireless transmission path.

The control means does not execute a distribution request to the server when the determination means determines that the reception environment is not good. In this case, thereafter, the discriminating means is caused to execute the operation of judging the reception environment every predetermined period, and when it is judged that the reception environment is good, a distribution request to the server is executed. Or,
Then, at a designated time point, the determination means performs the operation of determining the reception environment, and when it is determined that the reception environment is good, a distribution request to the server is executed.

[0010] As a distribution method of the distribution system, when an operation for distributing predetermined content data is performed in the portable wireless terminal, a determination step of determining a reception environment, and the reception environment is improved by the determination step. Requesting a distribution request from the portable wireless terminal to the server; and distributing content data from the server to the portable wireless terminal in response to the delivery request; And a distribution step to be stored.

That is, in the case of the distribution system, the portable radio terminal, and the distribution method configured as described above, when the portable radio terminal requests distribution to the server, the condition of the reception environment is determined, and the reception environment is good. In such a case, a distribution request is made to download the content. If the reception environment is not good, cancel the distribution request, or
A distribution request is made when it is determined that the reception environment has become favorable.

[0012] Further, as a distribution system of the present invention, the portable radio terminal includes: an operation unit for performing an operation for requesting distribution of predetermined content data from a server; Control means for making a distribution request to the server, and storage means for storing content data distributed from the server in response to the distribution request. On the other hand, the server, upon receiving the distribution request, determines distribution to the portable wireless terminal based on a determination result of the reception environment by the determination means for determining the reception environment in the portable wireless terminal. And distribution control means for performing the distribution.

In this case, the determination means of the server determines the reception environment at the portable radio terminal as the reception environment, or determines the congestion state of the communication line on the radio transmission path connected to the portable radio terminal. It will be determined. The distribution control unit does not execute distribution to the portable wireless terminal when the determination unit determines that the reception environment is not good. In that case, thereafter, the discriminating means is caused to execute the operation of judging the reception environment every predetermined period, and when it is judged that the reception environment is good, the distribution to the portable radio terminal is executed. Alternatively, at the specified time thereafter, the determination unit performs the operation of determining the reception environment, and when it is determined that the reception environment is good,
The distribution to the portable wireless terminal is executed.

In the distribution system having the above-described configuration, when the portable radio terminal requests distribution to the server, the server determines the state of the reception environment of the portable radio terminal. Then, the content is distributed according to the distribution request. If the reception environment is not good, the distribution is stopped, or thereafter, when it is determined that the reception environment has become good, the distribution is performed.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In the embodiment, a mobile phone device will be described as an example of a mobile wireless terminal, and an example in which distribution of content such as music can be received from a server will be described. The description will be made in the following order. 1. 1. Delivery system configuration 2. Configuration of mobile phone device Distribution Operation of First Embodiment 3-1 Outline of Distribution Operation 3-2 Distribution Mode Setting 3-3 Processing at Location Registration 3-4 Processing at Distribution Request 3-5 Processing in Recovery Execution Mode 3-6 Processing in designated time mode 3-7 Modified example of processing at position registration Distribution Operation of Second Embodiment 4-1 Outline of Distribution Operation 4-2 Processing at Distribution Mode Setting and Location Registration 4-3 Processing at Distribution Request 4-4 Processing at Recovery Execution Mode 4-5 Specified Time Mode processing

1. 1. Distribution System Configuration FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication network including the distribution system of the present embodiment. The mobile phone device 1 of this example is, for example, a mobile phone device in a mobile communication network based on the PDC system, and is installed in various places as shown in the figure according to the current position (location of the user) of the mobile phone device 1. Wireless telephone communication is performed with the base station 101.

The base station 101 is connected to a network 100 as a public line. For example, a wired terminal 104 such as a telephone or a personal computer arranged at home or the like is also connected to the network 100. That is, the network 100 constructs a telephone network.
The network 100 is also connected to another network such as the Internet 103, so that each terminal 1,
104 can also be used to browse homepages on the Internet.

Server 10 for constructing the distribution system of the present embodiment
2 is connected to, for example, a network 100 and is capable of delivering music content and the like to the mobile phone device 1. The server 102 may be a server on the Internet 103, for example.

FIG. 1 shows the network configuration in a very simplified manner. Actually, the components of a communication company having a large number of base stations, relay stations, gateways, etc., a large number of servers, and even a large number of servers. A wide range of networks is formed by including various terminals.

2. Configuration of Mobile Phone Device The configuration of the mobile phone device 1 of this example will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 shows an example of the appearance of the mobile phone device 1 according to the embodiment. For example, a liquid crystal panel (LC)
The display section 4 according to D) is formed. The display unit 4 can be formed to be relatively large or a color liquid crystal panel is used under the restriction that the display unit 4 is on a small housing of the mobile phone device 1. Is done. For example, the display unit 4 includes an operation menu, a telephone number to be called, a telephone number to be received, a name of a called party, radio wave reception status, an e-mail text, a service menu, characters and images received by a distribution service, a character image, and a screen saver. Images and the like can be displayed. In addition, menu images, icon images, and the like are displayed together with a pointer (or cursor) as operation images, and operation as a so-called GUI (Graffic User Interface) is enabled.

The portable telephone 1 is provided with an operation section 7 on which various operation keys for operation by a user and operation elements such as a jog dial are arranged. That is, various operations for a call and operations for receiving a distribution service, for example, an operation of browsing an image of the server 102 and selecting a content to be downloaded, a mode operation described later, and the like are possible. The antenna 2 is an antenna for wireless telephone communication. The call speaker unit 5 and the microphone unit 6 are input / output units for voice during a call.

In the portable telephone device 1 of the present embodiment, a portable recording medium is detachable so that music, images, and other distribution contents are recorded, or the user can enjoy music reproduction or the like at will. For the sake of explanation, it is assumed that a memory card 90 can be inserted as a portable recording medium, and the mobile phone device 1 can record and reproduce music and the like on the inserted memory card 90.

As shown in the figure, a memory slot 3 in which a memory card 90 can be inserted is formed, for example, on the upper surface side of the portable telephone device 1. The memory card 90 includes, for example, a memory element having a predetermined capacity, for example, inside a plate-shaped casing formed by, for example, a plastic mold.
In this example, a flash memory is used as the memory element. As a specific example of the size of the housing, 60 mm × 20 mm × 2.8 mm
It is said. In this memory card 90, the flash memory capacity is 4MB (megabyte), 8M
B, 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 25
One of 6 MB is prepared. As a file system for recording / reproducing data, a so-called F
An AT (File Allocation Table) system is used. Writing speed is 1500 KByte / sec to 330
KBByte / sec, read speed 2.45 MByte /
The write unit is 512 bytes, and the erase block size is 8 KB or 16 KB. Power supply voltage V
cc is 2.7 to 3.6 V, and the serial clock SCLK is 20 MHz at the maximum.

Such a memory card 90 can record and reproduce various data (computer data, music data, audio data, moving image data, still image data, control data, etc.) as a recording medium for so-called multimedia use. However, in this example, as an example, the mobile phone device 1 uses the memory card 90 as a recording medium for music or the like,
It is assumed that music content distributed by the distribution system can be recorded on the memory card 90. Further, the mobile phone device 1 can reproduce the music content data recorded on the memory card 90, and supplies the reproduced sound to the headphone terminal 8 and the ringing speaker section 18 of FIG. 3 not shown in FIG. Therefore, the user can play the playback sound of the memory card 90 and listen to the playback sound with the headphones connected to the headphone terminal 8 or hear the sound from the incoming speaker unit 18.

The playback operation, the stop operation, the pause operation, the fast forward / fast reverse playback operation, the cueing operation, and the like for the memory card 90 can be performed by the operation keys and the operation dial of the operation unit 7.

FIG. 3 shows the internal configuration of the portable telephone device 1.
The control unit 11 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU 11 and an external interface. The control unit 11 operates the mobile phone device 1, that is, various communication operations for voice communication operation and data distribution, and further stores, manages, and operates various information.
This is a part that performs overall control of the display operation and the like. It also has an internal clock function for time display and for distribution processing described below.

The memory section 12 comprehensively shows a storage area provided in the portable telephone device 1 such as a ROM, a flash memory, and a D-RAM. Done. The memory unit 12 is used for storing, for example, an operation program for the control unit 11 to perform various types of control, coefficients and setting values used for processing, a work area for arithmetic processing of the control unit 11, and the like.
Used as a register area. In addition, storage of information captured by data distribution and storage of telephone numbers registered by the user are also performed.

The operation unit 7 is various operators provided on the housing of the portable telephone device 1 as shown in FIG. 1, and is used by the user. Operation information from the operation unit 7 is supplied to the control unit 11. The control unit 11 executes a required control operation according to a user operation using the operation unit 7. The user can also input character information for message input or dial registration by operating the operation unit 7, and the control unit 11 transmits the input character information and stores the input character information in the memory unit 12. I do.

