JP2002135350A - Data distribution method, data reception method, terminal state notice service providing method and communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data distribution method that avoids duplicate distribution of the same data to the utmost on the occurrence of any cause such as interruption of communication and surely distributes a deficient data part after release of the cause. SOLUTION: A distributor 101 divides contents data into blocks of a prescribed size and sequentially transfers unit data consisting of at least one block. A communication terminal stores block identification information together with received data to a nonvolatile storage device. In the case that a communication disabled state takes place before the completion of the transfer of the entire contents data and the distribution is interrupted, the distributor specifies distributed blocks from non-distributed blocks. When the communication enabled state is restored, the distributor or the communication terminal requests distribution restart. The communication terminal informs the distributor about the block identification information to specify the received or non-received blocks. The distributor specifies the blocks to be transmitted on the basis of the notice and transfers the blocks.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to downloading data via a communication medium such as the Internet.
In particular, when downloading data from a distribution device that performs content distribution via a wireless communication medium to a terminal, a distribution device and a terminal for coping with a case where communication is temporarily interrupted due to an accidental cause or the like. Related to content management and interruption handling processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various communication terminals such as mobile phones have been widely used. In these terminals, there is an increasing need for technical improvements related to data communication, such as downloading of content data, in addition to the transmission / reception function simply as a telephone function. In particular,
Factors such as so-called out-of-service areas that deviate from the service area of wireless communication terminals, and personal digital assistants (PDAs)
In so-called mobile terminals such as mobile terminals, accidental failures specific to the wireless system such as factors such as voltage drop of the onboard battery or instantaneous interruption may occur, and the started data communication is not necessarily completed in a normal form There is reality.

[0003] Further, it is conceivable that a temporary suspension of service use may be required due to an unexpected shortage of a memory area due to an increase in data distribution services or an increase in wireless traffic due to an increase in the number of service users. . For this reason, there is a need for a system in which data communication services such as downloading of content data can be safely and efficiently interrupted and restarted.

[0004]

In such a background, conventionally, in mobile data communication such as a cellular phone, a procedure for reliably transmitting data, such as error correction and retransmission control, that is, a so-called layer 2 control, has been employed. It is used. However, in this control, when the wireless connection is disconnected, the state of the system is reset, and the distribution is not restarted in the middle of the data whose distribution has been interrupted. Similarly, when communication is cut off because the power of the portable terminal is cut off, the control of the layer 2 is also reset.

[0005] In addition, in the TCP protocol of TCP / IP, which is a standard protocol of the Internet, in order to perform highly reliable communication, errors and packet loss are detected, and if a packet is lost or damaged, automatic detection is performed. The packet is retransmitted. However, such a process is a process in a state where communication connection is continued, and does not retransmit a lost packet or the like until the communication is once disconnected.

Further, if the data is download-free, only the communication terminal needs to know the reception status. However, if the data distribution is restricted or the content is a pay content, the distribution is not performed. It is necessary to be aware of redelivery on both the device and the receiving terminal.

In particular, in the transmission / reception of data of a relatively small size, even if the communication service is interrupted, there is relatively little problem even if the service is used again from the beginning and redistribution of duplicate data is performed, for example. In the case of transmitting and receiving large-sized data, redistribution of duplicated data is a waste of time and communication charges for the user, and also increases the processing load for the service provider. There is also a problem that traffic increases unnecessarily for the users.

The present invention has been made in view of such a background. An object of the present invention is to manage data in units of blocks and to duplicate the same data in the event of any cause that interrupts data distribution. Data delivery method, data reception method, communication terminal, and terminal state notification service providing method related to these, which avoid the distribution as much as possible and can reliably distribute the missing data portion after the cancellation of the cause. To provide.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a data distribution method according to the present invention is a data distribution method in a distribution apparatus that distributes content data to a communication terminal via a wireless communication medium, Dividing the content data into blocks of a predetermined size, sequentially transferring the content data to the communication terminal in units of at least one block of unit data, and performing the communication before transferring the entire content data. When distribution is interrupted due to communication failure with the terminal, a step of specifying a distributed block and an undistributed block, a step of detecting that the communication terminal has returned to a state capable of communicating with the communication terminal, and a return to a communication enabled state Requesting the communication terminal to resume the distribution of the content data, When receiving the response of resuming acceptance from Shin terminal, characterized by comprising the steps of identifying a block to be transmitted to the communication terminal, and initiating the transfer of the identified blocks.

[0010] By dividing the content data into a plurality of blocks, even if the distribution is interrupted during the distribution of the content data, the distributed blocks and the undelivered blocks are specified, and only the undelivered blocks are distributed when the distribution is resumed. can do.

