JP2002111707A - Arrived mail informing system and mail distribution device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the arrived signal informing load in a system for informing the arrival of a mail received through the Internet. SOLUTION: When informing an arrived signal from a main distribution device 111 to a terminal 113 fails, arrival signal data are stored in a transmission data accumulation means 109, the arrival signal report is transmitted to the terminal 113 again after specific time, and the stored arrival signal report data are deleted from the mail distribution device 111. Also, when another mail is received to the same terminal, the mail is deleted. Also, when the transmission of a mail fails, transmission time is changed according to the cause of the failure or the priority order of reporting is set according to the type of the terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail arrival notification system which operates in conjunction with a computer or a database and, when a mail is received, notifies the destination user of the mail of an incoming call, and a mail distribution device used in this system. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the miniaturization of computers and the development of mobile communication means, electronic mail (hereinafter, referred to as mail) can be transmitted and received using a small mail dedicated terminal and a mobile phone even when going out. Became. In a normal mail system, when mail arrives at a provider, the mail is stored in a mail server. At this time, since the user is not notified that the mail has arrived, the user needs to access the mail server and obtain the mail by himself in order to confirm the new mail. However, this requires the user to be conscious of frequently checking for new mail, so when the mail arrives at the provider, the demand for a service for notifying the user of an incoming call is increasing. . As an incoming call notification service that is currently being implemented, when an incoming mail arrives,
There are services that use the DN's user / user information to notify the terminal adapter owned by the user or notify the pager.

[0003] Further, as a technique relating to the conventional incoming call notification service, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei 10-247936 and Hei 11-2521 are disclosed.
No. 59, JP-A-11-252160 are known.

Hereinafter, a mail arrival notification system according to the prior art will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 17, reference numeral 1701 denotes the Internet for delivering mail. 17
02 is a mail receiving means for receiving a mail through the Internet 1701. 1703 is a mail storage means for storing the received mail. Reference numeral 1704 denotes a mail transmitting unit that distributes the received mail. Reference numeral 1705 denotes a notification determination unit that analyzes the received mail and determines whether or not the notification can be performed. 17
06 is a user data storage unit for storing user information. The user information includes control information of the mail and a notification condition for specifying a mail to be notified based on the text. An incoming notification unit 1707 generates an incoming notification and requests transmission.
Reference numeral 1708 denotes a transmission data storage unit for storing data of an incoming call notification. Reference numeral 1709 denotes network connection means for actually transmitting an incoming call notification. The mail delivery device 1710 is configured by the above means. 1711 is a network connection means 1709 of the mail distribution device 1710
And is a public network that relays incoming notification. 1712
Is a mobile phone connected to the public network 1711 and receiving a call notification.

FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the mail arrival notification system of FIG. First internet 17
When a mail arrival 1801 is made to the mail distribution device 1710 via 01, the mail distribution device 1710 issues a request for transmission of an incoming notification.
1802 is sent to the network connection means 1709. Here, the processing is performed as follows. The mail receiving means 1702 receives the mail and stores it in the mail storage means 1703. Next, notification judgment means
The user 1705 obtains the user information of the destination of the mail from the user data storage unit 1706, and determines whether or not to perform the incoming notification of the arrived mail using the notification condition in the user information. When performing the incoming call notification, the incoming call notification means 1707 generates an incoming call notification, stores it in the transmission data storage means 1708,
A transmission request 1803 including an incoming call notification is sent to the network connection means 1709. At this time, if the terminal 1712 cannot receive the incoming call notification due to busy or the like, the public network 1711 outputs a connection failure notification 1804 to the network connecting unit 1709, and the network connecting unit 1709
Notify 1710 of transmission error 1805. Email distribution device 1710
Immediately performs retransmission processing, and sends a retransmission request 1806 to the network connection unit 17.
Output to 09. The content of retransmission request 1806 is the same as transmission request 1803. The processing of the next retransmission request 1807 is the same as the transmission request 1803. Here, if the terminal 1712 is in a call-enabled state, an incoming call 1808 is performed, and the terminal 1712 uses an identifier for identifying the mail distribution device 1710 included in the incoming call notification,
Detects mail arrival notification. This identifier can be defined independently, but the sender number of the mail distribution device 1710 can be used.

[0006]

However, the above-described conventional mail arrival notification system has means for resending the transmission failure of the arrival notification. First, the arrival notification to the same user is repeated. In such a case, there is a problem that the process of the mail incoming notification system increases because retransmission is performed for all incoming notifications for which notification has failed.
In addition, when a plurality of mails arrive at the same time, the notification of the incoming call and the retransmission may be performed simultaneously. When the information of the incoming call notification is limited, such as the caller ID notification that notifies only that the call has been received, when the user receives the incoming call notification, the user often retrieves the mail from the mail server immediately, and simultaneously receives multiple notifications. Does not have much effect. In addition, after the notification of the arrival of a certain mail fails, the notification of the arrival of another mail addressed to the same user may succeed, and after the user obtains the mail, the notification of the arrival of the original mail may be resent. , You will have to resend the emails you have already
Useless transmission will increase.

