JP2002094687A - Portable information terminal and information presenting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exchange information while no other person is aware of it. SOLUTION: A portable information terminal 12 comprises an acquisition/ presented information setting part 10 which is used by a user for setting the information acquired from other portable information terminal and the information which is presented to other portable information terminal, an acquisition information storage part 3 comprising a semiconductor memory and the like where an acquisition information set by the acquisition/presented information setting part 10 is stored, a response information storage part 4 where the response from a portable information terminal 14 is stored, a radio communication part 5 which always, or periodically, searches a nearby portable information terminal 14 and, if it is found, transmits/receives information to the portable information terminal 14, a presented information name storage part 62 where a name for the information to be presented is stored, a presented information storage part 63 where the information to be presented is stored, and a CPU(Central Processing Unit) 2 which controls the parts of the portable information terminal 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a portable information terminal and an information providing system, and more particularly, to a portable information terminal and an information providing system capable of mutually exchanging an unspecified number of pieces of information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A multidirectional communication tool is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-68864 as an information exchange technique for an unspecified person. In this communication tool, a device having a specific condition is searched by a wireless technology, and when a device having a specific condition approaches, the device is notified by a display or the like.

[0003]

With this communication tool, it is possible to extract a device that meets the conditions from an unspecified number of devices. However, since the extraction result is based on display, the following problems are inherent.

First, the extraction result of the partner device is performed by an alarm or a light emission display. For this reason, the display is performed in a state in which the subject is approached irrespective of the intention of the subject. For this reason, not only the user but also the target person and a third party may be noticed.

[0005] In addition, there is a problem that information can not be exchanged even though mutual existence can be confirmed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal and an information providing system capable of exchanging information without being noticed by others. is there.

[0007]

A portable information terminal according to an aspect of the present invention includes an obtained information storage unit for storing information desired to be obtained, a response information storage unit for storing obtained information, and another device. A wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving information between the wireless communication unit and first transmission control means connected to the obtained information storage unit and the wireless communication unit for transmitting information stored in the obtained information storage unit to another device; A reception control unit connected to the response information storage unit and the wireless communication unit for receiving information from another device and storing the information in the response storage unit.

[0008] Preferably, the portable information terminal further includes a provided information name storage unit for storing names of available information, a provided information storage unit for storing available information, a provided information name storage unit, and provided information. Connected to the storage unit and the wireless communication unit,
Second transmission control means for transmitting the name of the information that can be provided and the information that can be provided to another device.

When the two portable information terminals approach each other, information desired to be obtained is transmitted from one portable information terminal to the other portable information terminal. Further, the name of the information that can be provided and the information that can be provided are transmitted from the other mobile information terminal to the one mobile information terminal. Therefore, the two portable information terminals can exchange information one after another, and one portable information terminal can obtain the information desired to be obtained without being noticed by others.

[0010] Preferably, the information received by the reception control means is address information for accessing predetermined information.

Instead of directly exchanging information between two portable information terminals, exchanging address information in which desired information is stored is exchanged. Therefore, by accessing the server computer later, it is possible to obtain a very large amount of information such as a moving image.

[0012] More preferably, the acquisition information storage section can store a plurality of pieces of information desired to be obtained, and the response information storage section can store a plurality of pieces of information respectively corresponding to the plurality of pieces of information desired to be obtained. is there.

By providing a plurality of storage areas corresponding to the information desired to be obtained, different information can be collected in parallel.

[0014] An information providing system according to another aspect of the present invention includes a portable information terminal for receiving information and a server computer for providing information, and the portable information terminal stores obtained information for storing information desired to be obtained. Unit, a response information storage unit that stores the obtained information, a wireless communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from other devices, and is connected to the obtained information storage unit and the wireless communication unit and stored in the obtained information storage unit. Transmission control means for transmitting the received information to another device, connected to the response information storage unit and the wireless communication unit, receiving address information for accessing predetermined information from the other device, and receiving the received information. Reception control means for storing in a response storage unit, a mobile phone unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the server computer,
Connected to the mobile phone unit, to access address information for accessing predetermined information, and to obtain information, the information obtaining means for obtaining the information. Accept.

Preferably, the server computer transmits the commercial information together with the information when providing the information to the portable information terminal.