The restart after the distribution is interrupted can be executed by the distribution device acting on the communication terminal, or by the communication terminal acting on the distribution device. The distribution method in that case includes, after returning to the communicable state, receiving from the communication terminal a request to resume the distribution of the content data interrupted by the communicable state, and receiving a resume request from the communication terminal And specifying a block to be transmitted to the communication terminal when the communication terminal is in use.

[0012] Prior to specifying the block to be transmitted, the distribution apparatus receives from the communication terminal block identification information for specifying a received block or a non-received block received by the communication terminal. It is preferable that the method further includes a step of comparing the received block or the unreceived block with the distributed block or the undistributed block specified by the distribution device. In this way, it is possible to confirm how the distribution device and the communication terminal recognize the interrupted data distribution in progress, determine the validity of the communication state up to the time of the interruption, and retransmit to the communication terminal. Blocks to be delivered can be specified more accurately.

[0013] A data receiving method according to the present invention corresponds to the above data distribution method, and is a data receiving method in a communication terminal for receiving content data from a distribution device via a wireless communication medium. Receiving the divided content data in units of at least one block of unit data, storing the received unit data in a nonvolatile manner, and storing the block identification information of the nonvolatilely stored unit data in a nonvolatile manner. Temporarily storing the content data, and before returning to the communicable state after the distribution is interrupted and the distribution is interrupted before the entire content data is completely received, a request to restart the distribution of the content data from the distribution device. Receiving, and identifying received or unreceived blocks in response to the distribution restart request. A step of returning a response restart receiving together with the information, characterized by comprising a step of receiving an unreceived block of the content data for each unit data from the distribution device.

[0014] In this case, the communication terminal automatically responds to the restart request from the distribution device and accepts the restart with the user's consent to the restart request from the distribution device. It is also possible to make a response.

As described above, the restart of distribution can be started not from the distribution device but from the terminal device. In this case, the data receiving method is such that, before the entire content data has been received, communication with the distribution device is disabled and the distribution is interrupted. The method includes a step of transmitting a request for resuming distribution of the content data together with the identification information of the block, and a step of receiving, for each unit data, an unreceived block of the content data from the distribution apparatus that has received the request for resumption of distribution.

Further, according to the present invention, in a method for providing a terminal status notification service in a subscriber management device of a communication network, a notification service request for requesting notification of a status of a specific subscriber terminal is received from a communication device. And a step of monitoring the state of the subscriber terminal, and a step of notifying the communication device that has issued the notification service request of the state of the subscriber terminal. With such a service, a communication device that has provided a communication service to a subscriber terminal is frequently connected to the communication terminal for the purpose of, for example, making a service restart request to the communication device after the service is interrupted. , Without receiving the notification of the state of the subscriber terminal, it is possible to determine the timing of the restart request.

The state of the subscriber terminal that can be managed by the subscriber management device includes a physical layer failure, a protocol failure, a failure during application execution, and the like.

The notification service request is notified when the terminal state of the subscriber terminal changes (particularly when the terminal state changes to a designated state), when the communication state changes from a communication disabled state to a communicable state, and the like. You can request that.

The communication terminal according to the present invention further comprises a confirmation means for confirming the reason for the interruption when the use of the service is interrupted by the communication terminal being disconnected while the communication terminal user is using the communication service. And a notifying means for notifying the user of at least the reason for the interruption after the interruption of the use of the service. This allows the user to recognize why the service was interrupted. For example, the notifying means includes:
When the reason for interruption has been resolved and service use can be resumed, the user is notified of the reason for interruption. In response to this, when the user inputs a service use restart instruction, the communication terminal can start control of service use restart. At the time of notification of the interruption reason, for example, the name of the service that was interrupted, if the service is a data distribution service, the name of the content that was being distributed,
It is preferable to notify the user of the time at which the interruption was made, the amount of data already distributed, or the total data amount of the content, or any combination thereof.

[0020]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a content distribution system to which the present invention is applied. The communication system according to the present embodiment includes a distribution device 101 that performs a content distribution service, and a communication terminal 1 that receives the content distribution.
The communication terminal 106 is wirelessly connected to the communication network 103 such as the Internet via the nearest base station 105 and the exchange 104. The illustrated communication terminal 106 is a mobile phone as an example.
On the other hand, the distribution device 101 is connected to a communication network 103 via a network interface (IF) 102. The switching system of the exchange 104 may be circuit switching or packet switching. In this specification, the term “system” refers to a logical collection of a plurality of devices,
It does not matter whether the devices of each configuration are in the same housing.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the communication terminal 106 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as a terminal). In the reception system of the communication terminal 106, a reception signal received through the antenna 201 is supplied to the reception demodulation unit 203 through the antenna duplexer 202. The reception demodulation section 203 sets the reception signal supplied thereto to an appropriate level,
It has an RF circuit for performing necessary processing such as band limitation. The signal processed by the reception demodulation unit 203 is converted into a digital signal by A / D exchange, and supplied to the reception data decoding unit 204.

