JP2002091973A - Information providing system and its retrieving method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide information of contents corresponding to the TPO of a user. SOLUTION: In this information providing system by which information retrieval using the positional information of a portable telephone set 10 is possible, a date specifying means 15 or 53 specifies date information and a situation specifying means 62 specifies situation information based on the contents of schedule information 64. Then, when receiving a retrieving request from the set 10, a retrieval means 55 carries out retrieval with at least one of the date information from the means 15 or 53 and the situation information from the means 62 as a parameter. Information corresponding to this retrieval is provided to the set 10 by an information providing means 52.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information providing system, and more particularly to a system for providing information to a portable terminal such as a portable telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of the information-oriented society, a variety of services have been provided to portable telephones in addition to the original purpose of telephone calls. For example, the provision of information services typified by news, weather information, ticket reservations, and the like, and the provision of entertainment services in which game applications are mounted on mobile phones and games are enjoyed when not used for telephone calls have begun.

[0003] In the field of information provision using a network, a wide-area information system called WWW (World Wide Web) is most widely used. That is, by providing browsing software called a web browser on a mobile phone and performing communication between the web browser and the web server, a variety of information is provided to the mobile phone.

However, such an information providing system (specifically, “i” provided by NTT DOCOMO, INC.)
-Mode ”or“ EZ provided by Daini Denden Co., Ltd.
web ") has a problem in that it is difficult to quickly access the target information from the large amount of information as described above. Because of the need to access information, it is common to perform a search by first inputting (or selecting) an appropriate keyword on a search web page, but such a search operation is difficult for a mobile phone user. If it is troublesome and the keyword is not appropriate, the target information does not correspond to the search, and it is necessary to perform a search again.

[0005] Therefore, recently, various systems have been proposed which are capable of quickly providing target information by utilizing a technology for automatically specifying the current position of a mobile phone. The configuration of a map information providing system for providing map information to a mobile phone will be described with reference to FIG.

[0006] First, when the mobile phone 10 issues a request for obtaining a map search page to the information providing server 50 by operating a button or the like provided in the mobile phone 10 in a predetermined procedure, the page obtaining request is issued. The information providing server 50 received via the base station 22 and the exchange 30 reads the map search page from its own hard disk or the like and returns it to the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 13, step S1 → S2).

[0007] As a result, a map search screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display provided in the mobile phone 10, and further, for example, the name of the destination is instructed and input in the keyword input area of the map search screen, and then the search is started. When instructed, the mobile phone 10 issues a current position acquisition request to the current position server 40 (FIG. 1).
3, steps S3 → S4 → S5 → S6).

Therefore, the current location server 40 obtains the attenuation rate of radio waves during communication between the mobile phone 10 and each of the base stations 21 to 23 and the position information of each of the base stations 21 to 23, and then obtains the information. Based on this, the current position (for example, latitude information and longitude information) of the mobile phone 10 is calculated and returned to the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 13, step S7).

As a result, when a map information search request specifying the “name of destination” input as described above and the “current position” obtained as described above is issued from the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 13, Step S8), the map information search request is accepted by the information providing server 50. And
When the information providing server 50 reads the route map information from the current position to the destination from its own hard disk or the like and returns it to the mobile phone 10, the route map information is stored in the mobile phone 1.
0 is displayed on the liquid crystal display of FIG.
3. Steps S9 → S10).

According to the map information providing system described above, the current position of the mobile phone 10 is automatically specified, so that the target map information can be provided quickly.

[0011] In place of the current position server 40, G
PS (Grobal Posistiong System) can also be adopted. In other words, the same effect as described above can be obtained even if the mobile phone 10 is equipped with a device for measuring the current position of its own device based on the time signal of the GPS artificial satellite.

The format of the route map information is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in JP-A-00-35843, it is preferable to employ a schematic map using font data.

[0013]

Here, in the conventional information providing system described above, quick information provision is possible by automatically setting the current position of the mobile phone 10 as a search condition. In some cases, it may not be possible to provide information with optimal contents.