By providing commercial information to the portable information terminal from the server computer, the user can receive services such as reducing the access fee from the portable information terminal to the server computer.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment Referring to FIG. 1, an information providing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention
Portable information terminals 12 and 1 for mutually transmitting and receiving information
4 inclusive.

Referring to FIG. 2, portable information terminal 12 includes an acquisition / provided information setting unit 10 used by a user to set information obtained from another portable information terminal and information to be provided to another portable information terminal. An acquisition information storage unit 3 such as a semiconductor memory for storing the acquisition information set by the acquisition / providing information setting unit 10, a response information storage unit 4 for storing a response from the portable information terminal 14, and a constant or constant value. It searches for nearby portable information terminals 14 in a cycle and
Is included, a wireless communication unit 5 for transmitting and receiving information to and from the portable information terminal 14 is included.

The portable information terminal 12 further includes a provided information name storage unit 62 for storing names of available information, a provided information storage unit 63 for storing available information, an acquisition / provided information setting unit 10, A CPU (Cent) connected to the obtained information storage unit 3, the response information storage unit 4, the wireless communication unit 5, the provided information name storage unit 62 and the provided information storage unit 63, and controls each unit.
ral Processing Unit) 2.

The portable information terminal 14 has the same hardware configuration as the portable information terminal 12. Therefore, the detailed description will not be repeated here.

The appearance of the portable information terminal 12 or 14 is as shown in FIG. 3, and various keys 21 to 23 correspond to the acquisition / providing information setting unit 10.

Referring to FIG. 4, each section of portable information terminal 12 or 14 operates as follows. The overall process is to determine whether or not the acquisition condition setting process has been instructed (step S
1) and determination of whether or not the approach of another portable information terminal has been detected (step S2) is repeated.

The condition setting processing is performed by the acquisition / supply information setting unit 10.
When the instruction is given (YES in step S1), a condition setting process (process 1) described later is executed. When the approach of another portable information terminal is detected (YES in step S2), an information exchange process (process 2) described later is executed.

In order to activate the condition setting process (process 1), the user needs to press the key 101 of the portable information terminal shown in FIG.
Press.

The detection of the approach of another portable information terminal (step S2) may be a simple wireless carrier sense, or an inquiry signal according to a certain format is transmitted.
This can also be done by receiving the response.

This system largely depends on the standard of the radio signal to be used, and this radio portion may be an original system. However, in actual application, in order to spread the radio, a standardized radio system such as Bluetooth is used. Needless to say, it is desirable to employ

For example, according to the Bluetooth standard, an inquiry process is performed here, and responses from a large number of unspecified devices in the vicinity are collected. Conversely, it is needless to say that an inquiry scan process for detecting a device is also required. According to the Bluetooth standard, the detection of what application the detected device can provide is also performed by the SDP (Service Discovery Protocol).
ol), and by using this function, the approach of the portable information terminal 14 capable of exchanging information can be detected.

Referring to FIG. 6, condition setting processing (processing 1)
Will be described. The CPU 2 reads the information set in the acquisition / providing information setting unit 10 (step S3), and stores the read information in the acquisition information storage unit 3 (step S3).
4).

Referring to FIG. 7, the information exchange processing (processing 2) will be described. In case of actual operation,
In order to prevent deadlock due to the failure of both processes 3 and 4 shown in FIG. However, it is omitted here.

According to the Bluetooth standard, both devices exchanging information do not transmit at the same time. However, in this figure, the transmission time does not conflict in consideration of other systems. We take care of it. For this reason, the CPU 2 first sets a waiting time until transmission using a random number (step S11). Thereafter, the CPU 2 checks whether an inquiry signal has been received from the partner device (step S12). When the inquiry signal is received from the partner device (YES in step S12), an information providing process (process 3) described later is executed.

After execution of the information providing process (process 3), or when there is no signal reception from the partner device (step S12)
, NO), and the waiting time is subtracted (step S1).
3). The CPU 2 determines whether the waiting time has become 0 (step S14). When the waiting time becomes 0 (YES in step S14), an information receiving process (process 4) described later is executed.