The received data decoding section 204 returns the received signal to the original data by baseband signal processing. The decoded received data is supplied to the control unit 205. The control unit 205 includes a central processing unit (CP), a readable / writable memory (RAM), a read-only memory (R
OM), a computer having a nonvolatile readable / writable memory (EEPROM or FLASH ROM, etc.), and an input means 208 such as a key or a jog dial.
A display means 209 such as an LCD, a reception data storage means (non-volatile storage device) 210 such as an external memory, a speaker 211 for outputting an alarm or a sound, an incoming notification means 212 for notifying an incoming call such as an LED or a ringer, a voice The microphone 213 and the like for inputting is input.

Next, the transmission system will be described. When transmitting a confirmation message of received data or the like, the control signal created by the control unit 205 is supplied to the transmission data encoding unit 206. The transmission data encoding section 206 encodes and compresses the transmission data using a predetermined encoding scheme, and supplies the data to the transmission modulation section 207. D / D in transmission modulation section 207
After the A-conversion, the signal is converted into an analog modulation signal and converted into a desired transmission frequency. The signal converted to the desired frequency is power-amplified by a transmission RF circuit to obtain required transmission power, and is radiated (transmitted) from antenna 201 via duplexer 202.

As described above, the control unit 205 controls the communication terminal 1
06 are controlled. Even when the power of the communication terminal 106 is turned off, the non-volatile memory in the control unit 205 stores, for example, the immediately preceding distribution progress information, and can use the stored information at the next power-on. Further, the present invention provides a function necessary for coping with a distribution interruption factor such as a wireless abnormality or a battery abnormality during data distribution in the present invention.

The distribution apparatus 101 is a data processing apparatus (computer) that constitutes a server connected to the Internet, although its internal configuration is not particularly shown.
It includes a main control unit including a ROM and a RAM, an external storage device including a large-capacity storage device, a communication device for connecting to the Internet, an input / output device providing a user interface, and the like.

FIG. 3 shows a basic sequence of content distribution in the present embodiment. By operating the communication terminal 106, the user of the communication terminal 106 accesses a site that provides a data distribution service on the Internet, and requests the distribution device 101 to purchase desired content (310). Upon receiving the content purchase request 310, the distribution apparatus 101 checks the content identification information (content ID) and transmits a content transfer start notification including a content information notification message to the communication terminal (311). In this example, the content notification message includes the content ID, the block size, the number of blocks, and the data size of the entire content data. Next, the content is read from a database or the like, and content data transfer control is started (31).
2). This content data transfer control is executed so that content data can be reliably distributed between the distribution device 101 and the communication terminal 106 as described later. For example, when the distribution is interrupted in the middle of the data due to an accidental cause, the distribution progress information is stored. When the transfer of the entire content data is completed, the distribution device 10
In the case of the pay service, the charging service 1 performs a charging process, and executes a content purchase response such as notifying the user of a message indicating that the distribution of the content is completed and the appropriate charging process has been performed (313).

In the present invention, data distributed from the distribution apparatus 101 to the communication terminal 106 is divided into a plurality of blocks having a predetermined data size, and is sequentially transferred in units of at least one unit of data. In the present embodiment,
The data size of one block is a predetermined fixed length.
FIG. 11 shows an example of a block structure of content data. This block structure includes a BlockSN 1101, a content data block 1102, and a parity 1103 for calculating reliability of received data. BlockSN (block SN or block number) 1101 is a serial number assigned so that each data block can be identified when content data is divided into a plurality of blocks. Of course, in the case of sequential block transfer, it is possible to omit the BlockSN 1101 by storing the number of bytes received, but it is preferable to use the BlockSN in order to improve the reliability such as retransmission control. This makes it possible to distinguish between a delivered block and an undistributed block. The parity 1103 is used to confirm whether or not the block data has been correctly received, and it is possible to confirm the presence or absence of an error by comparing a result of a predetermined calculation performed on the data with the parity. Instead of the parity, any other error correction code such as ECC may be used.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed sequence when the content data transfer control 312 in FIG. 3 is normal.