[0007] Secondly, it is not possible to provide a detailed response due to the user setting or the reason for the transmission failure, and it is not possible to change the response depending on whether the cause of the transmission failure is in the mail arrival notification system or in the user. There is. When the terminal is busy or out of service area, it is likely that the terminal will be able to receive by waiting for retransmission, but if there is a problem with the mail arrival notification system, the possibility of successful transmission by waiting for retransmission will not change much The effect of waiting is not expected. Therefore, if retransmission is uniformly performed for all transmission failures, unnecessary retransmission will be performed.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem. The present invention reduces the processing of the mail delivery device, reduces the memory capacity, and achieves fine-grained efficiency according to the terminal standby state and terminal type. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mail arrival notification system and a mail delivery device that can perform good incoming notification.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a mail delivery device for delivering a mail received via the Internet to a terminal, and a terminal for requesting the mail delivery device to receive an incoming mail notification under predetermined conditions. With
When the mail arrival notification from the mail distribution device to the terminal fails, the mail arrival notification data is stored,
Sending a mail arrival notification to the terminal again after a predetermined time elapses, and when the transmission of the mail arrival notification is successful, deleting the stored mail arrival notification data from the mail distribution device, The processing of the mail distribution device can be reduced, and the capacity of the memory can be reduced.

[0010] The present invention also provides that when the mail distribution device stores another mail addressed to the terminal after storing the mail arrival notification data, it temporarily stops transmitting the stored mail arrival notification data; When the notification of the arrival of the another mail has failed, the temporarily stopped transmission is canceled, and when the notification of the arrival of another mail received later is successful, the reception of the previous mail is terminated. Since the notification is not required, the transmission of the previous mail is temporarily stopped when another mail is received, so that the processing of the mail delivery device can be reduced and the memory capacity can be reduced.

The present invention is also characterized in that the mail distribution device deletes the stored mail arrival notification data when the mail distribution device stores another mail addressed to the terminal after storing the mail arrival notification data. To do
If the notification of the arrival of another mail received later is successful, the notification of the arrival of the previous mail is not necessary, so by deleting the transmission request of the previous mail when receiving another mail, the mail distribution device And the memory capacity can be reduced.

The present invention is also characterized in that the mail distribution device can arbitrarily set the number of retransmissions of the mail arrival notification, and the mail distribution device can arbitrarily set the number of retransmissions of the mail arrival notification. And the memory capacity can be reduced.

[0013] The present invention is also characterized in that the mail distribution device changes a condition for transmitting a mail arrival notification to the terminal based on a reason why the transmission has failed, and the terminal is out of the service area. In this case, increase the time until retransmission, or shorten the time until retransmission when the terminal is busy, and provide detailed notification of incoming calls according to the standby state of the terminal, reducing the failure rate of incoming calls can do.

According to the present invention, the user of the terminal may hold a plurality of terminals of different types, and the mail distribution device may be configured to execute the plurality of terminals according to the contents of a mail or a notification condition or a terminal capability when the mail arrives. Sends a mail arrival notification with a priority order, and performs detailed incoming notification according to whether the terminal is a mobile phone, PHS, PDA, etc. Rate can be reduced.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, it is assumed that mail to the same terminal has the same notification condition. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments at all, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof.

Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
1 shows a block configuration of a mail arrival notification system in FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes the Internet for delivering mail. 102 is a mail receiving means for receiving a mail through the Internet 101. 103 is a mail storage unit for storing the received mail. Reference numeral 104 denotes a mail transmitting unit that distributes the received mail to the terminal. Reference numeral 105 denotes a notification determination unit that analyzes the received mail and determines whether or not the notification can be performed. 106 is a user data storage unit for storing user information. The user information includes a notification condition for specifying a mail to be notified based on mail control information and body data. 107 is a timer management means for managing the time of the mail distribution device. Reference numeral 108 denotes an incoming notification unit that generates an incoming notification and requests transmission. Reference numeral 109 denotes a transmission data storage unit for storing data of an incoming call notification. 110 is a network connection means for actually transmitting an incoming call notification. The mail distribution device 111 is configured by the above-described units. Network connection means 1
As 10, a modem, a PBX, a terminal adapter, and a line processing board can be used. 112 is a public network for relaying an incoming call notification, preferably a subscriber telephone network or
Includes ISDN and mobile phone networks. Reference numeral 113 denotes a terminal connected to the public network 112 and capable of receiving an incoming call notification. Terminal
113 includes subscriber telephones and faxes, as well as PDC (Personal Di
gital Cellular: RCR STD-27) and PHS (Persona
l Handyphone System: RCR STD-28), GSM
(Global System for Mobile), a TDMA or CDMA mobile phone, or the like can be used. As a form, other than a normal mobile phone, a form incorporated in an electronic organizer, PDA, or PC card can be used.

FIG. 2 shows an incoming call notifying means 1 according to the present embodiment.
08 shows the details. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes an incoming call notification generating unit that receives a request from the notification determining unit 105 and generates an incoming call notification. Reference numeral 202 denotes a notification transmitting unit that performs processing for transmitting an incoming notification. 203 according to the request of the notification transmitting means 202,
Network connection control means for controlling the network connection means 110. Reference numeral 204 denotes retransmission control means for controlling retransmission. Reference numeral 205 denotes a retransmission data deletion unit that deletes retransmission data according to a request from the notification transmission unit 202. Reference numeral 206 denotes retransmission data storage means for storing retransmission data.

FIGS. 3 to 7 show a mail arrival notification system 202.
Shows the structure of data used in. These data structures indicate items included in the data, and the same effect can be obtained even if the realization method is changed from a table to a list structure.