After execution of the information receiving process (process 4) or if the waiting time has not become zero (N in step S14)
O) It is determined whether the information providing process (process 3) and the information receiving process (process 4) have both been completed (step S).
15). If both processes have been completed, the information exchange process (step S2) ends, and the process returns to step S1 in FIG. Otherwise (NO in step S15),
It returns to step S12.

Referring to FIG. 8, information providing process (process 3)
Will be described. The CPU 2 searches the provided information name storage unit 62 for an information name that can be provided, and transmits the information name to the mobile information terminal 14 of the other party (step S21).
2 receives a request for information to be provided from the portable information terminal 14 (step S22). The CPU 2 determines whether information that can be provided for the request is stored in the provided information storage unit 63 (step S23).
If the information can be provided (YES in step S23),
The information is transmitted to the portable information terminal 14 of the other party (step S24). After the process in step S24 or when there is no information that can be provided (NO in step S24), the information providing process (process 3) ends.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a packet transmitted and received between the portable information terminal 12 and the portable information terminal 14 in the information providing process (process 3) described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 10 shows the structure of a packet. At the beginning of the packet, a code PS indicating the type of the packet is attached, followed by data DT to be actually transmitted. The code PS specifies the meaning of the data DT. However, there is a case where there is only the code PS and no data DT as in the packet 111 shown in FIG.

Referring again to FIG. 9, packet 111 transmitted from portable information terminal 12 to portable information terminal 14 indicates an inquiry signal received in step S12 of FIG. The packet 112 is a packet transmitted in step S21 of FIG. The packet 113 is a packet received in step S22 of FIG. Packet 114
Is a packet transmitted in step S24 of FIG.

An inquiry signal for information that can be provided is transmitted from the portable information terminal 14 (packet 111). The portable information terminal 12 transmits information names "byte" and "mel friend" as information that can be provided (packet 11).
2). The portable information terminal 14 requests the information of “mel friend” (packet 113). The portable information terminal 12 transmits the information of “Mel friend” to the portable information terminal 14 (packet 1).
14) The information receiving process (process 4) in FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

The CPU 2 transmits an inquiry signal for information that can be provided to the portable information terminal 14, and receives the information name of the information that can be transmitted (step S31). CPU2
The obtained information stored in the obtained information storage unit 3 is read (step S32), and it is determined whether there is information to be obtained (step S33). If there is no information to be obtained (NO in step S33), A signal indicating that there is no information to be acquired is transmitted (step S36), and the process ends.

If there is information to be acquired (step S33)
YES), a request signal for information to be acquired is transmitted (step S34). When receiving the requested information, the CPU 2
Stores the information in the response information storage unit 4 (step S
35), end the process.

The transmission of the signal in step S34 corresponds to the transmission of the packet 113 in FIG. The transmitted data DT includes “mel friend”, and the other device A transmits the packet 114 of information corresponding to “mel friend”. This corresponds to information transmission (step S24) in the flowchart of FIG. 8, and in the example of FIG. 9, the mail address of the owner of the device A “Mailaddress @ ma
il.ne.xx ”is transmitted as data DT.

In this way, a series of information exchange is performed between the portable information terminal 12 and the portable information terminal 14. The form of the packet mentioned here is an example at the application level to the last, and other formats may be used. At the time of transmission over the radio, it goes without saying that the data may be included in the data portion of the packet according to the radio transmission standard to be used, for example.

Here, the processing of the acquired information is only required to be displayed if it is to be handled as text. Although not specifically shown in FIG. 1 here, it may be considered that characters are displayed as characters on a display unit of a normal portable information terminal.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, if the information desired to be obtained is set in advance, the desired information is automatically exchanged when the two portable information terminals approach each other. be able to. For this reason, desired information can be collected without troublesome labor.

[Modification 1] In the above description, the number of pieces of information that the portable information terminal 12 desires to obtain is one as shown in the packet 113 in FIG. In the following description, a process for enabling a plurality of pieces of information to be obtained will be described.

First, instead of the condition setting process (process 1) shown in FIG. 6, the condition setting process (process 1) shown in FIG.
Execute In this condition setting process (process 1), the number of set conditions (the number of conditions) is counted, and information desired to be obtained is additionally stored in the obtained information storage unit 3 sequentially.