The antenna 3, the antenna duplexer 13, the RF unit 14, the baseband processing unit 15, and the voice unit 16 execute communication processing during a call or data communication. Antenna duplexer 1
Reference numeral 3 switches the connection between the reception system and the transmission system of the RF unit 14 and the antenna 2 at the reception timing and the transmission timing. RF
The unit 14 performs reception / demodulation processing at a selected required frequency, modulation processing at the time of transmission, and encoding / decoding processing of, for example, TDMA (Time Division Multiplex Access). That is, at the time of transmission, the signal supplied from the baseband processing unit 15 is subjected to TDMA encoding and modulation processing using a required frequency, and the transmission signal is amplified and transmitted and output from the antenna 3 via the antenna duplexer 13. At the time of reception, a radio wave received by the antenna 3 is supplied via the antenna duplexer 13, amplifies the signal, performs reception / demodulation processing on a required frequency channel, performs TDMA decoding, etc., and generates a baseband signal. The signal is demodulated and supplied to the baseband processing unit 15.

At the time of reception, the baseband processing unit 15
The F unit 14 performs predetermined signal processing on the signal demodulated up to the baseband signal. During a voice call, the signal decoded by the baseband processing unit 15 is transmitted to the voice unit 16.
And output from the call speaker unit 5. The signal input from the microphone unit 6 is supplied to the baseband processing unit 15 via the processing of the audio unit 16, subjected to predetermined signal processing, further processed by the RF unit 14, and transmitted.

At the time of data communication of contents or the like relating to a data distribution service or the like, the received data is supplied to the control unit 11 via the baseband processing unit 15.
The supplied data, for example, the image data and the text data are stored in the memory unit 12 under the control of the control unit 11, and the data contents are displayed on the display unit 4. In this example, the music content downloaded by the distribution operation described later may be temporarily stored in the memory unit 12, but the memory card 9 loaded under the control of the control unit 11
0 is recorded. In the case of transmitting some data such as text data and image data stored in the memory unit 12 (or recorded in the memory card 90), for example, the data stored in the memory unit 12 or the like is transmitted to the baseband processing unit 15 by the control unit 11. The signal is supplied, processed by the transmission system of the RF unit 14, and transmitted and output from the antenna 2.

The ringer sound source section 17 is a section that generates a signal as an electronic sound, an electronic sound melody, or a message voice under the control of the control section 11, and converts the voice signal into an incoming speaker through the audio processing section 23. It is supplied to the section 18 and outputted. When there is an incoming call as a mobile phone, the control unit 11 causes the ringer sound source unit 17 to output an audio signal as a ringer sound (ringing sound), and notifies the user of the incoming call.

The vibrator 19 is used for the portable telephone 1
This is a part that has a mechanism for vibrating the main body, and is a part that allows a user to sense a so-called vibration by touch. When there is an incoming call as a mobile phone, the control unit 11 operates the vibrator 19 to notify the user of the incoming call.

As described above, the memory slot 3 for the memory card 90 is formed, and the memory card 90 can be inserted. However, the memory card 90 for writing / reading through the memory interface 20 can be inserted. Access is made. The control unit 11 controls the memory card 9
Recording / reproduction control unit 22 for controlling the recording / reproduction operation with respect to 0
, The access to the memory card 90 is executed. For example, when the user performs a reproduction operation on the memory card 90, the control unit 11 issues an instruction to the recording / reproduction control unit 22 to execute the reproduction. That is, predetermined data is read from the memory card 90 by the memory interface 20, and decoding is performed by the encoder / decoder 21. For example, data is recorded on the memory card 90 after being subjected to a compression process and an encryption process, and by performing an encryption decryption process and a decompression process for the compression as a decoding process for the data, for example, 44.1 kHz sampling, 16 Decode to the level of normal digital audio data of bit quantization.

The decoded audio data is supplied to an audio processing unit 23 by a recording / reproduction control unit 22, and is converted into an analog audio signal by a D / A conversion process. The analog audio signal is subjected to predetermined amplification processing, impedance adjustment, and the like according to the output destination, and is output to the incoming speaker section 18 and the headphone terminal 8.

When music content data is received by the distribution service as described above, the content data obtained from the baseband processing unit 15 is supplied to the recording / reproduction control unit 22 via the control unit 11, and this recording / reproduction control is performed. The data is written to the memory card 90 under the control of the unit 22.
That is, the recording / reproduction control unit 22 causes the encoder / decoder 21 to execute predetermined encoding processing such as compression encoding processing and encryption processing on the content data, and causes the memory interface 20 to record the content data on the memory card 90. Note that a signal path may be formed such that the content data obtained by the baseband processing unit 15 is directly supplied to the encoder / decoder 22.

3. Distribution Operation of First Embodiment 3-1 Outline of Distribution Operation The mobile phone device 1 having the above-described configuration allows the server 10
The first embodiment will be described as an operation when receiving the distribution service from the second embodiment. FIG. 4 shows an operation for content distribution according to the first embodiment, in which a terminal (mobile phone device 1), a base station 101, and a server 1 owned by a user.
02 is schematically shown.

The mobile telephone device 1 belonging to the mobile communication network periodically executes a communication operation of location registration with the base station 101 during a non-call. This is an operation for the mobile phone device 1 and the base station 101 corresponding to the current location of the mobile phone device 1 to mutually confirm each other. The operation that is being performed. That is, since the mobile phone device 1 periodically performs the transmission operation as the location registrations S1 and S2, each base station 101 shown in FIG.
Can identify the mobile phone device 1 that currently belongs to the communication area of the base station 101.

The user of the portable telephone device 1 is
If the user wants to receive the distribution service from the server 2, the operation unit 7 performs an operation to instruct the server 102 to connect a communication line. In response to the user operation, the mobile phone device 1 (control unit 11) transmits a connection request to the server 102 via the base station 101 (S3). When there is a connection request, the server 102 performs an authentication process for the mobile phone device 1 that has made the request (S4). For example, in the case of a sales system based on content distribution, user registration in the server 102, setting of a billing method, and the like are often required in advance. That is, the server 102 determines, for each registered user, the terminal ID, the name of the user, the address, the password,
The password, the bank account number, the credit card number, and the like are managed. In other words, the distribution service is executed for the user who has performed such registration. Therefore, the mobile phone device 1 transmits the required data such as the terminal ID and the password at the time of the connection request, and the server 102 authenticates whether the data is appropriate or not. Only when the authentication is OK, the connection is permitted.

If the authentication is successful, the server 102 transmits a connection permission notification to the mobile phone device 1 (S5).
As a result, the connection process is executed, and the connection is established in a state where the image / text such as the distribution menu of the server 102 can be viewed from the mobile phone device 1 (S
6).

In the connected state, the user selects a desired music from a menu image of the server 102 displayed on the display unit 4 of the mobile phone 1, and performs an operation indicating a purchase intention (S7). Here, the control unit 11 of the mobile phone 1
Immediately responds to the purchase operation of the user by the server 10
The distribution environment is not requested, and the reception environment is checked first (S8). Specifically, it is checked whether the radio wave condition is good at that time and whether the line condition is good, that is, whether the line congestion is low. As will be described later in detail, the radio wave condition can be confirmed by the control unit 11 itself by the processing of FIG. On the other hand, since the control unit 11 cannot determine the degree of line congestion, the control unit 11 transmits a line status confirmation request to the base station 101 (S8a), and responds to the line status notification (S8b) from the base station 101. ) Is received. The base station 101 is shown in FIG.
In step 0, the line status is determined.

When the control unit 11 determines that the reception environment such as the radio wave condition and the line condition is good, it makes a distribution request to the server 102 at that time. When the receiving environment is determined to be not good at present, the distribution request is not transmitted at that time and the distribution mode processing is performed (S9). The distribution mode is set by the user in advance (however, it may be set at this point). In this example, there are three modes: a recovery execution mode, a designated time mode, and a distribution non-execution mode. Is prepared and can be arbitrarily selected by the user.

The recovery execution mode is a mode in which the reception environment is checked periodically thereafter, and when the reception environment is restored to a favorable state, a distribution request is made to the server 102 at that time. The designated time mode is a mode in which the reception environment is checked at a time designated by the user, and if the reception environment is restored to a favorable state at that time, a distribution request is made to the server 102 at that time. is there. The distribution non-execution mode is a mode in which the execution of the distribution request is stopped at this point. In this case, the processing based on the user's music selection operation and purchase instruction operation is stopped, and the user performs the music selection operation and purchase instruction operation again at any time thereafter, if necessary.

That is, in the distribution mode processing (S9), among these modes, according to the mode set by the user,
This is the processing for determining the subsequent processing. After executing the distribution mode process (S9), the control unit 11 of the mobile phone device 1 disconnects the communication line to the server 102 (S10).
That is, the connection is terminated without making a distribution request.

In the case of the recovery execution mode or the designated time mode, the portable telephone device 1 thereafter checks the reception environment periodically or at the designated time (S11). As in the case described above, the radio wave condition is confirmed by the control unit 11 itself by the processing in FIG. 9, while the line congestion is transmitted to the base station 101 by transmitting a line condition confirmation request (S11a). It is determined by receiving the line status notification (S11b) from the corresponding base station.