[0014] For example, it is preferable to preferentially provide nearby restaurant information to a user who has issued a search request during a meal, and to a user on a business trip who has issued a search request from the premises of a certain station. In this case, it is preferable to provide the timetable information for the station. However, the conventional information providing system cannot recognize that the user is eating or traveling. That is, the current position of the mobile phone 10 (location: Pl
ace), as well as the current date and time (Time) and the situation where the user of the mobile phone 10 is currently located (Case: Occasio)
Unless n) is also used as a search condition, there is a problem that information with optimal contents cannot be provided.

Although the above problem can be solved by adopting a method of instructing the user of the mobile phone 10 to input information indicating that the user is at a meal or on a business trip, such an input operation is troublesome for the user of the mobile phone 10. It is difficult to adopt.

The present invention has been proposed on the basis of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and the TP of a user at the time of executing a search is provided.
O (Time Place Occasion) is automatically recognized and this T
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information providing system capable of providing information having contents corresponding to a PO.

[0017]

The present invention employs the following means to achieve the above object. That is, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG.
Information search using the location information of
An information providing system having a function of providing information corresponding to the search to the mobile phone 10 is assumed.

In such an information providing system, the date and time specifying means 15 of the mobile phone 10 or the information providing server 5
The date and time specifying means 53 of 0 specifies date and time information indicating the date and time. In addition, the situation specifying means (schedule managing means) 62 of the schedule server 60 provides a situation indicating the situation where the user of the mobile phone 10 is set based on the contents of the schedule information 64 registered in advance for each user of the mobile phone 10. Identify information.

Here, the search means 5 of the information providing server 50
5 receives a search request from the mobile phone 10 and executes a search using at least one of the date / time information from the date / time specifying unit 15 or 53 and the status information from the status specifying unit 62 as parameters. Then, the information corresponding to the search is provided to the mobile phone 10 by the information providing means 52 of the information providing server 50.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user's TPO is automatically recognized at the time of executing a search, so that information having contents corresponding to the TPO can be promptly provided. is there.

As shown in FIG. 3, the information providing server 50 may be provided with a menu composing means 59 described below.

That is, when a search request is received from the mobile phone 10, the menu composing means 59 receives the date and time information and the situation specifying means 62 from the date and time specifying means 15 or 53.
A search menu is configured using at least one of the pieces of status information from. In this way, TPO
Is provided to the mobile phone 10, so that the target web page 57 can be easily selected.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an information providing system to which the present invention is applied. Hereinafter, the configuration of the information providing system will be described only for points different from the above-described conventional one.

First, when an instruction input unit 14 such as a button provided in the mobile phone 10 is operated in a predetermined procedure, a request for obtaining a search page is issued from the browsing unit 12 of the mobile phone 10 to the information providing server 50. . Accordingly, the information providing unit 52 of the information providing server 50 that has received the page acquisition request via the communication units 11 and 51 transmits the search page 57 from the storage unit 56 (such as a hard disk) of the own device.
And returns it to the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 2, step S1).
→ S2).

Next, when a search screen is displayed on the display means 13 (such as a liquid crystal display) of the mobile phone 10, FIG.
As shown in Fig. 2, for example, a user ID such as "00001234" is input and an instruction is issued to start a search (Fig. 2, step S3).
→ S4 → S5). Accordingly, the browsing unit 12 of the mobile phone 10 issues a current position acquisition request to the current position server 40 and issues a current situation acquisition request to the schedule server 60 by specifying the user ID “00001234”. (FIG. 2, steps S6 → S7).

Here, it is assumed that the user ID is input by instruction. However, the user ID 17 is stored in advance in the storage means 16 (memory card or the like) of the mobile phone 10 and the user ID 17 is read from the storage means 16. Means 12
May be read. This not only eliminates the need for a troublesome operation of instructing and inputting a user ID, but also has the effect of eliminating user ID input errors.

As a result of the above, the current position information P of the mobile phone 10 is returned from the current position server 40. Since this point is the same as in the above-mentioned prior art, the description will be omitted. The schedule server 60 will be described.