Referring to FIG. 12, CPU 2 determines whether or not the type of the condition setting is information deletion (step X).
1). If the information is not deleted (NO in step X1), the information is input, so that CPU 2 reads the information input to acquisition / provided information setting unit 10 (step X2) and stores it in acquired information storage unit 3. (Step X3). At the same time, 1 is added to the condition number (step X4).

If the type of the condition setting is information deletion (YES in step X1), it is first specified which of the information already stored in the obtained information storage unit 3 is to be deleted (step X5). The designated acquisition information is deleted from the acquisition information storage unit 3 (step X6). Thereafter, 1 is subtracted from the condition number (step X7).

Next, instead of the information receiving process (process 4) shown in FIG. 11, the information receiving process (process 4) shown in FIG.
Execute

Referring to FIG. 13, an initialization process is performed such that the read position of the obtained information to be read is set at the top (step X11). The CPU 2 transmits an inquiry signal for information that can be provided to the portable information terminal 14, and receives the information name of the information that can be transmitted (S31).

It is checked whether or not all the obtained information stored in the obtained information storage unit 3 has been compared (step X12). If all the obtained information has been compared (YE in step X12)
S), the process ends. If all the obtained information has not been compared (NO in step X12), the CPU
2 reads out one piece of obtained information from the obtained information storage unit 3 (step X13) and compares it with information that can be provided (step X14). If the obtained information and the available information do not match (NO in step X14), the condition number is decremented by one (step X15). At the same time, the position read from the obtained information storage unit 3 and the position of the response information storage unit 4 for storing the response information from the partner device when the condition in step X14 matches are advanced by one. Here, the term "one" does not mean that the address is simply incremented by one, but that the operation proceeds to the next condition. Then, step X1
Return to 2.

If the obtained information matches the information that can be provided (YES in step X14), the response information storage unit 4
It is determined whether or not the number of pieces of response information stored in the server has already reached the limit number (step X21).
If the number of responses has reached the limit (YE in step X21)
S), the process ends.

If the number of responses has not reached the limit number (YES in step X21), a call for designating information to be obtained is made (step X22). Upon receiving the specified information, the CPU 2 stores the information at a predetermined position in the response information storage unit 4 (Step X23), and increments the number of stored responses by one (Step X24). The predetermined position refers to a position associated with each of a plurality of pieces of obtained information. Then, the process returns to step X12.

In the first modification described above, a plurality of pieces of information can be obtained. Further, the number of information stored in the response information storage unit 4 can be limited.

[Modification 2] In the condition setting processing (processing 1) shown in FIG. 12, all the information set in the acquisition / supply information setting section 10 is stored in the acquisition information storage section 3. Here, a comparison is made with an inappropriate keyword that is set in advance, and storage of information that matches this keyword in the obtained information storage unit 3 is prohibited. It is assumed that inappropriate keywords are determined in advance.

Referring to FIG. 14, CPU 2 determines whether or not the type of the condition setting is information deletion (step X3).
1). If the information is not deleted (NO in step X32),
The cueing of the storage position related to the prohibited keyword is performed (step X32). The CPU 2 reads the information input to the acquisition / provided information setting unit 10 (Step X33).
It is determined whether or not the read information matches the currently specified prohibited keyword (step X34). If they match, the process ends.

If they do not match, the keyword is updated for comparison with the next prohibited keyword (step X35). It is determined whether the comparison with all the prohibited keywords has been completed (step X36). If the comparison with all prohibited keywords has been completed (step X3
6) (YES), the CPU 2 stores the information read from the acquisition / providing information setting unit 10 in the acquisition information storage unit 3 in step X33. Then, the number of setting conditions (the number of conditions) is incremented by one (step X38).

If there is a prohibited keyword whose comparison has not been completed (NO in step X36), step X
Returning to 34, comparison with the next prohibited keyword is performed.

If the information read from the acquisition / providing information setting unit 10 matches the prohibited keyword, step X
(YES at 34), and the process ends.

If the type of the condition setting is information deletion (YES in step X31), it is first specified which of the information already stored in the obtained information storage unit 3 is to be deleted (step X39). The designated acquisition information is deleted from the acquisition information storage unit 3 (step X40). Thereafter, 1 is subtracted from the condition number (step X41).