FIG. 3 shows fields of user data included in the user data storage means 106. Other information can be added to the user data storage means 106. Reference numeral 301 denotes a user ID which is an identifier uniquely assigned to a user managed by the mail arrival notification system. here,
The names are "hachi", "bear", "go-inkyo", and "yota". 302 is the telephone number of the user's terminal. Reference numeral 303 denotes a notification condition which is a condition of a mail for performing an incoming notification. The conditions of this e-mail include the date and time information that specifies the date and time information such as the transmission time and arrival time of the e-mail, the notification interval, the number of conditions that specify the maximum and minimum number of notifications, the sender and reception of the e-mail Conditions for specifying the e-mail address of the user, Message-I of the Internet mail header
An identifier condition by an identifier assigned to each mail, such as D, a spool condition by the capacity and the number of mail storage means for each user, a content condition to specify the contents of the mail such as images, voices, documents, keywords, and an X in the mail header. −Prio
Priority information of the mail attached by the sender such as rity, Importance, reference conditions specified by In-Reply-To, References of the mail header, and client software conditions specified by X-Mailer can be stored.
However, the present invention can be configured even if the notification condition is not necessarily included in the user data. It should be noted that the configuration of the present invention is possible even if data indicating the notification service provided for each user is stored in the user data storage means 106. This data can include retransmission conditions such as the number of retransmissions and retransmission interval (time from retransmission failure to retransmission) and designation of notification contents.

FIG. 4 shows the fields of the transmission data stored in the transmission data storage means 109. Reference numeral 401 denotes a user ID of a notification destination user. Reference numeral 402 denotes a telephone number of a notification destination user. It should be noted that the transmission data can also include a content for notification. Notifications include the subject of the email, the sender, the originating time, the arrival time, the message
Can include ID, body text or parts thereof.

FIG. 5 shows fields of retransmission data stored in retransmission data storage means 206. 501 is the user ID of the user of the notification destination. Reference numeral 502 denotes a telephone number of a notification destination user. Reference numeral 503 denotes a scheduled retransmission time at which retransmission is performed next time. Reference numeral 504 denotes the number of retransmissions indicating how many retransmissions are possible. Reference numeral 505 denotes a retransmission suppression flag, and the retransmission control unit 204 does not retransmit data for which this flag is set.

FIG. 6 shows the fields of the incoming notification created by the incoming notification generating means 201 and transmitted by the notification transmitting means 202. Reference numeral 601 denotes a sender identifier, which indicates that the terminal is an incoming notification from the mail incoming notification system. As the transmission source identifier, a uniquely defined one can be used in addition to the caller number of the telephone network. Reference numeral 602 denotes detailed information, including the subject of the received mail, the source address, the destination address, the originating time, the arrival time, content information including any of the text or its summary, the identifier of the mail receiving system itself, and the like. The present invention can be implemented even when there is no detailed information in the incoming call notification.

FIG. 7 shows a connection notification field output from the public network 112 to the network connection means 110. Reference numeral 701 denotes a transmission result, which indicates success or failure of the transmission and, if the transmission has failed, the cause thereof. As the transmission result, for example, the reason indication of ISDN can be used. Reference numeral 702 denotes detailed information, which records more detailed information of the transmission result. The present invention can be implemented even when the connection notification does not include the detailed information 702.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing in this embodiment, and the processing will be described below with reference to this figure. In addition, to show details of the intermediate processing,
FIG. 9 is a diagram in which the transition of the stored data and the sequence are combined. Here, an example is shown in which three mails have arrived.
Email, 3rd email.

In FIG. 8, first, a first mail arrival 801 is made to the user hachi. Next, the mail distribution device 11
The following processing is performed until 1 outputs the first transmission request 802. First, the mail receiving means 102 receives the first mail, and stores the first mail in the mail storage means 103. Second, notification determination means 105
Obtains the user information from the user data storage means 106, and determines whether or not to execute the first mail arrival notification based on the notification conditions. In this case, it is assumed that an e-mail meeting the notification condition arrives and an incoming call notification is performed. Third, the incoming call notifying means 108 generates the incoming call notification and sends the first
Output. The following processing is performed inside the incoming call notification means 108.

The incoming notification generating means 201 generates an incoming notification. Based on the incoming notification, the notification transmitting unit 202 creates transmission data, stores it in the transmission data storage unit 109, makes a request to transmit the incoming notification to the network connection control unit 203, and the network connection control unit 203 transmits the request. The data is converted into a format that can be interpreted by the network connection means 110 and output to the network connection means 110. After the above processing is completed, the network connection means 110 outputs a first outgoing request 803 for transmitting an incoming call notification to the public network 112.
Cannot be received, the public network 112 returns a first connection failure notification 804 to the network connection means 110. The content of the first connection failure notification 804 complies with the transmission result notification of FIG. Next, the network connection means 110
1 A transmission error 805 is output to the incoming notification means 108. At this time, the network connection control means 203 detects the connection failure, and the notification transmitting means 202 sends the failed incoming call notification to the retransmission control means 204. The retransmission control means 204 determines a retransmission interval and stores it in the retransmission data storage means 206. In this case, the arrival time of the mail is 12:30 and the resend interval is 30 minutes, so the scheduled resend time
503 is stored as 13:00 and is marked with a circle as a retransmission queue. This circle indicates that the transmission data can be retransmitted,
Indicates that the retransmission suppression flag is not set. The same applies to the following.

Next, if the second mail 806 is received for the user go-inkyo at the same time, the terminal 113 cannot receive the incoming notification, so the processing from 806 to 810 is the same as the processing from 801 to 805. I do. As a result, the retransmission data storage means
The data about the second mail is added to 206. This state is 902 in FIG. Since the arrival of the second mail is also at 12:30, the scheduled resending time is 13:00, and the resending queue is marked as ○.
Marked.