Here, assuming that the reception environment has been restored to a favorable state, the portable telephone device 1 transmits a connection request to the server 102. The server 102 performs an authentication process for this (S13), and if the authentication is OK, transmits a permission notification to the mobile phone device 1. The mobile phone device 1 and the server 102 are connected by the connection process (S
15). At the time of the above-mentioned communication disconnection (S10) or the like, a notice of reconnection later and other necessary data are transmitted from the mobile phone device 1 to the server 102,
When the connection request (S12) is made again, the authentication process (S13) of the server 102 may be simplified or omitted.

When communication is established with the server 102, the control unit 11 makes a distribution request to the server 102 (S
16). That is, the distribution of the music specified by the user at the time of (S7) is requested. In response to the distribution request, the server 102 executes a distribution process of the requested music content (S17). Mobile phone device 1
Performs the process of receiving the distributed music content and writing it to the memory card 90 (S18). Thus, the distribution is completed.

According to the distribution operation of the present embodiment as described above, when requesting distribution to the server 102, the portable telephone device 1 first determines the state of the reception environment. If the reception environment is good, a distribution request is made to download the content. However, if the reception environment is not good at that time, the distribution request is stopped, or
A distribution request is made when it is determined that the reception environment has become favorable. With such an operation, it is possible to prevent data distribution of music content or the like from being executed at a time when the reception environment is not good. Therefore, it is possible to prevent incomplete data distribution, distribution of noisy data, distribution requiring a long time, and the like due to the influence of the reception environment. In addition, even if the reception environment is poor at the time of the user's operation and the distribution request is not made, the distribution request processing is terminated by that, the distribution request is automatically executed when the environment is restored, or the environment is The user can arbitrarily select whether to automatically execute the distribution request if is recovered by selecting the distribution mode or not, thereby realizing processing suited to the user's circumstances.

3-2 Distribution Mode Setting Hereinafter, various processes for realizing the distribution operation described with reference to FIG. 4 will be described. First, the distribution mode setting process will be described. In the mobile phone device 1 of the present embodiment, the user can select the above-described distribution mode at any time. For example, when the control unit 11 performs the processing in FIG. 5 in response to a user operation, the user can select a distribution mode by operating the operation unit 7 in the same manner as various mode setting operations in the mobile phone device 1.

When the user performs a mode setting operation, the process of the control unit 11 proceeds from steps F101 to F102.
To display the mode menu on the display unit 4.
The mode menu display is, for example, a list display of various modes that can be selected in the mobile phone 1, and a distribution mode is presented along with various modes such as a clock setting mode, a ring tone selection mode, and a display mode. If the user selects another mode such as the clock setting mode for such a mode menu display, step F103
The process shifts from step to the process for the selected mode. If the distribution mode is selected, the control unit 11 proceeds to step F1
From 03, the process proceeds to F104 to display a distribution mode menu on the display unit 4.

The distribution mode menu displays the above-mentioned three modes of the recovery execution mode, the designated time mode, and the distribution non-execution mode so as to be selectable. The user is requested to select this distribution mode menu. When the user makes a selection, steps F105 to F106
To register the selected distribution mode. For example, it is stored in a predetermined area in the memory unit 12. Memory unit 1
It may be registered in the second nonvolatile memory area.

Thus, the user can select and set an arbitrary distribution mode at an arbitrary time. Of course, once set, the setting (registered distribution mode) can be changed by the same operation.

3-3 Processing at the time of location registration Next, processing at the time of location registration of the portable telephone device 1 is shown in FIG.
Will be described. As described above, the terminal device of the mobile communication network performs communication for location registration with the base station 101 at fixed time intervals, for example. Here, in the case of this example,
As described with reference to FIG. 4, the reception environment is determined when the distribution request is executed. In particular, in order to determine the radio wave condition at that time, the electric field level is constantly and regularly measured. I'm trying to do it. Accordingly, the processing example of FIG. 6 is to perform the periodic measurement of the electric field level at the time of communication for position registration.

For example, at the time of non-call, the control unit 11 monitors whether or not the position registration timing has come in step F201 of FIG. For example, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the last execution of the location registration. If it is determined that the timing is the position registration timing, step F2
Proceeding to 02, transmission for position registration is performed to the base station 101. The base station 101 confirms that the mobile phone device 1 is in the communication area of the base station 101 by this transmission. Then, the base station 101 is connected to the mobile phone device 1.
Is transmitted, and the mobile phone device 1 confirms it.

The control unit 11 of the portable telephone device 1 receives the communication from the base station 101 in step F203 and executes a required process in the location registration operation. The reception operation detects the electric field level at that time. You can do it. Therefore, the electric field level is determined in step F204, and the value of the electric field level determined in step F205 is stored in the memory unit 1.
2 in a predetermined area (electric field level storage area).
Such position registration and electric field level storage processing are executed at regular intervals.

In the electric field level storage area in the memory section 12, a plurality of storage areas are reserved as register numbers, for example, as shown in FIG. In this example, five storage areas are used as the register numbers R1 to R5. However, since such an electric field level storage area is used in a so-called ring memory form, the electric field levels determined in the past five times are always held. To have been. Of course, the past five times is only an example.

The value of the electric field level is, for example, “0”.
"1""2""3". And the above step F20
In step 4, the reception electric field strength at the time of reception from the base station 101 in step F203 is determined using three threshold values,
"0": out of service, "1": weak, "2": medium, "3": strong,
(Electric field level value).

The determined electric field level value is written in the area of the register number R1 in step F205. Immediately before that, the electric field level value of the register number R4 is written into the area of the register number R5, and the electric field level value of the register number R3 is written in the register number R4.
.., The electric field level value of the register number R1 is written to the area of the register number R2. That is, in the electric field level storage area, data shift is performed such that the value of the register number R (n) is written to the area of R (n + 1).

Therefore, in step F205, the latest electric field level value is stored while the oldest electric field level value in the electric field level storage area is discarded, whereby the past five times of discrimination are always performed. The electric field level value is stored. The electric field level value thus accumulated is used when determining the radio wave condition, as described later.

The determination of the electric field level and the writing to the electric field level storage area may be performed at the time of location registration as described above during non-communication, but also at the time of communication execution. Since the received electric field strength can be measured at all times during communication, for example, step F is performed at predetermined intervals even during communication.
The processing of steps 204 and F205 is executed to update the accumulated electric field level value.

3-4 Processing at the Time of Distribution Request Next, the processing at the time of a distribution request of the portable telephone device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. This is because the control unit 1 after the time (S7) at which the user has performed an operation indicating the selection and purchase of a song in FIG.
1 shows the processing of FIG.

If there is a user operation for purchasing music content (S7 in FIG. 4), the control unit 11 proceeds from step F301 to F302 in FIG. 8, and first determines whether the current radio wave condition is good. Check whether or not. The check of the radio wave condition is performed, for example, as shown in FIG.

First, in step F350, the control unit 11 determines the latest electric field level value stored in the electric field level storage area in the memory unit 12, that is, the value stored in the area of the register number R1 in the example of FIG. Check. Here, if the latest electric field level value is “0”, that is, it is out of the service area, the process proceeds to step F354, and it is determined that the electric field condition is NG (not good). The time of the distribution request in FIG. 8 is the time of the process according to the user operation when the connection with the server 102 is established immediately before (S6 in FIG. 4). , FIG. 9
It is considered that the latest electric field level value is not a value indicating “out of service” in step F350 of FIG.
When the distribution menu is viewed on the display unit 4, it may be moved to a position outside the service area at the time of step F302 in FIG. In this case, of course, server 1
02 is no longer maintained.

If it is not determined in step F350 in FIG. 9 that the area is out of the service area, in step F351, the control unit 11 performs a calculation for obtaining the sum of, for example, the past five electric field level values stored in the electric field level storage area. . Then, in a step F352, the total value is equal to a predetermined threshold value T.
h is checked. The threshold value Th is a value that is set in advance as a value for determining whether or not the sum of the past five electric field levels is a level suitable for executing content distribution, for example. If the sum is equal to or greater than the threshold value Th, the process proceeds to step F3.
At 53, it is determined that the radio wave condition is OK (good), while if the total value is less than the threshold value Th, step F
At 354, it is determined that the radio wave condition is NG.

For example, when the past five electric field level values are stored as described in FIG. 7, the maximum value of the total value is 15
(= “3 (strong)” × 5), and the minimum value is 1 (in this case, at least the latest electric field level value is not “0 (out of service)”). With respect to such a total value, for example, a threshold value Th = 10, and if the threshold value is 10 or more, it is possible to determine that the radio wave condition is good.

The reason for reflecting the electric field level value that has been traced back to some extent, for example, five times in the past, is to take into account the stability of the electric field condition. Also, of course, FIG.
Is merely an example, and the radio wave condition may be determined by another processing method.

As the process in FIG. 9 is performed as step F302 in FIG. 8, the current radio wave condition is first checked. If the result is that the radio wave condition is NG, the process proceeds from step F303 to F308. . This is a process in which the distribution request is not executed at this time because the radio wave condition is not good. On the other hand, the signal condition is OK
If the determination is that the line status (congestion) has been obtained, the process proceeds to step F304.