First, the schedule server 60 is a device for providing schedule information 64 to a user such as the mobile phone 10 or a personal computer. That is, when the mobile phone 10 accesses the schedule server 60, various service menus such as "1. E-mail" and "2. Address book" are displayed as shown in FIG. When "3. Schedule" is instructed, various schedule menus such as "1. New registration" and "2. Date designation" are displayed as shown in FIG. 8B.

Here, when a new schedule is to be registered, "1. New registration" is instructed, and when a schedule is to be browsed, "2. Date designation" is instructed. If the user wants to edit the schedule, he instructs “3. Edit”, and if he wants to delete the schedule, he instructs “4. Delete”. The contents instructed in this way are transmitted to the schedule server 60, and are placed under the control of the schedule server 60.

For example, a user “00001234” who is planning a meeting from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on July 21 and a business trip from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, notifies “1. New registration” to that effect. When an instruction is given on the menu, the schedule management means 62 of the schedule server 60 that has received this registration instruction registers the above schedule in the storage means 63 (hard disk or the like) as schedule information 64 of the user "00001234" (FIG. 2, step S8). . The technique of registering the schedule information 64 and the technique of managing (editing / deleting, etc.) the registered schedule information 64 in this manner are known, and are not the focus of the present invention.
Here, detailed description is omitted.

Here, as described above, the user "00001234"
Server 60 that has received a current status acquisition request from
The schedule management means (situation specifying means) 62 obtains the current date and time from the clock provided in its own device. If the current date and time is, for example, 10:00 a.m. on July 21, information indicating that a meeting is in progress, and if the current date and time is 2:00 p.m. on July 21, information indicating that a business trip is in progress, respectively. Information O
To the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 2, step S9). Of course, there may be no schedule corresponding to the current date and time, but in that case, status information O indicating that no schedule exists is returned.

Since the status information O is used as a search parameter as described later, the status information O is converted so as to be easily processed by a computer, such as digitization or character conversion, on a predetermined basis. This conversion process is performed by the schedule server 60
Any of the mobile phones 10 may be used. When synonymous schedule information 64 is registered with different character strings such as a conference, a meeting, and a meeting, these character strings are converted into the same numerical information or character information.

Next, the browsing means 12 of the mobile phone 10
The current date and time information T is obtained from the date and time specifying means 15 such as a clock provided in the own device, and the date and time information T, the position information P obtained from the current position server 40 as described above, and the schedule server 60 as described above. Status information O obtained from
Is issued to the information providing server 50 (FIG. 2, step S10).

The date and time information T and the position information P are also search parameters, similar to the situation information O, and are converted so as to be easily processed by a computer, such as digitization or characterization, on a predetermined basis. deep. The process of converting the date and time information T is performed by the mobile phone 10, but the process of converting the position information P may be performed by either the current location server 40 or the mobile phone 10. The date and time information T is 1
The time may be any time such as 2:15 or a predetermined time period including this time (for example, 11:30 to 12:30). Also, the position information P is 34 degrees 40 minutes north latitude and 13 longitude east longitude.
It may be a point indicated by 5 degrees 30 minutes or the like, or a predetermined area including this point (for example, extracting a landmark such as a station or a building within a radius of 500 m or within a radius of 500 m).

Here, the information providing means 52 of the information providing server 50, which has received the information search request, determines based on at least one of the date and time information T, the position information P, and the status information O included in the information search request. Thus, the search unit 55 is instructed to search the correspondence table 58 described below.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the correspondence table 58 includes the attributes of the web page 57 including “type”, “time”, “place”, “case (situation)”, and the like, and the URL ( Uniform Resource Locator) is set in advance by the administrator of the information providing system in the following manner.

That is, in the “type” field, the type of the web page 57 such as the latest technology / lunch / timetable is set, and in the “hour” field, weekday / midnight / 11:
A time (or time zone) at which the web page 57 is related, such as 30 to 12:30, is set. In the “place” field, a place related to the web page 57 such as the city of Osaka, the premises of JR Osaka Station, and home is set. In the “case (status)” field, the web page such as a meeting, a business trip, or a date is set. Set the situation related to page 57 (al in the figure)
l represents that it relates to every "time", "place", and "case").