Subsequently, a third request is issued to the user hachi at 13:00.
When the mail 811 arrives, the notification transmission unit 202 adds data to the transmission data storage unit 109, and enters the state of 903. At this time, the notification transmitting unit 202 further stores the retransmission data storage unit 206
The retransmission suppression flag 505 indicating that retransmission is temporarily stopped for the data of the first mail relating to the user hachi who is the same as the destination of the third mail is set, and the retransmission queue is marked with a cross as indicated by 904. This is because, while the notification of the incoming call for the third mail is being attempted, the resending of the previous incoming call notification becomes unnecessary. Other processes related to transmission are performed in the same manner as in the case of the first mail, the incoming notification unit 108 outputs a third transmission request 812 for the third mail to the network connection unit 110, and the network connection unit 110 outputs the third transmission request. 813 is output to the public network 112.

On the other hand, the notification transmitting means 202 is
The time is obtained from 07 and compared with the data in the retransmission data storage means 206. In this case, 13:00, hachi, go-inkyo
Is the scheduled resend time for both data, but hachi
Since the resending queue of data for the first mail is marked with a cross, no resending is performed. Therefore, the retransmission queue is ○
Only for the retransmission data for the second mail of the seal go-inkyo, the incoming notification unit 108 outputs the second retransmission request 814 to the network connection unit 110, and the network connection unit 110 outputs the second retransmission request 8
15 is output to the public network 112. As a result, the data of the second mail in the retransmission data storage unit 206 is deleted by the retransmission data deletion unit 205.

In the meantime, since the terminal 113 cannot receive the incoming call notification yet, the third connection failure notification 816 for the third transmission request 812 is returned from the public network 112, and the network connection means 111 sends the third notification to the incoming call notification means 108. 3 Transmission error 817 is returned. The processing for the third transmission error 817 is the same as the processing for the case where the first transmission error 804 for the first transmission request 802 is returned, but this eliminates the transmission processing for hachi, so the retransmission suppression flag 505 is turned off. , The retransmission queue is marked with a circle. As a result, the transmission data storage
As the data becomes empty as in 07, the retransmission data storage means 206
Inside, two pieces of data for hachi such as 908 are stored.

[0031] Also, in response to the second retransmission request 814, the terminal 1
13 is in a state in which reception is impossible, a second connection re-failure notice 818 is returned from the public network 112 to the network connection means 110, and a second retransmission error 819 is returned from the network connection means 110 to the incoming call notification means 108. come. The processing for this is the same as the processing for returning the first transmission error 804 for the first transmission request 802,
Here, since retransmission is performed only once, the processing for the second mail ends here, and the data of the second retransmission request 814 is not stored in the retransmission data storage unit 206. Therefore, the data of the transmission data storage unit 109 and the data of the retransmission data storage unit 206 do not change.

Next, a first retransmission request 820 for resending the first mail postponed by the reception of the third mail is output to the network connection means 110. At this time, the data of the first mail is deleted from the retransmission data storage unit 206 by the retransmission data deletion unit 205, and only the data for the third mail remains as indicated by 910. Next, the network connection means 110
A first retransmission request 821 is output to 12, and the public network 112 makes a first incoming call 822 to the terminal 113. In the first incoming call 822,
Since the terminal 113 is ready to receive an incoming call, the incoming notification from the mail distribution device 111 has been successfully received. Public network 11
2 outputs a first connection success notification 823 to the network connection means 110, and the network connection means 110 outputs a first transmission success notification 824 to the incoming notification means 108. Upon receiving the first transmission success notification 824, the incoming notification unit 108 transmits all the hachi data in the retransmission data storage unit 206 by using the retransmission data deletion unit 205 by the notification transmission unit 202 via the network connection control unit 203. delete. As a result, the state of the retransmission data storage unit 206 becomes empty as indicated by 912. Then, the terminal 113 sends the mail delivery device 111 based on the caller number described in the received incoming call notification.
By dialing, the mail body can be received from the mail transmitting means 104.

As described above, in the first embodiment, by setting the retransmission suppression flag for the retransmission data in retransmission data storage means 206, retransmission data of the same user as that of the incoming call notification during transmission is simultaneously performed. This has the effect of eliminating unnecessary processing and unnecessary use of lines. In addition, a retransmission data deletion unit 205 is provided to delete all untransmitted retransmission data to the same terminal when transmission is successful, so that the user can retransmit an already-received mail arrival notification and perform extra processing and line connection. This has the effect of eliminating extra use and extra use of memory.

In the present embodiment, the notification transmitting means 202 obtains the time of the timer management means 107 and determines whether or not to perform retransmission. Notification sending means when the scheduled resending time comes
The same effect can be obtained by notifying 202 and starting transmission.

Also, in the present embodiment, the retransmission suppression flag has only two states of being set or not,
By using this as the number of incoming notifications during transmission processing by the same user, not only the same effect can be obtained, but also it is easy to respond to the case where multiple mails arrive at the same time and perform transmission processing. It can be analogized to

Also, a transmission suppression flag is provided in the transmission data storage means 109 in the same manner as the retransmission suppression flag, and a flag is set for the data to which the data being transmitted is notified so that the data is not processed. Thus, it is possible to easily analogize that an effect of not transmitting the plurality of incoming call notifications to the same user at the same time can be obtained.