According to Modification 2 described above, by registering a keyword that is against public order and morals as a prohibited keyword, it is possible to restrict the use of portable information terminals that are against public order and morals.

[Second Embodiment] Referring to FIG. 15, an information providing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention includes portable information terminals 212 and 214 mutually transmitting and receiving information.
And a PC (Personal Computer) 218 and a server device 216 for mutually transmitting and receiving data between the portable information terminal 212, the portable information terminal 214 and the PC 218.
And

Referring to FIG. 16, portable information terminal 212
Is obtained by adding the mobile phone unit 6 to the configuration of the mobile information terminal 12 described with reference to FIG. The mobile phone unit 6
It is connected to the CPU 2 and communicates with the server device 216. The mobile phone unit 6 may be formed of a mobile phone as shown in FIG. 17 or may be built in the mobile information terminal 12.

The portable information terminal 214 is a portable information terminal 21
2 has the same configuration as that of FIG. Therefore, the detailed description will not be repeated here.

The server device 216 is a computer that stores various information. Data transmission and reception are performed between the portable information terminal 212 and the portable information terminal 214 by the method according to the first embodiment. In the following description, it is assumed that the portable information terminal 212 is the information receiving side. At this time, the portable information terminal 212 finally receives a packet as shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 18, a symbol PS indicating the type of the packet is attached at the beginning of the finally received packet, and thereafter, the number of times the information stored in server device 216 can be browsed is displayed. (Hereinafter referred to as "viewing frequency") KS
, And the data DT actually transmitted after that
It is continuing. The data DT includes a URL (Unif) of the server.
orm Resource Locator) is stored.

Referring to FIG. 19, a process in which portable information terminal 212 browses data stored in server device 216 will be described.

The CPU 2 accesses the server device 216 through the mobile phone unit 6. At this time, the above URL is used. Data is transmitted from the server device 216 to the portable information terminal 212, and the data is stored in the response information storage unit 4 of the portable information terminal 212 (step T1). CP
U2 decrements the browsing frequency KS transmitted by the above-mentioned packet by one (step T2). CPU
2 judges whether or not the number of browsing has become 0 (step T3). If the number of browsing has not become zero (NO in step T3), a series of access processing to the server device 216 ends. If the number of browsing is 0 (YES in step T3), the data stored in the response information storage unit 4 is deleted (step T4), and the process ends.

The data stored in the server device 216 can be browsed from the PC 218.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to limit the number of times data is viewed by the portable information terminal. For this reason, unrestricted browsing of privacy-related information such as personal appearance can be restricted.

[Modification 1] According to the second embodiment, the number of times of browsing to server apparatus 216 is managed by portable information terminal 212.
I do it myself. In the first modification, this management is performed by the server device 216.

Referring to FIG. 20, a packet exchanged between portable information terminal 212 and server device 216 will be described.

FIG. 20A shows a packet used for inquiring of the available information transmitted from portable information terminal 212 to portable information terminal 214. This packet includes the own device ID (iden) indicating the identifier of the portable information terminal 212.
tification). FIG. 20B shows a packet transmitted from portable information terminal 214 to portable information terminal 212. At the time of information exchange on the portable information terminal 214, the ID of the partner device obtained by the packet of FIG. 20A is registered in the access permitted device list (not shown) of the server device 216. In this way, when the portable information terminal 212 accesses the server device 216, it can be determined whether or not the access is authorized.

Referring to FIG. 21, a process of browsing data stored in server device 216 by portable information terminal 212 will be described.

The server device 216 acquires the own device ID of the device (portable information terminal 212) that has accessed (step U1). The server device 216 determines whether or not the acquired own device ID is registered in the access permitted device list (step U2).

If the own device ID is not registered in the access permitted device list (NO in step U2), access to server device 216 is prohibited, and the process is terminated. Own machine I
If D is registered in the access permission list (YES in step U2), it is regarded as a normal access and information is browsed (step U3).

The server device 216 subtracts one from the number of browsing given to the own device ID (step U4). The server device 216 determines whether or not the number of browsing has become 0 (step U5). If the number of browsing has not become 0 (NO in step U5), the process ends. If the number of subtractions is 0 (YES in step U5),
The own device ID of the portable information terminal 212 is deleted from the access permitted device list (step U6), and the process ends.