As described in the description of FIG. 4, since the line status cannot be confirmed except for the base station 101, the control unit 11 transmits a line status confirmation request to the base station 101 (S8a in FIG. 4). Then, a line status notification from the base station 101 as a result of the request is received (S8b in FIG. 4). This transmission / reception processing is processing executed in step F304.

In the base station 101, the mobile phone 1
If there is a line status confirmation request from, the processing in FIG. 10 will be performed accordingly. That is, when the line status confirmation request is received, the processing of the base station 101 proceeds to step F401.
To F402 to perform a traffic check. Since each mobile phone device 1 periodically registers its position with the base station 101, the base station 101 is registered at the present time (exists in the communication area of the base station 101).
Know the number of mobile phone devices. In addition, as a matter of course, the number of mobile telephone devices currently communicating via the base station 101 is also known. Therefore, as a traffic check, the number of registered mobile telephone devices and the number of communicating mobile telephone devices are checked. Alternatively, only the number of mobile phone devices in communication may be checked.

As a result, the line usage status, that is, the degree of congestion, can be confirmed. If the degree of congestion (for example, the number of mobile telephone devices during a call) is lower than a predetermined level, there is no line congestion. Going forward, the line status is determined to be OK (good), and a line status notification indicating that fact is transmitted to the mobile phone device 1. On the other hand, if the degree of congestion is equal to or higher than the predetermined level, it is determined that the line is congested, and the process proceeds from step F403 to F405, where the line status is determined to be NG (not good).
Send to

If the result of the line status check in step F304 in FIG. 8, that is, the received line status notification indicates that the line status is NG, the control unit 11 of the portable telephone device 1 determines in steps F305 to F308 Proceed to. This proceeds to a process in which the distribution request is not executed at this time because the line condition is not good.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the line status is OK, the process proceeds to step F306, and a distribution request is made to the server 102 at this time. That is, step F30
At the time of one user operation, a notification requesting distribution of music content designated by the user is transmitted to the server 102. In response to this, the server 101 starts distribution of the specified music content. In step F307, the control unit 11 receives the distributed content data and records the content data on the memory card 90, that is, downloads the content data. Perform processing. When the distribution is completed and the recording of the required content data in the memory card 90 is completed, the communication with the server 102 is cut off in step F312, and the process ends. In other words, this is because when the user performed the operation for distribution, the reception environment was good,
This is the operation when distribution is performed at that time.

However, at the point in time when the user performs an operation for distribution, either the radio wave condition or the line condition is determined to be NG in step F302 or F304.
In this case, since the reception environment is not favorable, the distribution request is not executed at this time, and the process proceeds to step F308 to set the subsequent processing.

First, in step F308, FIG.
The distribution mode registered in the memory unit 12 is read out in the processing of (1). That is, the distribution mode selected by the user in advance. As a result, any one of the recovery execution mode, the designated time mode, and the delivery non-execution mode is read as the currently selected mode. If the user has not previously performed the operation of selecting the distribution mode, a specific mode may be registered as the default mode, or the user may be asked to select the mode at this time. You may.

In step F309, it is determined whether the currently selected mode is the non-delivery mode.
As described above, the distribution non-execution mode is a mode in which, when the reception environment is poor, the distribution is stopped at that time. Therefore, if the mode is the delivery non-execution mode, step F31
Proceeding to 2, the communication with the server 102 is cut off, and the process ends. In this case, the user's current operation for distribution is invalidated, and the user performs an operation for requesting distribution again at any time as necessary. That is, the processing from the connection request (S3) in FIG. 4 is executed again.

If the currently selected distribution mode is the recovery execution mode or the designated time mode, then a distribution request is made when the receiving environment is restored.
Therefore, in step F310, the function in the recovery execution mode or the designated time mode is turned on.
In step 311, the user operation in step F 301, that is, the process of storing the content or the like selected by the user as valid is performed, and then the communication with the server 102 is disconnected in step F 312. So in this case,
This means that the processing for distribution is temporarily suspended until the receiving environment is restored.

As described above, the processing when the user performs the operation for requesting the distribution is performed, so that the distribution is executed if the reception environment is good, and if the reception environment is not good at that time. , The distribution request is suspended or interrupted. Therefore, by preventing the distribution from being performed in a poor reception environment, it is possible to prevent the incomplete or poor data quality content from being captured. In such a case, depending on the circumstances of the user, the distribution is interrupted so as to be executed after the suspension or the recovery of the reception environment afterwards, so that the user can perform the optimal processing.

3-5 Processing in Recovery Execution Mode As described above, when the reception environment is not good and the distribution request is interrupted, if the recovery execution mode function is turned on, the steps in FIG. After the communication is disconnected in F312, the processing in FIG. 11 is executed.

In the case of the recovery execution mode, after ending the processing of FIG. 8, the control unit 11 monitors the elapse of a predetermined time in step F501 of FIG. The predetermined time may be a time set in advance on a processing program of the control unit 11 or a time that can be arbitrarily set by a user through a predetermined operation.

When it is confirmed that the predetermined time has elapsed, the control section 11 advances the process to step F502, and first checks the radio wave condition. This corresponds to step F302 in FIG.
The processing shown in FIG. 9 is performed in the same manner as described above. here,
If the result is that the radio wave status is NG, step F5
From 03, the process returns to F501, and waits for a predetermined time to elapse again. If the result indicates that the radio wave condition is OK, the process proceeds from step F503 to F504, and then the line condition is checked. This is also the step F304 in FIG.
In this case, a line status confirmation request is transmitted to the base station 101, and as a result, OK / NG is determined based on the line status notification transmitted from the base station 101. In response to the line status confirmation request, the base station 101
Is performed. Here, if the result of the line status is NG, the process returns from step F505 to F501, and waits for a predetermined time to elapse again.

If the line status is OK, it is determined that the reception environment is good at the present time.
Then, the process proceeds to step F506 to make a connection request to the server 102 (S12 in FIG. 4). In response to this, the server 102 performs an authentication process. If the authentication is OK, the server 102 transmits a permission notification (S13 and S14 in FIG. 4). When the permission notification is received, the control unit 11 performs steps F507 to F507.
Proceeding to 508, a process for establishing a connection with the server 102 is performed (S15 in FIG. 4). If the server 102 notifies the server of a non-permission, an error process is performed.

When the communication connection with the server 102 is established, the control unit 11 sends a distribution request to the server 102 in step F509. That is, at the time of the user operation in step F301 in FIG. 8, the server 102 sends a notification requesting distribution of the music content designated by the user and stored in step F311.
(S16 in FIG. 4).

In response, the server 101 starts distribution of the designated music content (S17 in FIG. 4).
In step F510, the control unit 11 performs a process of receiving the distributed content data and recording the content data in the memory card 90, that is, a download process (S18 in FIG. 4).
When the distribution is completed and the recording of the required content data in the memory card 90 is completed, the communication with the server 102 is cut off in step F312, and the process ends.

When the recovery execution mode is set as described above, after the processing in FIG. 8, the control unit 11 checks the reception environment at regular intervals. Then, when it is confirmed that the reception environment has been improved, communication is established again with the server 102 and a distribution request is made. As a result, the distribution suspended in the process of FIG. 8 is executed at a later time. Therefore, even if the user performs an operation for requesting distribution at a time point when the reception environment is poor and the distribution operation is interrupted in the process of FIG. 8, the distribution operation is thereafter completed according to the recovery of the reception environment. In addition, distribution of appropriate and high-quality content data can be received.

3-6 Processing in Specified Time Mode In the processing in FIG. 8, when the reception environment is not good and the distribution request is interrupted, if the function in the specified time mode is turned on, step F312 in FIG. After the communication has been disconnected in step, the processing in FIG. 12 is executed.

In the case of the designated time mode, after ending the processing of FIG. 8, the control unit 11 firstly proceeds to step F601 of FIG.
Prompts the user to input a time at which the distribution process should be resumed. For example, a time input screen is displayed on the display unit 4. The user enters an arbitrary time according to his / her convenience.
When the time is input, the control unit 11 proceeds to step F6.
From 02, the process proceeds to F603, and the input time is set as the designated time.

Although the user inputs a specific time here, it is assumed that the user inputs the elapsed time from the present time, for example, how many hours later, how many minutes later, etc. It may be. In this case, the control unit 11 may calculate the designated time from the current time and the input elapsed time.

After the designated time is set, the control unit 11
Waits for the arrival of the designated time in step F604. That is, the control unit 11 monitors the arrival of the time while comparing the internal clock with the designated time.

When the specified time has come, the control section 11 advances the process to step F605, and first checks the radio wave condition. This performs the processing shown in FIG. 9 in the same manner as step F302 in FIG. Here, if the result of the radio wave condition is NG, the reception environment is determined to be bad again at the time designated by the user, so that the distribution request is not made and the process returns to step F601. That is, as steps F601 to F604, the user is again requested to specify time, and when the specified time is set,
Wait for the time to arrive.