Further, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which all retransmission data for the same terminal is deleted after successful transmission of an incoming call notification, but together with retransmission data storage means 206 and retransmission data deletion means 205 or instead of these. Therefore, it is easy to analogize that the same effect can be obtained even if the transmission data storage means 109 and the transmission data deletion means for the transmission data storage means 109 are provided, and all the transmission data for the same terminal is deleted after the transmission of the incoming call notification is successful. is there.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, since the same configuration as that of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is used, the description of the configuration is omitted. Embodiment 1
Then, when the first and second mails arrive at the same terminal, the retransmission suppression flag 505 for temporarily stopping retransmission of the data of the first mail in the retransmission data storage means 206
Is set to reset the flag when the notification of the arrival of the second mail has failed.
Then, when the second mail is received, the data of the first mail in the retransmission data storage means 206 is deleted. That is, the data of hachi in 908 of FIG. 9 is one.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, it is assumed that two e-mails arrive for the user hachi, and are referred to as a first e-mail and a second e-mail, respectively. In FIG. 10, first, the first mail 1001
Is received, the mail delivery device 111 performs an incoming notification transmission process, but the terminal 113 is in a state where reception is not possible, and the transmission of the incoming notification fails. Accordingly, the processing in 1001 to 1005 is the same as that in 801 to 805 in the first embodiment, and the resend data of the first mail is stored in the resend data storage unit 1106.

Next, when the second mail 1006 arrives, the mail distribution device 111 similarly performs the process of transmitting an incoming call notification as follows. First, the mail receiving means 102 receives the first mail and stores it in the mail storage means 103. Next, the notification determination unit 105 acquires the user information from the user data storage unit 106, and determines whether or not to execute the first mail arrival notification based on the notification conditions. Next, the incoming call notifying means 108 generates an incoming call notification and issues a notification request. The following processing is performed inside the incoming call notification means 108.

First, the incoming call notification generating means 201 generates an incoming call notification. The notification transmitting unit 202 stores the transmission data in the transmission data storage unit 109, makes a request to transmit the notification to the network connection control unit 203, and converts the request into a format that can be interpreted by the network connection unit 110. And outputs it to the network connection means 110. At this time, at the same time,
Resend data deletion means 2
05 is deleted from the retransmission data storage means 206. Therefore, the first
The mail data is deleted at this point. Then 1007
The processing in to 1010 is the same as that in 802 to 805 in the first embodiment. At this time, the retransmission data storage means 206
Since only the data relating to the second mail remains in the data relating to hachi, a second retransmission request 1011 which is a retransmission request for the second mail is transmitted. Second retransmission request 1012 and incoming
The processing in 1013 is the first retransmission request of the first embodiment.
The same processing as 821 and the first incoming call 822 is performed.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the first
When resend data of the first mail is stored in the resend data storage unit 1106 when the mail arrival notification fails, the first
When the second mail arrives at the same destination as the mail, by deleting the resend data of the first mail in the resend data storage unit 1106, there is an effect of reducing the number of transmissions of the incoming notification and the memory usage. .

(Embodiment 3) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The overall configuration of the mail arrival notification system according to the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but a part of the configuration of the arrival notification means 108 is different. FIG. 11 shows incoming call notifying means 108 according to the third embodiment.
Shows the detailed structure of. In FIG. 11, the components 1101-1106
Are the same as 201 to 206 in FIG. 2 of the first embodiment.
A retransmission control table 1107 stores the transmission result of the transmission result notification and a process corresponding to the transmission result.

FIG. 12 is a diagram exemplifying fields of the retransmission control table 1107. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 1201 denotes a transmission failure cause that stores the cause of the transmission failure. FIG. 12 shows an example in which a line for ISDN or PHS is used as a line for performing incoming call notification. Reference numerals 1202 and 1203 denote processing corresponding to the processing corresponding to the cause of network disconnection. Reference numeral 1202 denotes a retransmission interval indicating an interval from transmission failure to retransmission, and reference numeral 1203 denotes a retransmission count indicating the number of retransmissions. In FIG. 12, the error in the network connection means is an error on the mail delivery device side, and it is highly likely that the error will be recovered. Therefore, by performing retransmission many times without delay (interval 0 minutes, retransmission number 50 times) It is easy to recover, but it is assumed that retransmission is not performed (the number of retransmissions is 0) when the terminal attributes do not match because the possibility of recovery is low. It should be noted that even if any one of the retransmission interval and the number of retransmissions is included in the corresponding process, it can be easily analogized that the same effect as that of the present invention can be obtained.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing of the third embodiment. The operation will be described below with reference to FIG. When the mail arrives, first, in step 1301, the first transmission processing of the incoming call notification is performed. This process is the same as the transmission process of the incoming call notification described in the first embodiment. Next, in step 1302, the transmission result is determined. If the transmission result is successful, the process ends, and if it fails, retransmission process starts. If the transmission result has failed, the transmission result is obtained in step 1303. At this time, the notification transmitting means 1102 is
, A transmission error is received, and the retransmission control unit 1104 is also notified of the network disconnection reason indicating the cause of the transmission error. In step 1304, the retransmission control means 1104
From 1107, a corresponding process corresponding to the network disconnection reason is obtained.
For example, if the cause of transmission failure of a transmission error is busy, the retransmission interval
A retransmission count of 1 is specified for 10 minutes. The retransmission control unit 1104 obtains a scheduled retransmission time from this setting, and generates retransmission data. In step 1305, whether retransmission processing can be performed is determined based on the number of retransmissions. If the number of retransmissions is 0 and retransmission is not performed, the process ends here. In step 1306, the process waits until the scheduled retransmission time. At the scheduled retransmission time, retransmission processing is performed in step 1307. This processing is performed as follows. The retransmission control unit 1104 generates retransmission data according to the corresponding process, stores the retransmission data in the retransmission data storage unit 1106, and then performs the retransmission process according to the data. If retransmission fails, the number of retransmissions is reduced in the same manner as in the first embodiment. When the number of remaining retransmissions is 0 and retransmission fails, retransmission data is deleted.