[Modification 2] The process of step U3 in FIG. 21 may be a process as shown in FIG. The server device 216 transfers the data to the portable information terminal 212 (Step U11). The server device 216 inquires of the portable information terminal 212 whether there is return data for the transferred data (step U12). If there is no particular return data (NO in step U13), the process ends. If there is return data (Y at step U13)
ES), the server device 216 gives permission for transmission of the return data to the portable information terminal 212 (step U14), and receives the return data from the portable information terminal 212 (step U1).
5). The server device 216 stores the return data in its own storage area (not shown) (step U16).

By performing such processing, for example, server device 216 can transmit a questionnaire to portable information terminal 212 and receive a response to the questionnaire from portable information terminal 212.

[Modification 3] The process of step U3 in FIG. 21 may be a process as shown in FIG. Modification 2
In the processing described in the above section, it is used for purposes such as collecting questionnaires. In a third modification, a method of acquiring information for actually contacting another person, for example, a telephone number or an e-mail address will be described. Hereinafter, such information is referred to as contact request data.

Referring to FIG. 23, the processing in steps V1 to V6 is the same as the processing in steps U11 to U16 in FIG. Therefore, the description will not be repeated.

After the processing in step V6, the server 21
6 instructs the portable information terminal 212 to transmit the contact request data (step V7),
2 receives the contact request data (Step V)
8). Thereafter, the server device 216 records the contact request data in its own storage area (not shown) (Step V9).

By performing such processing, the server device 216 can directly contact and communicate with the user who uses the portable information terminal 212.

[Modification 4] The processing in step U3 in FIG. 21 may be as shown in FIG. The server device 216 transmits specific information (commercial information) such as a corporate advertisement to the portable information terminal 212 (Step V11). Subsequent processing in steps V12 to V17
This is the same as steps U11 to U16 in FIG. Therefore, the detailed description will not be repeated here. By transmitting the corporate advertisement to the portable information terminal 212 every time the information is viewed, the user can receive services such as reducing the access fee to the server device 216.

[Modification 5] Portable information terminal 212 or 2
14 may have a configuration as shown in FIG. FIG.
5 is a portable information terminal 2 shown in FIG.
The voice input unit 64 and the voice reproduction unit 7 are added to the configuration of FIG. Voice input unit 64 and voice playback unit 7
Are both connected to the CPU 2. Voice input unit 64
The voice information to be provided to another information providing terminal is stored in the provided information storage unit 63 by inputting a voice from the user. When audio information is obtained from another information providing terminal or the server device 216, the audio reproduction unit 7 reproduces the audio information.

[Modification 6] Portable information terminal 212 or 2
14 may have a configuration as shown in FIG. FIG.
6 is a portable information terminal 2 shown in FIG.
12, the image input unit 65, the image compression unit 66 connected to the image input unit 65, the compressed image decompression unit 8, and the display unit 9.
Is added. The image compression section 66, the compressed image decompression section 8 and the display section 9 are all connected to the CPU 2. By inputting an image from the image input unit 65,
The image is compressed by the image compression unit 66 and stored in the provided information storage unit 63 as information to be provided to another information providing terminal. When the compressed image information is obtained from another information providing terminal or the server device 216, the image is expanded in the compressed image expansion unit 8, and the expanded image is displayed on the display unit 9. .

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

[0087]

If the information desired to be obtained is set in advance, the desired information can be automatically exchanged when the two portable information terminals approach each other. For this reason, desired information can be collected without troublesome labor.

By using this, it is possible to easily obtain a wide range of information such as recruitment of mail friends and collection of product information of companies.

By arranging information to be provided in advance on a server device and obtaining an address to the server device, a large amount of information can be provided to a portable information terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the portable information terminal.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a portable information terminal.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the portable information terminal.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an operation for activating a condition setting process (process 1).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a condition setting process (process 1).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an information exchange process (process 2).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an information providing process (process 3) of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a packet transmitted and received between two portable information terminals.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a packet.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an information receiving process (process 4) of FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a condition setting process (process 1).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an information receiving process (process 4).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a condition setting process (process 1).