If the result of the radio wave condition is OK,
The process proceeds from step F606 to F607, and the line status is checked. This is also the same process as step F304 in FIG. 8, in which a line status confirmation request is transmitted to base station 101, and as a result OK / NG is determined based on the line status notification sent from base station 101. Become. The base station 101 performs the processing in FIG. 10 in response to the line status confirmation request. Here, even if the result indicates that the line status is NG, the reception environment is again determined to be bad even at the time designated by the user, so that no distribution request is made and the process returns to step F601. That is, step F60
As 1 to F604, the user is requested to specify the time again,
After the specified time is set, the system waits for the arrival of the specified time.

If it is determined at the designated time that the reception environment, that is, either the radio wave condition or the line condition is bad, the designated time is not set again and the processing for distribution is performed at that time. May be stopped.
That is, the process in the designated time mode is terminated, and a series of processes is terminated without distribution as in the case of the distribution non-execution mode described above. Alternatively, step F
When returning to 601, the user may be able to select whether to specify the time again, or to give up the purchase of the content and end the distribution processing at this time. Further, the user can specify a plurality of times in response to the input request in step F601, the reception environment is checked at the plurality of specified times, and the distribution is executed when the reception environment is determined to be good. You may do so.

If the line status is OK in step F608, it is determined that the reception environment is good at the present time, that is, at the time specified by the user. Then, the process proceeds to step F609 to make a connection request to the server 102 (S12 in FIG. 4). In response to this, the server 102 performs an authentication process. If the authentication is OK, the server 102 sends a permission notification (S13 and S14 in FIG. 4). However, when the permission notification is received, the control unit 11 performs steps F610 to F6.
The process proceeds to step S11 to establish a connection with the server 102 (S15 in FIG. 4). If the server 102 notifies the server of a non-permission, an error process is performed.

When the communication connection with the server 102 is established, the control section 11 transmits a distribution request to the server 102 in step F612. That is, at the time of the user operation in step F301 in FIG. 8, the server 102 sends a notification requesting distribution of the music content designated by the user and stored in step F311.
(S16 in FIG. 4).

In response, the server 101 starts distribution of the designated music content (S17 in FIG. 4).
In step F613, the control unit 11 performs a process of receiving the distributed content data and recording the content data in the memory card 90, that is, a download process (S18 in FIG. 4).
When the distribution is completed and the required content data is recorded on the memory card 90, the communication with the server 102 is cut off in step F614, and the process is terminated.

When the designated time mode is set as described above, after the processing in FIG. 8, the control unit 11 checks the reception environment at the time designated by the user. Then, if the reception environment is good at that time, communication is established again with the server 102 and a distribution request is made. As a result, the distribution suspended in the process of FIG. 8 is executed at a later time. Therefore, even if the user performs an operation for requesting distribution when the reception environment is poor and the distribution operation is interrupted in the process of FIG. 8, if the reception environment is restored at a time convenient for the user thereafter, the distribution Since the operation is completed, the user can receive appropriate and high-quality content data distribution.

3-7 Modification of Location Registration Process The above is an example of the distribution process according to the first embodiment.
A modification of the process when the recovery execution mode is turned on is considered as follows. The recovery execution mode is shown in FIG.
After the end of the process, the reception environment is checked at regular intervals. On the other hand, the location registration process described with reference to FIG. 6 is performed at regular time intervals during a non-call. That is, the position registration process is performed even after the process of FIG. 8 ends.

Therefore, it is conceivable that the process in the recovery execution mode can be executed together with the position registration process. For example, the location registration process is performed as shown in FIG. Steps F201 to F205 in FIG. 13 are the same as the processing described in FIG. That is, the base station 101 for location registration
And transmission / reception between them, and determination and storage of the electric field level at that time.

In addition to the processing similar to that shown in FIG. 6, in step F206, it is determined whether or not the recovery execution mode is currently ON. Unless the recovery execution mode is turned on after the processing in FIG. 8, the process returns to step F201, and the processing at the time of location registration is substantially the same as that described in FIG. However, when the recovery execution mode is ON, the process proceeds from step F206 to step F502 in FIG. Thereafter, the processing in the recovery execution mode is performed as described above. However, step F503 in FIG.
If it is determined in F505 that the reception environment has not been recovered, the process returns to step F201 in FIG.

That is, this example corresponds to step F50 in FIG.
The predetermined time monitored in 1 is also used as the predetermined period for performing the position registration timing. Even in this case, the processing in the recovery execution mode is properly executed.

4. Distribution Operation of Second Embodiment 4-1 Outline of Distribution Operation Subsequently, the second embodiment will be described as an operation when the mobile phone device 1 receives a distribution service from the server 102. FIG. 14 schematically illustrates the operation of content distribution according to the second embodiment for each of the terminal (mobile phone 1), base station 101, and server 102 owned by the user.

As in the case of the first embodiment, the portable telephone device 1 periodically executes a communication operation for position registration with the base station 101 during non-calling (S).
31, S32).

The user of the portable telephone device 1
If the user wants to receive the distribution service from the server 2, the operation unit 7 performs an operation to instruct the server 102 to connect a communication line. In response to the user operation, the mobile phone device 1 (control unit 11) transmits a connection request to the server 102 via the base station 101 (S33). When there is a connection request, the server 102 makes the request. An authentication process is performed on the mobile phone device 1 (S34). When the authentication is successful, the server 102 transmits a connection permission notification to the mobile phone device 1 (S35). As a result, the connection processing is executed, and the connection is established in a state where the image / text such as the distribution menu of the server 102 can be viewed from the mobile phone device 1 (S36). The above procedure is the same as S3 to S6 in FIG.

In a state where the communication with the server 102 is connected, the user selects a desired music from a menu image or the like of the server 102 displayed on the display unit 4 of the mobile phone device 1 and performs an operation indicating a purchase intention. Is performed (S37). The control unit 11 of the mobile phone device 1 issues a distribution request to the server 102 in response to the purchase operation of the user (S3).
8).

Upon receiving the distribution request from the portable telephone device 1, the server 102 does not immediately execute the distribution according to the request, but checks the reception environment in the portable telephone device 1. Specifically, it is confirmed whether the radio wave condition of the mobile phone device 1 is good at that time, and the line condition is good.
That is, it is checked whether the line congestion is low. However,
Since the server 102 cannot determine the reception environment of the mobile phone device 1, it transmits a status confirmation request to the base station 101 (S39). The base station 101 confirms the radio wave condition and the line condition of the mobile phone device 1 accordingly (S4).
0), and notifies the server 102 of the result (S41).

In the base station 101, the mobile phone 1
The mobile phone device 1
At the time of the distribution request (S38), the radio wave condition at that time is notified to the base station 101. In addition, at the time of location registration as well as at the time of a distribution request, the mobile phone device 1 notifies the base station 101 of the radio wave condition at that time. The base station 101 manages the radio wave condition transmitted from time to time for each mobile phone device 1 so that when a status check request is received from the server 102,
It is possible to check the radio wave condition of the mobile phone device 1 as the target.

If the server 102 determines from the status notification from the base station 101 that the radio wave condition and the line condition of the portable telephone device 1 which has made the distribution request are good,
At that time, the distribution requested to the mobile phone device 1 is executed (if the result is OK in S42, the flow proceeds to the distribution operation as indicated by a broken line). However, if it is notified that the reception environment of the mobile phone device 1 is not good at present, the server 1
No. 02 does not perform distribution in response to the distribution request at that time, and transmits a distribution disable notification to the mobile phone device 1 (S43). Upon receiving the distribution impossible notification, the mobile phone device 1 notifies the server 102 of the set distribution mode in the sense of notifying the server 102 of the subsequent required processing (S44). As in the case of the first embodiment, the distribution mode includes three modes: a recovery execution mode, a designated time mode, and a distribution non-execution mode.

However, in the case of the second embodiment, the recovery execution mode is a process in which the server 102 is periodically requested to confirm the reception environment, and if the reception environment has been restored to a favorable state, Sometimes, it is a mode that requires distribution execution.
The designated time mode is a mode in which the user requests the server 102 to confirm the reception environment at a time designated by the user, and if the reception environment has recovered to a favorable state at that time, the user is required to execute distribution at that time. The distribution non-execution mode is a mode that requests the server 102 to stop the distribution at this point.

The distribution mode notified from the portable telephone device 1 to the server 102 is stored in the server 102 together with necessary items, and the subsequent processing is determined. For example, the ID, telephone number, requested content, distribution request date, and the like of the mobile phone device 1 are stored together with the distribution mode. After executing the storage process such as the distribution mode, the communication line between the mobile phone device 1 and the server 102 is disconnected (S
46). That is, the connection is terminated without performing the distribution according to the distribution request.

If the delivery mode notified from the portable telephone device 1 is the recovery execution mode or the designated time mode, then the server 102 periodically or at the designated time receives the received message from the portable telephone device 1. Check the environment. That is, as in the case described above, the base station 101 is requested to confirm the radio wave condition and the line condition (S47).
1 confirms the situation (S48), and receives a notification of the result (S49), so that the server 102 determines whether or not the reception environment is good (S50).

Here, assuming that the reception environment of the portable telephone device 1 has been restored to a favorable state, the server 102
Transmits a connection request to the mobile phone device 1 (S5).
1). The mobile phone device 1 and the server 1 are connected by the connection process.
02 is connected (S52).