In FIG. 6, "Latest technology" and "Conference"
Although a character string such as “in Osaka” is shown, the information set in each record of the correspondence table 58 may be digitized or the like so as to be easily processed by a computer.

Although the correspondence table 58 is set by the administrator of the information providing system, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the user of the mobile phone 10 can set the correspondence table 58. In this way, each user can set the URL of a desired web page 57 (some users want to refer to the latest technical information and others want to refer to stock price information during a meeting).

Further, FIG. 6 illustrates a case where the number of items set in each field is one, but the number of items may be one or more. For example, the place where the weather forecast information is provided can be not only at home but also at home and a conference room. That is, the user of the mobile phone 10 can individually set the location of the home or the conference room (company).

Next, as described below, the search means 55 searches the correspondence table 58 based on at least one of the date and time information T, the position information P, and the status information O, and this search result is obtained. The URL is returned to the mobile phone 10 via the information providing means 52 (FIG. 2, step S11).

That is, when the status information O included in the information search request indicates that a meeting is being held, the search means 55 searches the correspondence table 58 for a record in which “meeting” is set in the “case” field. The URL is specified, and the URL (that is, the URL “http: //www.00000001.html” 81) is returned to the information providing unit 52. As a result, the URL "ht
“tp: //www.00000001.html” 81 is transmitted from the information providing server 50 to the mobile phone 10.

The search means 55 determines that the date and time information T included in the information search request is 2:00 pm on July 21 (Fri.), and the location information P included in the information search request indicates the location of JR Osaka Station. If the status information O included in the information search request indicates that the user is on a business trip, the JR
URL related to weekday timetable for Osaka Station "http: //www.000
00004.html ”84 to the information providing means 52. Thus, the URL “http: //www.00000004.html” 84 is transmitted from the information providing server 50 to the mobile phone 10. However, as described above, the position information P may be not only landmarks such as stations and buildings, but also latitude and longitude information such as 34 ° 40 minutes north latitude and 135 ° 30 minutes east longitude. Therefore, a means (determining means 54) for determining the nearest place from the position information P of such latitude and longitude information and determining where the nearest place is is provided by the information providing server 50.
Be prepared for.

Further, the search means 55 determines that the date and time information T included in the information search request is 7:00 pm on July 21 (Fri.), and the location information P included in the information search request indicates Osaka city. If the status information O included in the information search request indicates that the date is a date, the URL “http://www.00000007.ht” relating to a restaurant with a good mood in Osaka city
"87" is returned to the information providing means 52. As a result, the URL “http: //www.00000007.html” 87 is transmitted from the information providing server 50 to the mobile phone 10.
However, in this case, the quality of the mood is evaluated in, for example, five levels and set in the correspondence table 58 in advance.

If there are a plurality of web pages 57 corresponding to the search, the URLs of these web pages 57
All the URLs may be transmitted, or only the URL of the web page 57 with the highest priority, such as only the URL of the web page 57 with the highest evaluation, may be transmitted. Also, the web page 57 corresponding to the search
If there is no, it is preferable to notify the mobile phone 10 of the fact and to allow the mobile phone 10 receiving the notification to input a different search condition (another TPO).

Thereafter, the browsing means 12 of the mobile phone 10
When an acquisition request for the web page 57 is issued by specifying the RL,
The information providing unit 52 of the information providing server 50 that has received the page acquisition request reads out the URL web page 57 from the storage unit 56 and returns it to the mobile phone 10. Therefore, the display means 13 of the mobile phone 10 includes the URL
Is displayed (FIG. 2, steps S12 → S13 → S14).

That is, when the browsing unit 12 of the mobile phone 10 specifies the URL “http: //www.00000001.html” 81 and issues a request to acquire the web page 57, the URL “htt
The web page 57 of “p: //www.00000001.html” 81 is returned from the information providing server 50 to the mobile phone 10. Therefore, the latest technical information as shown in FIG. 9A is displayed on the display unit 13 of the mobile phone 10.

The browsing means 12 of the mobile phone 10 is UR
When the acquisition request of the web page 57 is issued by designating the L “http: //www.00000004.html” 84, the URL “http: // w
The web page 57 of “ww.00000004.html” 84 is returned from the information providing server 50 to the mobile phone 10. Therefore, weekday timetable information for JR Osaka Station as shown in FIG. 9B is displayed on the display means 13 of the mobile phone 10.