As described above, in the third embodiment, by providing the retransmission control table 1107 for storing the process corresponding to the cause of the transmission failure of the incoming notification, it is possible to perform the retransmission process according to the cause of the transmission failure. Has the effect of becoming

In the third embodiment, the number of retransmissions is used as a counter. However, the same effect can be obtained even if the number of retransmissions is used instead of the number of retransmissions. That is, in the example of the third embodiment, 100 is given as an initial point when storing retransmission data, -100 when out of service area, -34 when busy, discard data immediately when terminal attribute mismatch, and when network connection means error, The same processing can be performed by reducing the number of retransmission points every time an error occurs, such as −2, and discarding data when the number of retransmission points becomes 0 or less.

(Embodiment 4) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 14 shows a block configuration of a mail arrival notification system according to the fourth embodiment.
The configuration in the fourth embodiment is almost the same as that in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, except that a plurality of types of terminals are used as terminals. In FIG. 14, 1401, 140
Reference numerals 2 and 1403 correspond to 101, 111, and 112 in FIG. 1, respectively. Reference numerals 1404, 1405, and 1406 denote terminals 1, 2, and 3, respectively, capable of receiving an incoming call notification, and these terminals are all terminals used by the same user hachi. The configuration of the mail distribution device 1402 is the same as that of FIG. 1, and the configuration of the incoming notification unit 108 is also the same as that of FIG.
Also, the reference numerals of the components used in FIG. 2 are used.

FIG. 15 shows a field structure stored in the user data storage means 106 according to the fourth embodiment. Figure 1
In 5, 1501 is a user ID for storing the identifier of the user
It is. Reference numeral 1502 denotes terminal information for storing information on the user's terminal. The order of the terminals 1, 2, and 3 indicates the priority, and the smaller the number, the higher the priority. Here, an example in which information of up to three devices is stored is shown, but it can be easily analogized that the same effect as that of the present invention can be obtained even if the number is different. 1503 is the telephone number of the terminal. Reference numeral 1504 denotes a terminal capability indicating the capability of the terminal. In this example, only three types of terminal capabilities are stored: terminal type such as mobile phone, PHS, PDA, etc., screen size indicating the size of the terminal screen, characters, images, and display format indicating what can be displayed among documents. Is shown. Other terminal capabilities include the type of central processing unit, the capacity of memory and external storage, the processing capability such as program download enable / disable, the input / output means indicating the input and output means of the terminal, and the size of the message that can be transmitted and received. And communication capability indicating the notification speed. In addition, CC / PP (Composite Capability / Prefe
rence Profiles) and WAP (Wireless Application Prot)
ocol) can be used as a description format of the terminal capability. Reference numeral 1505 denotes a notification condition indicating a notification condition, which stores the same data as 303 in the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows the field structure of incoming notification information generated by incoming notification generating means 201 in the fourth embodiment. In FIG. 16, reference numeral 1601 denotes a user ID. Reference numeral 1602 denotes a telephone number indicating the number of all telephones held by the user of the incoming call notification destination. Reference numeral 1603 denotes a terminal priority indicating the priority of the terminal that issues the notification. Reference numeral 1604 denotes detailed information in which notification contents and the like are stored.

In the fourth embodiment, the user hachi
Is received, and the mail receiving means 103 stores the mail in the mail storing means 104,
08 performs the following processing. Incoming notification generation means 201
First obtains the terminal telephone number from the user data storage means 106, and stores the user ID and the terminal telephone number in 1601 and 1602, respectively.
To be stored. Next, the notification content is determined and stored in the detailed information 1604. Next, the e-mail is analyzed to determine whether the e-mail contains only text, an image attachment, and a document attachment. Then, based on the content of the mail and the terminal capabilities, the priority of the user's terminal as an incoming notification destination is determined,
It is stored in the terminal priority order 1603.

The priority order is determined, for example, as follows. Cases are shown according to the content. (1) Only characters Since all terminals can transmit, terminals 1, 2, and 3 are recorded in terminal priority order in that order. As a result, when transmission fails, the destination changes in the order of terminal 1 → terminal 2 → terminal 3. (2) When only an image file is included in the e-mail If the mobile phone with the highest priority cannot output an image, terminals 2, 3, and 1 are recorded in the terminal priority order. As a result, when transmission fails, the destination changes in the order of terminal 2 → terminal 3 → end 1. (3) When a document file and an image file are included in an e-mail The terminals 3, 2, and 1 are recorded in the terminal priority order in the order in which the amount of information can be displayed even a little. As a result, when transmission fails, the terminal
The destination changes in the order of 3 → terminal 2 → terminal 1.

The notification transmitting means 202 outputs a request for notifying the incoming call to the terminal having the highest priority to the network connection control means 203 in accordance with the data in the incoming call notification information.
04 is converted into a format that can be interpreted by the network connection means 110 and output. As a result, an incoming call notification can be transmitted to a desired terminal via the public network 112. If the incoming call notification fails, retransmission is performed in the terminal priority order determined in the above processing.