When communication is established between the server 102 and the mobile phone 1, the server 102 distributes the data to the mobile phone 1 (S53). That is, the music distribution is performed in accordance with the distribution request at the time of (S38) described above. The mobile phone device 1 receives the distributed music content,
A process for writing to the memory card 90 is performed (S54). Thus, the distribution is completed.

According to the distribution operation of the second embodiment as described above, when the portable telephone device 1 requests distribution to the server 102, the server 102 determines the state of the reception environment of the portable telephone device 1. I do. Then, if the reception environment is good, distribution according to the distribution request is performed. However, if the reception environment is not favorable at that time, the distribution according to the distribution request is stopped, or the distribution is performed when it is determined that the reception environment has become favorable.

By such an operation, it is possible to prevent data distribution of music contents and the like from being executed at the time when the reception environment is not good. Therefore, it is possible to prevent incomplete data distribution, distribution of noisy data, distribution requiring a long time, and the like due to the influence of the reception environment. In addition, even if the receiving environment is poor at the time of the distribution request from the mobile phone device 1 and the distribution is not performed, the server 102 terminates the distribution processing by this or executes the distribution automatically when the environment is restored. Alternatively, if the environment has been recovered at the time designated by the user, whether to automatically execute distribution is selected according to the notified distribution mode. In other words, it is possible to realize a distribution process according to the situation of the user. In the case of this embodiment, the determination of the reception environment is made by the server 10.
Since the processing is performed on the two sides, the processing load on the mobile phone device 1 is reduced as compared with the case of the first embodiment.

4-2 Processing at Distribution Mode Setting and Location Registration Various processing for realizing the distribution operation described with reference to FIG. 14 will be described below. As in the case of the first embodiment, the user can arbitrarily set the distribution mode in the mobile phone device 1. The process of setting the distribution mode is the same as the process shown in FIG. That is, when the control unit 11 performs the processing in FIG. 5 according to the user operation, the distribution mode can be selected in the same manner as the various mode setting operations in the mobile phone device 1.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a process for registering the location of the portable telephone device 1.
It looks like 5. As described above, the terminal device of the mobile communication network performs communication for location registration with the base station 101 at fixed time intervals, for example. Here, in the case of the present example, the reception environment is determined to determine the execution of the distribution request. In particular, the electric field level is measured periodically to determine the radio wave condition. Further, in the case of the present example, the mobile phone device 1 can check the radio wave condition of the mobile phone device 1 on the server 102 side (the base station 101 side). The determination result is transmitted to the base station 101. The processing example of FIG. 15 is such that such a periodic measurement of the electric field level and the notification of the electric field condition determination / notification to the base station 101 are performed at the time of communication for location registration.

For example, during a non-call, the control unit 11 monitors in step F701 in FIG. 15 whether or not the timing of position registration has come. For example, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the last execution of the location registration. If it is determined that the timing is the position registration timing, step F
Proceeding to 702, transmission for location registration is performed to the base station 101. The base station 101 confirms that the mobile phone device 1 is in the communication area of the base station 101 by this transmission. Then, the base station 10 is connected to the mobile phone device 1.
Transmitting location information indicating that the location is within the range of 1,
The mobile phone 1 is checked.

The control unit 11 of the mobile phone device 1 receives the communication from the base station 101 in step F703 and executes a required process in the location registration operation. The reception operation detects the electric field level at that time. You can do it. Therefore, the electric field level is determined in step F704, and the value of the electric field level determined in step F705 is stored in the memory unit 1.
2 in the electric field level storage area. The operation of storing the electric field level value in the electric field level storage area is the same as the method described with reference to FIG. That is, for example, in a ring memory form, rewriting is performed so that the determined electric field levels for the past five times are always held. Of course, other methods may be used.

Subsequently, in step F706 and subsequent steps, the radio wave condition is determined based on, for example, the past five electric field level values stored in the electric field level storage area. Control unit 11
First, in step F706, it is checked whether the latest electric field level value stored in the electric field level storage area in the memory unit 12 is "0". If “0”, that is, if it is out of the service area, the process proceeds to step F710, and it is determined that the electric field situation is NG (not good).

If it is not determined in step F706 that the area is out of the service area, in step F707, the control unit 11 performs a calculation for obtaining the sum of, for example, the past five electric field level values stored in the electric field level storage area. And step F70
At 8, it is confirmed whether or not the total value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value Th. This threshold value Th
Is a value that is set in advance as a value for determining whether or not the sum of the past five electric field levels is a level suitable for executing content distribution. If the sum is equal to or greater than the threshold value Th, it is determined in step F709 that the radio wave condition is OK (good). On the other hand, if the sum is less than the threshold value Th, the radio wave condition is NG in step F710. to decide. That is, step F706
Steps F710 to F710 are the same as those described with reference to FIG. 9 in the first embodiment.

The controller 11 subsequently proceeds to step F711,
The result of the determined radio wave condition is transmitted to the base station 101.

By performing the above processing at the time of location registration, base station 101 can grasp the radio wave condition at the time of location registration execution for each portable telephone device 1 belonging to the communication area. Therefore, by managing the transmitted radio wave condition determination result together with the ID of the mobile phone device 1 and the like, when the server 102 requests a status check, the latest radio wave of the target mobile phone device 1 is received. You can check the situation. Note that, as described above, the mobile phone 1
Also, when making a distribution request to the server 102, the radio wave condition at that time is confirmed and the base station 101 is notified.
As a result, when there is a distribution request, the notified radio wave condition is updated.

The determination of the electric field level and the writing to the electric field level storage area may be performed at the time of location registration in a non-talking state, but may be performed at the time of communication. Since the received electric field strength can be measured at all times during communication, for example, step F is performed at predetermined intervals even during communication.
Steps 704 and F705 are executed to update the accumulated electric field level value.

4-3 Processing at the Time of Distribution Request Next, processing when a distribution request is made from the portable telephone device 1 to the server 102 will be described. FIG. 16 shows the processing of the control unit 11 of the mobile phone device 1, and FIG. 17 shows the processing of the server 102. These show the processing of the control unit 11 and the server 102 after the time when the user performs an operation indicating the intention to select and purchase a song (S37) in FIG.

If there is a user operation (S37 in FIG. 14) for purchasing music contents, the portable telephone 1
The control unit 11 of steps F801 to F802 in FIG.
To make a distribution request to the server 102 (FIG. 14).
S38). When making this distribution request, a radio wave condition check similar to that shown in FIG. 9 is performed at step F802, and the distribution request is transmitted to the server 102 and the determined radio wave condition is transmitted to the base station 101.

When there is a distribution request, the server 102
The process proceeds from step F901 to F902 to perform a status confirmation process. That is, a status confirmation request is transmitted to the base station 101 (S39 in FIG. 14), and as a result, a status notification transmitted from the base station 101 is received (S41 in FIG. 14), and the notification result is confirmed (FIG. 14). S42). Base station 101
In, since the radio wave condition is notified from the mobile phone device 1 at the time of a distribution request, it is possible to confirm whether or not the radio wave condition in the mobile phone device 1 is good. The base station 101 can check the line status by the process described with reference to FIG.
If both the radio wave condition and the line condition are OK, the base station 101 transmits a status notification indicating “reception environment OK” to the server 102. However, if either the radio wave condition or the line condition is NG, a status notification indicating “reception environment NG” is transmitted to the server 102.

When the server 102 determines that the reception environment is OK based on the status notification from the base station 101, the server 102 proceeds from step F903 to F904 in FIG. 17, and performs distribution to the portable telephone device 1 at this time. That is, the music content data requested by the mobile phone device 1 is transmitted. If the distribution has not been notified from the server 102 and distribution has been executed, the mobile phone device 1 proceeds from step F803 to F804 in FIG. 16 to receive the distributed content data and record it on the memory card 90. Processing, that is, download processing is performed. When the distribution is completed and the required content data is recorded on the memory card 90, the communication with the server 102 is cut off in step F811, and the process is terminated. The server 102 also performs the communication disconnection processing in step F909 in FIG. 17 and ends the processing.
In other words, this is an operation when the distribution is performed at that time because the reception environment was good when the user performed the operation for the distribution.

On the other hand, as a result of the status confirmation in step F902, the server 102 determines that the reception environment is N in the portable telephone device 1.
If it is determined to be G, steps F903 to F9
Proceeding to step 05, a distribution impossible notification is transmitted to the mobile phone 1. The control unit 11 of the mobile phone device 1, upon receiving the distribution disable notification from the server 102, proceeds to step F <b> 8 in FIG. 16.
The process proceeds from 03 to F805 or later. This proceeds to the process when distribution is not executed at this time because the line condition is not good.

In step F805 of FIG. 16, the control unit 11 of the portable telephone device 1 executes the processing of FIG.
2 is read out. That is, the distribution mode selected by the user in advance. As a result, any one of the recovery execution mode, the designated time mode, and the delivery non-execution mode is read as the currently selected mode. If the user has not previously performed the operation of selecting the distribution mode, a specific mode may be registered as the default mode, or the user may be asked to select the mode at this time. You may.