Further, the browsing means 12 of the mobile phone 10 is UR
When an acquisition request for the web page 57 is issued by designating the L “http: //www.00000007.html” 87, the URL “http: // w
“ww.00000007.html” 87 is returned from the information providing server 50 to the mobile phone 10. Accordingly, the display means 13 of the mobile phone 10 displays restaurant information (phone number information, map information, menu information, etc.) as shown in FIG. 9C.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user's TPO is automatically recognized at the time of executing a search, so that information having contents corresponding to this TPO can be promptly provided. is there.

In the above description, the search operation when the web page 57 relating to the latest technology / timetable / restaurant is provided is exemplified.
This is an invention for realizing a search according to the above, and is not limited to the above search operation. That is, since the web page 57 adopted by the present invention is collected from a large number of providers such as restaurants, record companies, local governments, etc., the contents are various, and the configuration of the correspondence table 58 is also In addition to the fields of "type", "time", "place", and "case", the field can be changed as necessary, for example, by providing a field indicating the quality of mood.

In the above description, the date and time specifying means 15 for specifying the date and time information T is provided on the mobile phone 10 side. However, the date and time specifying means 15 may be provided on the information providing server 50 side. . That is, when the information providing unit 52 of the information providing server 50 receives an information search request specifying the position information P and the status information O from the mobile phone 10,
The current date and time information T is obtained from the date and time specifying means 53 such as a clock provided in the own device, and the date and time information T and the position information P are acquired.
And the status information O to the search means 55.

Further, in the above description, the configuration provided with the schedule server 60 is exemplified. However, each means and each information provided in the schedule server 60 are transferred to the portable telephone 1.
The same effect can be obtained by providing the device on the 0 side.

Further, in the above description, the situation information O is specified based on the contents of the schedule information 64, but the method of specifying the situation information O is not limited to this.

For example, a device for transmitting area information indicating a conference room (hereinafter referred to as an "area information transmission device 70") to a network using Bluetooth or the like is installed in the conference room, and the area information transmission device 70 may be operated from the start to the end of the conference. That is, when the switch 71 of the area information transmitting device 70 is turned on, the transmitting means 72 operates, and the transmitting means 72 transmits the area information stored in the storage means 73 to the network. . As a result, the situation specifying means 17 of the mobile phone 10 entering the conference room
Receives the area information via the communication means 11, and determines that a conference is being held based on the area information.

According to such a method of specifying the situation information O, even if the schedule does not exist or does not act according to the schedule, the TPO based on the current situation can be used.
Search is possible. Of course, the narrow area in which the area information transmitting device 70 is installed is not limited to the conference room, but may be any narrow area used for a predetermined purpose, such as a restaurant or a vehicle. That is, the area information stored in the storage unit 73 can be changed from the setting unit 74.

Alternatively, the position information P of the mobile phone 10 may be specified at a predetermined cycle such as a 10-second cycle, and the moving speed of the mobile phone 10 may be calculated based on the position information P. In this way, when the calculated moving speed exceeds a predetermined speed such as 30 km / h, it can be determined that the user of the mobile phone 10 is moving on the vehicle. Such a determination means may be provided in either the mobile phone 10 or the current location server 40.

In the above description, the configuration for providing information to the mobile phone 10 is exemplified. However, the information is provided to a mobile terminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) or a personal computer. Such a fixed terminal may be used. Of course, the information providing server 50 (or a personal computer having the same function as the information providing server 50) may be used in a stand-alone manner. However, in this case, the TPO search execution time is set as the date and time information T, the installation position of the information providing server 50 is set as the position information P, and based on the contents of the schedule information 64 provided in the storage unit 56 of the information providing server 50. The method of specifying the TPO, such as specifying the status information O, is different from the above.

Further, in the above description, the search operation according to the current TPO (ie, at the time of executing the search) is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, regardless of the user's current TPO, the schedule information 64 may be preferentially searched.