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information providing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the portable information terminal.

FIG. 17 is an external view of a mobile phone.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a packet finally transmitted between portable information terminals.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a process in which the portable information terminal browses data stored in the server device.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a packet exchanged between a portable information terminal and a server device.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a process in which the portable information terminal browses data stored in the server device.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a process replacing step U3 of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of a process replacing step U3 in FIG. 21;

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a process replacing step U3 in FIG. 21;

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing another hardware configuration of the portable information terminal.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram illustrating another hardware configuration of the portable information terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 CPU, 3 obtained information storage section, 4 response information storage section, 5 wireless communication section, 6 mobile phone section, 7 sound reproduction section,
8 compressed image decompression unit, 9 display unit, 10 acquisition / provided information setting unit, 12, 14, 212, 214 portable information terminal, 62 provided information name storage unit, 63 provided information storage unit,
64 audio input unit, 65 image input unit, 66 image compression unit, 101 keys, 111, 112, 113, 114
Packet, 216 server device.

Continued on front page F-term (reference)

Claims (13)

[Claims] An acquisition information storage unit for storing information desired to be obtained; a response information storage unit for storing obtained information; a wireless communication unit for transmitting / receiving information to / from another device; Connected to an information storage unit and the wireless communication unit,
A first transmission control unit for transmitting the information stored in the obtained information storage unit to the other device, and connected to the response information storage unit and the wireless communication unit;
A portable information terminal, comprising: reception control means for receiving information from the other device and storing the information in the response storage unit. 2. A provision information name storage unit for storing provisionable information names, a provision information storage unit for storing provisionable information, the provision information name storage unit, the provision information storage unit, and the provision information storage unit. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising: a second transmission control unit connected to a wireless communication unit and configured to transmit the name of the providable information and the providable information to the another device. 3. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the information received by said reception control means is address information for accessing predetermined information. 4. A mobile phone unit, and information acquisition means connected to the mobile phone unit for accessing address information for accessing the predetermined information using the mobile phone unit and acquiring information. The portable information terminal according to claim 3, comprising: 5. The portable information terminal according to claim 4, wherein the information obtained by said information obtaining unit is audio information, and further includes an audio reproducing unit for reproducing the audio information obtained by said information obtaining unit. 6. The information obtained by the information obtaining means is image information, and further includes a display unit for displaying an image, the display unit being connected to the information obtaining means and the display unit, and obtained by the information obtaining means. The portable information terminal according to claim 4, further comprising: display control means for displaying an image on the display unit based on image information. 7. The reception control means receives the number of times the browsing is permitted, and further restricts access to address information for accessing the predetermined information within the number of times the browsing is permitted. The portable information terminal according to claim 4, comprising: 8. The acquisition information storage section can store a plurality of pieces of information desired to be obtained, and the response information storage section can store a plurality of pieces of information respectively corresponding to the plurality of pieces of information desired to be obtained. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein: 9. The portable information terminal according to claim 8, wherein the number of information stored in said response information storage unit is limited. 10. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a specific keyword setting prohibition unit for prohibiting setting of a predetermined specific keyword in said acquisition information storage unit. 11. A portable information terminal including: a portable information terminal that receives information; a server computer that provides information; the portable information terminal; an acquired information storage unit that stores information desired to be acquired; A response information storage unit, a wireless communication unit that transmits / receives information to / from another device, connected to the obtained information storage unit and the wireless communication unit,
Transmission control means for transmitting the information stored in the obtained information storage unit to the other device, and connected to the response information storage unit and the wireless communication unit,
A receiving control unit for receiving address information for accessing predetermined information from the other device, and storing the received information in the response storage unit; and a mobile phone for transmitting and receiving information to and from the server computer. And an information acquisition unit connected to the mobile phone unit, for accessing address information for accessing the predetermined information, and for acquiring information, wherein the server computer has a predetermined number of times of browsing. An information providing system for receiving access from the portable information terminal. 12. The server computer receives, from the portable information terminal, information for actually contacting a user.
The information providing system according to claim 11. 13. The information providing system according to claim 12, wherein the server computer transmits commercial information together with the information when providing the information to the portable information terminal.