In step F806, it is determined whether the currently selected mode is the designated time mode. As described above, the designated time mode is a mode in which, when the distribution is not performed due to a poor reception environment, distribution is attempted at a time designated by the user. Therefore, in this mode, the user needs to specify the time, and therefore, the control unit 11 requests the user to input the specified time in step F807. Then, in response to the user inputting the time, the process proceeds from step F808 to F809, and the input time is set as the designated time.

At step F810, the server 102 is notified of the distribution mode. That is, information indicating whether the selected delivery mode is the recovery execution mode, the designated time mode, or the delivery non-execution mode is notified. In the case of the designated time mode, the designated time set in step F809 is also used. Notify together. And step F811
Performs a communication disconnection process with the server 102.

In the server 102, step F9 in FIG.
After transmitting the distribution non-permission notice in step F90, the process proceeds to step F90.
At 6, the control waits for a distribution mode notification from the mobile phone device 1.
Then, when there is a distribution mode notification, the content is determined,
First, in step F907, it is determined whether the mode is the distribution non-execution mode. The delivery non-execution mode is a mode in which, when the reception environment is poor, the delivery is stopped at that time. Therefore,
If the mode is the delivery non-execution mode, the process proceeds to step F909 without performing any process for the subsequent process, and the mobile phone device 1
The communication with is terminated, and the process ends. In this case, the user's current operation for distribution is invalidated, and the user performs an operation for requesting distribution again at any time as necessary. That is, the connection request (S3
Repeat from 3).

If the delivery mode notified from the portable telephone device 1 is the recovery execution mode or the designated time mode, then, when the receiving environment is restored, the delivery is performed. Therefore, in step F908, necessary storage / setting processing for performing the processing in the recovery execution mode or the designated time mode is performed thereafter. For example, the ID, the telephone number, the content requested for distribution, the distribution mode, the date and time, and the like of the mobile phone device 1 are stored in a manageable state. Then, the process proceeds to step F909 to disconnect the communication with the mobile phone device 1 and end the process once. In this case, it means that the processing for distribution is temporarily suspended until the reception environment is restored.

As described above, when the user performs an operation for a distribution and makes a distribution request from the portable telephone device 1 to the server 102, the distribution is executed if the reception environment is good. If the receiving environment is not good, the distribution request is stopped or interrupted. Therefore, by preventing the distribution from being performed in a poor reception environment, it is possible to prevent the incomplete or poor data quality content from being captured. In such a case, depending on the circumstances of the user, the distribution is interrupted so as to be executed after the suspension or the recovery of the reception environment afterwards, so that the user can perform the optimal processing.

4-4 Processing in Recovery Execution Mode When distribution is interrupted due to the poor reception environment as described above, the delivery mode notified from the mobile phone 1 is the recovery execution mode. Figure 17
After the communication is disconnected in step F910 of FIG.
The processing shown on the right side of is performed. In addition, the control unit 11 of the mobile phone device 1 performs the processing shown on the left side of FIG. 18 accordingly.

In the case of the recovery execution mode, the server 102
Monitors the elapse of a predetermined time in step F1001 in FIG. The predetermined time is a time set in advance on the processing program of the server 102. However, the user of the mobile phone device 1 may be able to select a value as the predetermined time. In such a case, the mobile phone device 1 notifies the server 102 of the value of the predetermined time selected by the user at the time of the distribution mode notification.

When the elapse of the predetermined time is confirmed, server 102 advances the process to step F1002, and checks the status of the reception environment of portable telephone device 1 to be distributed. This corresponds to step F90 in FIG.
In the same manner as in step 2, the base station 101 transmits a status check request, the base station 101 checks the radio wave status and the line status, and the server 102 receives and checks the status notification of the result. In the base station 101, the mobile phone device 1 notifies the radio wave condition at the time of location registration as described above, so that the radio wave condition of the target mobile phone device 1 can be known.

Here, when the base station 101 notifies that the reception environment is NG, the process returns from step F1003 to F1001 and waits for a predetermined time to elapse again. If the result indicates that the reception environment is OK, the server 102 proceeds from step F1003 to F1004, and makes a connection request to the mobile phone device 1 (S51 in FIG. 14). Upon receiving this connection request, the control unit 11 of the mobile phone device 1 proceeds from step F1101 to F1102, and performs a connection process with the server 102. The server 102 also establishes a connection between the server 102 and the mobile phone device 1 by performing the connection processing in step F1005 (S5 in FIG. 14).
2).

When the communication connection with the mobile phone 1 is established, the server 102 executes distribution to the mobile phone 1 in step F1006. That is, the distribution of the requested music content stored in step F908 in FIG. 17 is executed (S53 in FIG. 14).

In response, control unit 11 of portable telephone device 1
Performs the process of receiving the distributed content data and recording it in the memory card 90, that is, the download process in step F1103 (S54 in FIG. 14). When the distribution is completed and the required content data is recorded on the memory card 90, the communication with the server 102 is cut off in step F1104, and the process ends. The server 102 also performs the communication disconnection processing in step F1007, and ends the processing.

When the recovery execution mode is set as described above, the server 102 checks the reception environment of the portable telephone device 1 at regular intervals after the processing in FIG. Then, when it is confirmed that the reception environment has been improved, the communication with the mobile phone device 1 is established again and the distribution is performed. As a result, the distribution interrupted in the process of FIG. 17 is executed at a later time. Therefore, even if a distribution request is made from the mobile phone device 1 when the reception environment is bad and the distribution operation is interrupted as a result, the distribution operation is thereafter completed according to the recovery of the reception environment. It is possible to receive appropriate and high-quality content data distribution.

4-5 Processing in Specified Time Mode In the case where the distribution is interrupted due to the poor reception environment and the distribution mode notified from the portable telephone device 1 is the specified time mode, the server returns to FIG. Step F
After the communication is disconnected at 910, the processing shown on the right side of FIG. 19 is executed. In addition, the control unit 11 of the mobile phone device 1 performs the processing shown on the left side of FIG. 19 accordingly.

In the case of the designated time mode, the designated time is transmitted together with the mode notification.
02 monitors the arrival of the designated time in step F1201 of FIG. After confirming that the designated time has arrived, the server 102 advances the process to step F1202, and checks the status of the reception environment of the mobile phone device 1 to be distributed. This corresponds to step F in FIG.
As in the case of 1002, a status confirmation request is transmitted to the base station 101, the base station 101 confirms the radio wave condition and the line condition, and the server 102 receives and confirms the resulting condition notification.

Here, when a result indicating that the reception environment is NG is notified from the base station 101, it is determined that distribution cannot be executed even at this point, and error processing is performed. For example, it is conceivable to notify the mobile phone device 1 that distribution is to be stopped. At this time, the user may be requested to specify the time again, and the process from step F1201 may be performed again according to the notification of the specified time. Alternatively, at the time of the error notification, the user may be able to select whether to specify the time again, or to give up the purchase of the content and end the distribution process at this time. Further, for example, at the time of step F807 in FIG. 16, the user may be able to specify a plurality of times at once, and the server 102 may perform the processing in FIG. 19 for all the specified times.

If the reception environment is determined to be OK in step F1203, the server 102 proceeds to step F120.
The process proceeds to step S4, where a connection request is made to the mobile phone device 1 (S51 in FIG. 14). Upon receiving this connection request, the mobile phone 1
The control unit 11 proceeds from step F1301 to F1302, and performs connection processing with the server 102. The server 102 also performs the connection processing of step F1205, and thereby the server 1
02 and the mobile phone device 1 are established (S in FIG. 14).
52).

When the communication connection with mobile phone 1 is established, server 102 executes distribution to mobile phone 1 in step F1206. That is, the distribution of the requested music content stored in step F908 in FIG. 17 is executed (S53 in FIG. 14).

In response, control unit 11 of portable telephone device 1
Performs the process of receiving the distributed content data and recording it in the memory card 90, that is, the download process in step F1303 (S54 in FIG. 14). Then, when the distribution is completed and the required content data is recorded on the memory card 90, the communication with the server 102 is cut off in step F1304, and the process is terminated. The server 102 also performs the communication disconnection processing in step F1207 and ends the processing.

In the designated time mode, the server 102 checks the reception environment of the portable telephone device 1 at the time designated by the user. Then, if the reception environment is good at that time, the communication with the mobile phone device 1 is re-established and distribution is performed. As a result, the distribution interrupted in the process of FIG. 17 is executed at a later time. Therefore, even if the user performs an operation for requesting distribution at a time when the reception environment is bad, and the distribution operation is interrupted as a result, if the reception environment is restored at a time convenient for the user, the distribution operation is completed. Therefore, the user can receive distribution of appropriate and high-quality content data.

Although various examples of the embodiment have been described above, various modifications are conceivable for the configuration of the distribution system, the configuration of the portable radio terminal, and the like, and the processing procedure of the present invention. In addition, the distribution of music content has been specifically taken as an example,
Of course, the data to be distributed is any data other than music content, and the present invention can be applied. The portable wireless terminal is not limited to a portable telephone device, but may be any portable wireless communication device. For example, P
A portable information device called a DA (Personal Digital Assistant) may be used. Although the memory card 90 has been described as an example of a recording medium for recording distribution data, the recording medium is not limited to a memory card,
D, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or another type of recording medium such as a RAM or a flash memory fixedly arranged in the apparatus.