For example, the above (steps S7 → S9 in FIG. 2)
As described above, the schedule management means 62 of the schedule server 60 that has received the current status acquisition request
If it is found that the data of the place is registered in addition to the time / contents as a result of the check of 4, the place data is used as the position information P. If you do this,
This is because even if the user of the mobile phone 10 has not yet arrived at the place of the schedule, TPO information according to the schedule can be collected. Of course, in this case, the current position acquisition request is not issued from the mobile phone 10 to the current position server 40.

Also, by employing such a schedule-priority search method, a TPO search that is not tied to the current time information T may be performed. For example, if it is registered as schedule information 64 that you will be eating in Kyoto from 7:00 to 9:00 pm tomorrow, based on this schedule information 64, the future, that is,
A search according to the TPO from 7:00 to 9:00 pm tomorrow is possible (a search according to the past TPO is also possible by the same method). In this case, it is needless to say that the date and time specifying means 15 and 53 do not need to specify the current date and time information T. (Second Embodiment) As described above, since the contents of the web page 57 adopted by the present invention are various, a large number of web pages 57 may correspond to the TPO search. It may not be easy to select the web page 57. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the configuration shown in FIG. 3 is adopted so that the user of the mobile phone 10 can obtain the target web page 57 by a simple operation.

That is, when a request for obtaining a search page is issued from the mobile phone 10 together with the user ID, the information providing means 52 of the information providing server 50 that has received the page obtaining request transmits the date / time information T / position information of the user. After specifying the P / status information O (FIG. 4, step S1 → S2),
This TPO is passed to the menu composing means 59. The date and time information T is obtained from the date and time specifying means 53, the position information P is obtained from the current position server 40, and the status information O is obtained from the schedule server 60 in the same procedure as in the first embodiment.

Thus, the menu composing means 59
A search menu corresponding to the TPO is formed, and the search menu is returned to the information providing unit 52. For example, when the date and time information T means 12:00, the position information P means near JR Osaka Station, and the situation information O means moving, the menu composing means 59 will execute the menu described below. A search menu is configured based on the configuration table 59a.

That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the menu configuration table 59a is a table in which search parameters and menus are associated in advance. Here, "meal" is used for the date and time information T "12:00", "transportation" and "shop" are used for the location information P "station", and "weather forecast" is used for the status information O "moving". Since the menus are associated with each other, the menu composing means 59 includes “transportation”, “meal”
A search menu consisting of “weather forecast” and “shop” is configured. The menu configuration table 59
A may be set by either the administrator of the information providing system or the user of the mobile phone 10.

Thereafter, the search menu configured as described above (hereinafter, referred to as “top menu”) is transmitted to the mobile phone 10 by the information providing means 52, and FIG.
Is displayed on the display means 13 of the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 4, step S3 → S4).

Here, when the user of the portable telephone 10 instructs "transportation" (FIG. 4, step S5), the menu composing means 59 accepts this instruction in the same procedure as described above.
Thus, a search menu is displayed which indicates a transportation system near JR Osaka Station such as "JR", "subway", "Hankyu".
A technique for specifying "JR", "subway", and "Hankyu" as a means of transportation near JR Osaka Station has been conventionally known as a timetable system typified by "station Supa".

Then, the search menu configured as described above (hereinafter referred to as a “narrow-down menu”) is transmitted to the mobile phone 10 by the information providing means 52, and the search menu shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), it is displayed on the display means 13 of the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 4, step S6 → S7).

Here, the user of the mobile phone 10 is referred to as “JR”.
(Step S8 in FIG. 4), the information providing means 52 of the information providing server 50 notifies the searching means 55 of a search parameter meaning "JR" in addition to the TPO. Therefore, in this case, the timetable information of JR Osaka Station is searched by the search means 55, and the timetable information is provided to the mobile phone 10 by the information providing means 52 (FIG. 4, step S9 → S10). . On the other hand, when "subway" is instructed from the above-described narrowing down menu, the timetable information of Umeda Station is provided to the mobile phone 10, and when "Hankyu" is instructed, the timetable information of Umeda Station is provided to the mobile phone 10. Will be.