As described above, in the fourth embodiment, a plurality of terminal information is registered in the user data storage means, and when a mail arrives, the terminal of the transmission destination is determined from the contents of the mail, the notification condition, and the terminal capability. By doing so, it is possible to obtain an effect of notifying a terminal that can read a mail in the form closest to the original text when the mail is obtained.

In the fourth embodiment, a correspondence table of telephone numbers, carriers of destination telephone numbers and communication charges is provided, and the incoming call notification generating means sets the priority of the terminal having the lowest communication charge to be higher. Thus, it can be easily analogized that the effect of gradually reducing the communication fee when performing the incoming call notification can be obtained.

The priority may be set to one of the order in which the user has registered, the terminal capability, a record of the success rate of the incoming call notification so far, the established notification conditions, the terminal used for recent access, and the communication charge. It can be easily inferred that the same effect can be obtained by determining from a plurality.

It can be easily analogized that the same effect can be obtained even when the incoming call notification has a mechanism for changing detailed information depending on the capability of the destination terminal.

In the case of notifying a terminal different from the previous transmission tip when retransmitting, the notification transmitting means sends the incoming notification information to the incoming notification means, and the incoming notification generating means generates another incoming notification, whereby the terminal is notified. It can be easily inferred that the effect of transmitting the optimum notification can be obtained every time.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention, a mail distribution device for distributing a mail received via the Internet to a terminal, and a request for the mail distribution device to receive an incoming mail notification under predetermined conditions. When the mail delivery notification from the mail delivery device to the terminal fails, the mail reception notification data is stored, and after a predetermined time elapses, the mail reception notification is transmitted to the terminal again, and the mail reception Upon successful notification,
It is characterized in that the stored mail arrival notification data is deleted from the mail distribution device, and the processing of the mail distribution device can be reduced and the memory capacity can be reduced.

[0060] The present invention also provides that when the mail distribution device receives another mail addressed to the terminal after storing the mail arrival notification data, the mail distribution device temporarily stops transmitting the stored mail arrival notification data, When the notification of the arrival of the another mail has failed, the temporarily stopped transmission is canceled, and when the notification of the arrival of another mail received later is successful, the reception of the previous mail is terminated. Since the notification is not required, the transmission of the previous mail is temporarily stopped when another mail is received, so that the processing of the mail delivery device can be reduced and the memory capacity can be reduced.

The present invention is also characterized in that the mail distribution device deletes the stored mail arrival notification data when the mail distribution device stores another mail addressed to the terminal after storing the mail arrival notification data. To do
If the notification of the arrival of another mail received later is successful, the notification of the arrival of the previous mail is not necessary, so by deleting the transmission request of the previous mail when receiving another mail, the mail distribution device And the memory capacity can be reduced.

The present invention is also characterized in that the mail distribution device can arbitrarily set the number of retransmissions of the mail arrival notification, and the mail distribution device can arbitrarily set the number of retransmissions of the mail arrival notification. And the memory capacity can be reduced.

The present invention is also characterized in that the mail distribution device changes a condition for transmitting a mail arrival notification to the terminal based on a reason why transmission failed, and the terminal is out of the service area. In this case, increase the time until retransmission, or shorten the time until retransmission when the terminal is busy, and provide detailed notification of incoming calls according to the standby state of the terminal, reducing the failure rate of incoming calls can do.

According to the present invention, the user of the terminal may hold a plurality of terminals of different types, and the mail distribution device may execute the plurality of terminals at the time of arrival of the mail in accordance with the contents or notification conditions of the mail or the terminal capability. Sends a mail arrival notification with a priority order, and performs detailed incoming notification according to whether the terminal is a mobile phone, PHS, PDA, etc. Rate can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a mail arrival notification system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of an incoming call notifying unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a data field in a user data storage unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a data field in a transmission data storage unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a data field in a retransmission data storage unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a data field configuration diagram of an incoming call notification according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a data field configuration of a transmission result notification according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an operation sequence diagram according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operation sequence and data transition diagram according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an operation sequence diagram according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a detailed block diagram of an incoming call notifying unit according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a data field in a retransmission control table according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an operation according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a mail arrival notification system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram of a data field in a user data storage unit according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a data field configuration of incoming call notification information according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a conventional mail arrival notification system.

FIG. 18 is an operation sequence diagram of the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Internet 102 Mail receiving means 103 Mail storing means 104 Mail transmitting means 105 Notification judging means 106 User data storing means 107 Timer managing means 108 Incoming notifying means 109 Transmission data storing means 110 Network connection means 111 Mail distribution device 112 Public network 113 Terminal 201 Incoming notification generation means 202 Notification transmission means 203 Network connection control means 204 Retransmission control means 205 Retransmission data deletion means 206 Retransmission data storage means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Uranaka 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Mitsuda 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Information System Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5K030 GA06 GA18 HA06 HC01 LD13

Claims (20)