[0149]

As can be seen from the above description, according to the present invention, when a distribution request is made from a portable radio terminal to a server, the reception environment in the portable radio terminal is determined. Will be delivered,
If the reception environment is not good, the server does not distribute the content. For this reason, there is an effect that it is possible to avoid a situation in which distribution is performed in a state where the reception environment is not good and a proper and high-quality data distribution operation cannot be performed. If the distribution is not performed because the reception environment is not good, it is preferable for the user to perform necessary processing according to the situation of the user. That is, if the distribution itself is stopped, that is, canceled at that time, the user can request the distribution again at his own will. Further, thereafter, the reception environment determination operation is executed at predetermined intervals, and when the reception environment is determined to be good, the distribution is executed, or the reception environment determination operation is performed at the designated time thereafter. Is executed, and if the reception environment is determined to be good, the distribution is performed, so that the distribution is performed after the reception environment is recovered. Therefore, the operation performed by the user for the delivery is valid and does not need to be performed again.
In addition, it is possible to appropriately receive high-quality distribution content data.

As the reception environment, by judging the state of the received radio wave in the radio transmission path and the congestion state of the communication line in the radio transmission path, it becomes the most effective judgment operation for the distribution operation intended for the portable radio terminal. .

[0151] Thus, the inconvenience of the user when using the portable radio terminal as the terminal of the distribution service, the deterioration of the data quality, or the incomplete distribution of the content data are solved. The practicality and stability of the distribution service using the terminal can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an appearance of the mobile phone device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the mobile phone device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a distribution operation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a distribution mode setting process in the mobile phone device of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process at the time of location registration of the mobile phone device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an electric field level storage method of the mobile phone device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process at the time of downloading of the mobile phone device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a radio wave state check process of the mobile phone device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a line status determination process of the base station according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process in a recovery execution mode of the mobile phone device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a process in a designated time mode of the mobile phone device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of another processing example at the time of location registration of the mobile phone device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a distribution operation according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a process at the time of location registration of the mobile phone device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a process at the time of downloading of the mobile phone device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a process at the time of download of a server according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a process in a recovery execution mode according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a process in a designated time mode according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 mobile phone device, 2 antennas, 3 memory slots, 4 display units, 5 speaker units, 6 microphone units,
7 operation unit, 8 headphone terminal, 11 control unit, 12
Memory unit, 14 RF unit, 15 baseband processing unit, 16 audio unit, 17 ringer sound source unit, 18 ringing speaker unit, 20 memory interface, 21 encoder / decoder, 22 recording / playback control unit, 23 audio processing unit, 101 base station , 102 servers

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) H04N 7/173 630 H04L 11/00 310B 5K101 (72) Inventor Joh Wada 6-7-35 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Corporation F-term (reference) EE10 HH23 5K101 KK18 LL12 MM07 NN15 NN18 NN21 NN23 NN25 PP03 PP04 QQ07 RR14 RR25 VV01 VV02

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. A distribution system comprising: a portable wireless terminal connected to a communication network via a wireless transmission path; and a server connected to the communication network and capable of delivering content data to the portable wireless terminal. The portable wireless terminal includes: an operation unit for performing an operation for requesting distribution of predetermined content data from the server; a determination unit for determining a reception environment; and an operation for requesting distribution by the operation unit. Control means for making a distribution request to the server based on a result of the determination of the reception environment by the determination means; and storage means for storing content data distributed from the server in response to the distribution request. A distribution system characterized by that: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining means includes:
2. The distribution system according to claim 1, wherein a state of a received radio wave in the wireless transmission path is determined. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining means includes:
The distribution system according to claim 1, wherein a congestion state of a communication line in the wireless transmission path is determined. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit does not execute a distribution request to the server when the determination unit determines that the reception environment is not good.
The distribution system described in 1. 5. When the control unit does not execute a distribution request to the server based on a result of the determination by the determining unit, the control unit causes the determining unit to perform a receiving environment determining operation at predetermined time intervals. 5. The distribution system according to claim 4, wherein a distribution request to the server is executed when it is determined that the environment is good. 6. When the control unit does not execute a distribution request to the server based on a result of the determination by the determination unit, the control unit causes the determination unit to perform a reception environment determination operation at a designated time thereafter. The distribution system according to claim 4, wherein a distribution request to the server is executed when it is determined that the reception environment is good. 7. A portable wireless terminal connected to a communication network via a wireless transmission path and capable of receiving distribution of content data from a server connected to the communication network, wherein a predetermined content from the server is provided. Operating means for performing an operation for requesting data distribution; determining means for determining a receiving environment; and when an operation for requesting distribution is performed by the operating means, based on a determination result of the receiving environment by the determining means, A portable wireless terminal comprising: control means for making a distribution request to a server; and storage means for storing content data distributed from the server in response to the distribution request. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining means includes:
The portable wireless terminal according to claim 7, wherein a state of a received radio wave in the wireless transmission path is determined. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the determining means includes:
The portable wireless terminal according to claim 7, wherein a congestion state of a communication line in the wireless transmission path is determined. 10. The portable wireless terminal according to claim 7, wherein the control unit does not execute a distribution request to the server when the determination unit determines that the reception environment is not good. 11. When the control unit does not execute a distribution request to the server based on a result of the determination by the determination unit, the control unit causes the determination unit to execute a reception environment determination operation at predetermined intervals thereafter, and 11. The portable wireless terminal according to claim 10, wherein a distribution request to the server is executed when it is determined that the environment is good. 12. When the control means does not execute a distribution request to the server based on a result of the determination by the determination means, the control means causes the determination means to execute a receiving environment determination operation at a designated time thereafter. 11. The portable wireless terminal according to claim 10, wherein a distribution request to the server is executed when it is determined that a reception environment is good. 13. A distribution system comprising a portable wireless terminal connected to a communication network via a wireless transmission path and a server connected to the communication network and capable of delivering content data to the portable wireless terminal. As a distribution method to be performed, when an operation for requesting distribution of predetermined content data is performed in the portable wireless terminal, a determination step of determining a reception environment, and when the reception environment is determined to be good by the determination step, A requesting step of performing a distribution request from the portable wireless terminal to the server, and a distribution step of distributing content data from the server to the portable wireless terminal in response to the distribution request and storing the content data in the portable wireless terminal, Is carried out. 14. The distribution method according to claim 13, wherein said determining step determines a received radio wave condition in said wireless transmission path as said receiving environment. 15. The distribution method according to claim 13, wherein, in the determining step, a congestion state of a communication line in the wireless transmission path is determined as the reception environment. 16. The distribution method according to claim 13, wherein in the determining step, when it is determined that the reception environment is not good, the operation of the requesting step is not performed. 17. When the operation of the requesting step is not performed, thereafter, the determining operation of the determining step is performed every predetermined period, and when the receiving environment is determined to be good, the operation of the requesting step is performed. 17. The distribution method according to claim 16, wherein the distribution method is executed. 18. When the operation of the request step is not performed, the determination operation of the determination step is performed at a designated time thereafter, and when the reception environment is determined to be good, the operation of the request step is performed. 17. The distribution method according to claim 16, further comprising: 19. A distribution system comprising: a portable wireless terminal connected to a communication network via a wireless transmission path; and a server connected to the communication network and capable of delivering content data to the portable wireless terminal. An operation unit for performing an operation for requesting distribution of predetermined content data from the server; and a control for issuing a distribution request to the server when the operation for requesting distribution is performed by the operation unit. Means, and storage means for storing content data distributed from the server in response to the distribution request, wherein the server determines a reception environment in the portable wireless terminal when the distribution request is made. Determining means, and a distribution system for performing distribution to the portable wireless terminal based on a determination result of the reception environment by the determining means. Distribution system characterized in that it comprises a means. 20. The distribution system according to claim 19, wherein said determination means determines a reception radio wave condition in said portable wireless terminal as said reception environment. 21. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination means determines, as the reception environment, a congestion state of a communication line in a wireless transmission path connected to the portable wireless terminal.
10. The distribution system according to 9. 22. The distribution system according to claim 19, wherein the distribution control unit does not execute distribution to the portable wireless terminal when the determination unit determines that the reception environment is not good. 23. When the distribution control unit does not execute distribution to the portable wireless terminal based on a result of the determination by the determination unit, the distribution control unit causes the determination unit to execute a reception environment determination operation at predetermined intervals thereafter. 23. The distribution system according to claim 22, wherein when the reception environment is determined to be good, distribution to the portable wireless terminal is executed. 24. When the distribution control unit does not execute distribution to the portable wireless terminal based on a result of the determination by the determination unit, the distribution control unit executes a reception environment determination operation at the designated time thereafter. 23. The distribution system according to claim 22, wherein when the reception environment is determined to be good, the distribution to the portable wireless terminal is executed.