On the other hand, when "Meal" is instructed from the above-mentioned top menu, "Snack", "Udon / Soba"
A search menu such as “lunch” is configured by the menu configuration unit 59 and displayed on the display unit 13 of the mobile phone 10 (see FIG. 10C). And if "snack" is instructed from this search menu, JR that provides snacks
Restaurant information around Osaka Station is provided to the mobile phone 10. On the other hand, when "udon / soba" is instructed, restaurant information around JR Osaka Station that provides udon / soba is provided to the mobile phone 10, and when "lunch" is instructed, JR Osaka that provides lunch is provided. The restaurant information around the station is provided to the mobile phone 10.

Further, when "weather forecast" is instructed from the top menu, the weather forecast information of the Kansai region (may be limited to Osaka prefecture) is provided to the mobile phone 10, and "shop" is designated from the top menu. If so,
Shop information around JR Osaka Station is provided to the mobile phone 10. Of course, a search menu for enabling a further narrowed search may be interposed between the top menu and the weather forecast information (shop information).

As described above, in this embodiment, the TPO
Is provided to the mobile phone 10 so that the user of the mobile phone 10 can easily obtain the target web page 57. (Third Embodiment) In the second embodiment, the TP
Although the top menu is configured after specifying O (FIG. 4, step S2 → S3), the TPO search procedure is not limited to this.

Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The block diagram is shown in the second embodiment (FIG. 3).
Since it is the same as above, it is omitted here.

First, the information providing means 52 of the information providing server 50 which has received the page acquisition request from the mobile phone 10.
Returns a predetermined search menu to the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 5,
Step S1 → S2).

Then, a top menu as shown in FIG. 10A is displayed on the display means 13 of the mobile phone 10, and when “transportation” is designated from the top menu, the information providing means 52 of the information providing server 50 provides the information. The TPO is specified (FIG. 5, step S3 → S
4 → S5). This TPO specifying method is performed in step S2 in FIG.
Is the same as

Thereafter, when the TPO specified as described above is notified from the information providing means 52 to the menu composition means 59, a search menu corresponding to this TPO is composed by the menu composition means 59, and FIG. Is displayed on the display means 13 of the mobile phone 10 (FIG. 5, step S6 → S7).

The subsequent operations (steps S8 to S8 in FIG. 5)
Step 10) is the same as steps S8 to S10 in FIG.

As described above, a predetermined top menu is first provided, and the second embodiment can also be implemented by a search procedure for forming a narrowed-down menu according to the TPO when an instruction from the top menu is received. The same effect can be obtained. For other search procedures, TP
Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained as long as the search menu corresponding to O is provided to the mobile phone 10.

[0078]

As described above, according to the present invention, the user's TPO is automatically recognized at the time of executing a search, so that information having contents corresponding to the TPO can be promptly provided. It is possible.

Further, by adopting a configuration in which a search menu corresponding to the TPO is provided to the mobile phone, it is easy to obtain a target web page.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an information providing system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a search process according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main part of an information providing system according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of search processing (1) according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of search processing (2) according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an internal configuration diagram of a correspondence table.

FIG. 7 is a schematic external view of a mobile phone when a user ID is input.

FIG. 8 is a schematic external view of a mobile phone when using a schedule service.

FIG. 9 is a schematic external view of a mobile phone displaying search results.

FIG. 10 is a schematic external view of a mobile phone displaying a search menu.

FIG. 11 is an internal configuration diagram of a menu configuration table.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a conventional map information providing system.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a search process in a conventional map information providing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cellular phone 12 Browsing means 13 Display means 14 Instruction input means 15 Date and time specifying means (cellular phone side) 16 Storage means (cellular phone side) 17 Situation specifying means (cellular phone side) 40 Current position server 50 Information providing server 52 Information provision Means 53 Date and time specifying means (information providing server side) 54 Discriminating means 55 Searching means 57 Various web pages 58 Correspondence table 59 Menu configuration means 59a Menu configuration table 60 Schedule server 62 Schedule management means (Status specifying means) 63 Storage means (Schedule server) Side) 64 schedule information 70 area information transmitter

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Taku Saito 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5B075 KK07 PP03 PP10 PP13 PQ02 PQ05 UU13