[Claims] An e-mail distribution device for distributing e-mail received via the Internet to a terminal; and a terminal for requesting the e-mail distribution device to receive an incoming mail notification under predetermined conditions. When the incoming mail notification from the terminal to the terminal fails, the mail incoming notification data is stored, and after a predetermined time elapses, the incoming mail notification is transmitted again to the terminal. A mail arrival notification system, wherein the stored mail arrival notification data is deleted from the distribution device. 2. When the mail distribution device receives another mail addressed to the terminal after storing the mail arrival notification data, the mail distribution device temporarily stops transmission of the stored mail arrival notification data, and 2. The mail arrival notification system according to claim 1, wherein the temporarily stopped transmission is canceled when the mail arrival notification fails. 3. The mail distribution device according to claim 2, wherein the mail distribution device deletes the stored mail arrival notification data when the mail distribution device receives another mail addressed to the terminal after storing the mail arrival notification data. The email arrival notification system described in 1. 4. The mail arrival notification system according to claim 1, wherein the mail distribution device can arbitrarily set the number of retransmissions of the mail arrival notification. 5. The mail according to claim 1, wherein the mail distribution device changes a condition for transmitting a mail arrival notification to the terminal based on a reason why the transmission has failed. Incoming call notification system. 6. The user of the terminal holds a plurality of terminals of different types, and the mail delivery device determines whether or not the mail content, notification condition, and terminal capability at the time of arrival of the mail, or a combination of two or more of them. The mail arrival notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a priority order is assigned to the plurality of terminals and a mail arrival notification is transmitted. 7. An Internet for delivering mail, a mail delivery device connected to the Internet and generating an incoming notification for notifying a terminal that the mail has arrived,
A public network connected to the mail distribution device to relay the incoming notification, and a terminal connected to the public network to receive the incoming notification, wherein the mail distribution device is connected to the Internet and Mail receiving means for receiving mail, mail storing means for storing the received mail, mail transmitting means for transmitting the received mail to the terminal, and user data to which the mail is transmitted, When the mail information including the information on the destination of the mail is input and the mail information including the destination of the mail is input, the user information is acquired from the user data storing means, and the incoming call notification is transmitted. Notification determining means for determining whether to perform, timer management means for performing timer management,
Incoming call notification means for generating an incoming call notification from the mail information, transmission data storage means for storing transmission data of the incoming call notification, and network connection for transmitting the incoming call notification to the terminal connected to the public network Means, the incoming notification means, when the mail incoming notification to the terminal fails, sends a mail incoming notification again to the terminal after a predetermined time elapses, when the transmission of the mail incoming notification succeeds, A mail distribution device, wherein the mail arrival notification data is deleted from the device. 8. An incoming call notification generating means for generating the incoming call notification from the mail and the user information, and a notification transmitting means for generating a transmission request for the incoming notification and storing the request in a transmission data storage means. Means, network connection control means for converting the transmission request into a format interpretable by the network connection means, and storing retransmission data necessary for generating a retransmission request as a next transmission request when the transmission request fails. Retransmission data storage means, a retransmission control means for generating the retransmission request, and a retransmission data deletion means for deleting the retransmission data in the retransmission data storage means in accordance with the transmission request of the notification transmission means. The mail delivery device according to claim 7, wherein 9. A transmission data deleting means for deleting transmission data of the same notification condition for the same terminal in the transmission data storage means when the mail arrival notification is successful. Claim 7 or 8
The mail delivery device described. 10. When the incoming notification unit receives a second e-mail to the same destination as the destination of the first e-mail previously received by the e-mail receiving unit, transmits a resend request for the first e-mail. The mail delivery device according to claim 8, wherein the mail delivery is temporarily stopped. 11. The reception notification means cancels the transmission stop of the retransmission request for the first mail when the reception notification for the second mail fails after the transmission of the retransmission request is temporarily stopped. The mail delivery device according to claim 10, wherein: 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein after the transmission of the retransmission request is temporarily stopped, the reception notification unit deletes all retransmission data for the same destination when the reception of the second mail is successfully notified. Claim 10 or 1
2. The mail delivery device according to 1. 13. The re-send data storage means, when the mail receiving means receives a second e-mail to the same destination as the destination of the first e-mail previously received by the e-mail receiving means, 9. The mail distribution device according to claim 8, wherein retransmission data for the first mail is deleted. 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said incoming notification means stores retransmission data for said second mail in said retransmission data storage means when said incoming notification of said second mail fails. The mail delivery device described. 15. The method according to claim 7, wherein the incoming notification unit sets the number of retransmissions of the incoming mail notification.
4. The mail distribution device according to any one of 4. 16. The incoming call notifying means includes a retransmission control table for storing correspondence between the type of response from the public network and the next transmission processing method, wherein the network connection controlling means includes: Notifying the notification transmission unit of a response of the public network to the generated transmission request for the incoming notification, the notification transmission unit notifying the response to the retransmission control unit, and retransmission data storage unit transmitting the response and the retransmission 9. The control table according to claim 8, wherein information necessary for generating a retransmission request, which is the next transmission request when the transmission request has failed, is stored, and the retransmission control unit generates the retransmission request. Mail delivery device. 17. The incoming call notifying means registers a plurality of terminal information in the user data storing means, and the incoming call notifying generation means determines the destination of the destination terminal based on the contents of the mail, the notification condition, or the terminal capability when the mail arrives. 17. An incoming call notification is generated by determining a transmission priority.
The mail delivery device according to any one of the above. 18. The terminal according to claim 17, wherein, when the transmission of the incoming notification fails, the incoming notification unit determines the next destination terminal according to the transmission priority of the terminal and transmits the terminal. Mail delivery device. 19. The incoming call notifying means has a correspondence table of a telephone number of the terminal and communication charge information to the terminal, and determines a destination of the incoming call notification using the communication charge information to the terminal. 19. The mail delivery device according to claim 17, wherein: 20. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said incoming call notifying means provides a correspondence table of a telephone number, a carrier of a telephone number of a transmission destination and a communication charge, and sets a terminal having the lowest communication charge to a higher priority. 19. The mail delivery device according to 17 or 18.