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An information providing system capable of performing information search using position information of a portable terminal and having a function of providing information corresponding to the search to the portable terminal, wherein date and time information indicating date and time is specified. Date / time specifying means; status specifying means for specifying status information indicating the status of the user of the mobile terminal; and when receiving a search request from the mobile terminal, date / time information and the status specifying means from the date / time specifying means. And a search unit for executing a search using at least one of the pieces of status information from the user as a parameter. 2. An information providing system capable of performing an information search using position information of a mobile terminal and having a function of providing information corresponding to the search to the mobile terminal, wherein date and time information indicating date and time is specified. Date / time specifying means; status specifying means for specifying status information indicating the status of the user of the mobile terminal; and when receiving a search request from the mobile terminal, date / time information and the status specifying means from the date / time specifying means. A menu configuration unit that configures a search menu using at least one of the status information from the user as a parameter, an information providing unit that provides the configured search menu to a mobile terminal, and a search condition specified from the search menu. An information providing system comprising: a search unit for performing a search by using a search function. 3. The situation specifying means specifies a situation where a user of the portable terminal is set based on the contents of schedule information registered in advance for each user of the portable terminal and the date and time information from the date and time identifying means. The information providing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. The situation specifying means receives area information indicating that the area is used for a predetermined purpose, and based on the received area information, determines the situation where the user of the portable terminal is located. The information providing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information providing system specifies. 5. An area information transmitting apparatus for transmitting area information indicating an area used for a predetermined purpose to a portable terminal in a narrow area. 6. A search method of an information providing system capable of performing information search using position information of a mobile terminal and having a function of providing information corresponding to the search to the mobile terminal, wherein date and time information indicating date and time is provided. Date and time specifying process for specifying the status, status specifying process for specifying status information indicating the status of the user of the mobile terminal, and date and time information specified in the date and time specifying process when a search request is received from the mobile terminal. -A search method for an information providing system, comprising: a search process of performing a search using at least one of the pieces of status information specified in the above status specifying process as a parameter. 7. A search method of an information providing system capable of performing an information search using position information of a mobile terminal and having a function of providing information corresponding to the search to the mobile terminal, wherein date and time information indicating date and time is provided. Date and time specifying process for specifying the status, status specifying process for specifying status information indicating the status of the user of the mobile terminal, and date and time information specified in the date and time specifying process when a search request is received from the mobile terminal. A menu configuration process for configuring a search menu using at least one of the status information specified in the status specification process as a parameter; an information providing process for providing the configured search menu to a mobile terminal; A search method for an information providing system, comprising: a search process for executing a search based on an instructed search condition. 8. A search device capable of performing an information search using position information, comprising: date and time specifying means for specifying date and time information indicating date and time; and situation specifying means for specifying status information indicating a situation where the user is placed. A search means for executing a search using at least one of date / time information from the date / time specifying means and status information from the status specifying means as a parameter when a search request is received. Search device. 9. A search device capable of performing an information search using position information, comprising: date and time specifying means for specifying date and time information indicating date and time; and situation specifying means for specifying status information indicating a situation where the user is placed. When a search request is received, a menu configuration means for configuring a search menu using at least one of the date / time information from the date / time identification means and the status information from the status identification means as a parameter; A search device, comprising: search means for executing a search based on an instructed search condition. 10. A search method for a search device capable of searching for information using position information, comprising: a date and time specifying process for specifying date and time information indicating a date and time; and a status for specifying status information indicating a situation where a user is placed. A specifying process, and a search process of executing a search using at least one of the date / time information specified in the date / time specifying process and the status information specified in the status specifying process as a parameter when a search request is received. A search method for a search device, comprising: 11. A search method for a search device capable of searching for information using position information, comprising: a date / time specifying process for specifying date / time information indicating a date / time; and a status for specifying status information indicating a status of a user. A specifying process, and a menu configuration process for configuring a search menu using at least one of the date and time information specified in the date and time specifying process and the status information specified in the status specifying process as a parameter when a search request is received. A search method for a search device, comprising: a search process for executing a search based on a search condition specified from the search menu configured as described above.