Upon receiving the content purchase request, the distribution apparatus 101 divides the data into blocks as described above, transmits unit data of at least one block to the communication terminal 106 at a time (410), and receives the data. Start the timer for the confirmation message (41
1). Here, the description is made on the assumption that the unit data is one block. After receiving one block of data, the communication terminal 106 stops the timer for detecting whether the wireless connection has been disconnected (412), and performs a parity check (413). If the communication terminal 106 has correctly received the data block,
The SN is stored in the nonvolatile memory (414). Although not shown, the received data is also stored in a nonvolatile manner in the EEPROM or the data storage means 210 (FIG. 2). Also,
When the reception of one block of data is completed, the distribution device 10
1 transmits a data reception confirmation message 415 to start a timer (416). This timer monitors the occurrence of disconnection of the wireless connection and the response from the distribution apparatus 101. The data reception confirmation message 417 includes at least BlockSN of the normally received block together with the success / failure information of the data reception. In addition, application error information such as insufficient memory of the terminal or insufficient battery power may be included as the factor information at the time of data reception failure. The distribution apparatus 101 that has received the data reception confirmation message 415 stops its own timer (417).

Such a sequence from transmitting one block correctly from the distribution apparatus 101 to receiving a normal data reception confirmation from the communication terminal 106 is defined as one transfer phase (420, 421). If this transfer phase is repeated by the number of blocks obtained by dividing the content data, the distribution of the content data is completed.

However, in the communication terminal, a failure due to a specific factor may occur. For example, the communication is disabled and the distribution is interrupted due to abnormalities in the power supply such as a drop in the battery voltage of the communication terminal or disconnection of the wiring, an error in the operation of the memory such as an abnormal operation of the memory or a shortage of the storage capacity, or a disconnection from the wireless communication service area. Out of service area, abnormal distribution equipment, lack of radio resources due to overcrowded traffic, etc.
And other accidental failures of each part of the wireless system. Also, in a communication terminal such as a mobile phone, an emergency call is required during data communication, memory shortage is expected,
In such a case, the communication may be disabled by a manual operation of the user.

FIG. 5 shows a content data transfer control sequence in a case where retransmission is necessary, such as when a parity error occurs mainly due to the influence of the radio wave condition. The data transfer (510) and the timer start (511) in the distribution device 101, and the timer stop (512) in the communication terminal 106 are the same as those in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the communication terminal 106 detects a parity error for the transferred data (513). At this time,
The communication terminal 106 transmits a data retransmission request message 514 to the distribution device 101. This message includes the BlockSN requesting retransmission. Upon receiving this, the distribution apparatus 101 temporarily stops the timer (516), and retransmits the block specified by the BlockSN (517). At this time, the timer is started again (518). Communication terminal 10 receiving this data
6 stops the timer (519) and performs a parity check (520). If there is no error in the received data, the BlockSN is stored (521), a data reception confirmation message 522 is returned to the distribution apparatus 101, and a timer is started (523). The distribution apparatus 101 that has received this message stops the timer (524).
In this way, the data of the block in which the error is detected is normally retransmitted, and one transfer phase ends. In FIG.
Subsequent processing is the same as in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a sequence when the content distribution is interrupted during communication. As described above, various reasons can be considered as the reason for the interruption, but here, the service area “out of service area” is considered. For example, transfer phase 61
It is assumed that the communication terminal 106 receives one block of data after completion of 0 and 611 (612, 614, 615), stores the BlockSN of the block (616), and then shifts to the out-of-service state (620). In this case,
Until the communication terminal 1 returns to the service area, the information transmitted from the distribution apparatus 101 may be received.
06 message cannot be received. That is, in the example shown in the figure, the communication terminal 106 returns a data reception confirmation message to the distribution device 101 immediately after the communication terminal 106 enters the out-of-service state (621).
Does not reach. Start the timer again (622)
However, after that, a predetermined period of time elapses without the next data transfer from the distribution apparatus 101 and a timeout occurs (62).
3). At the application level, the communication terminal 106 recognizes for the first time that the communication has been disconnected, and interrupts the reception process (624). On the other hand, the distribution device 101
After the previous timer start (613), the distribution process is interrupted because the data reception confirmation message from the terminal device 106 cannot be received within a predetermined time (625).
6). At this time, the distribution progress information on which terminal has transmitted what content data to which terminal normally is stored (627). In this state, the communication terminal 106 checks the BlockS of the block transferred by the data transfer (612) for the content being downloaded.
N is stored in a non-volatile manner, and it is recognized that the block has been normally received up to the block. On the contrary,
The distribution apparatus 101 normally distributes up to the block transferred in the transfer phase 611, but the next data transfer (6
Since the data reception acknowledgment for the block transferred in 12) has not been received from the communication terminal 106, it is recognized that it is unknown whether or not the block has been normally delivered.

When the cause of the connection interruption is not the out-of-service area 620 but a power supply abnormality such as a low battery voltage of the communication terminal 106 or a disconnection of the wiring, the return processing of the data reception confirmation message 621 in FIG. 6 is not executed. . In this case, the communication terminal 106 can recognize that the previous download processing has not been completed when the communication terminal 106 is activated after the power is restored.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a sequence that is executed when the content distribution is returned to the distributable state after the interruption of the content distribution. As an example of the interruption factor, an example of out of service area is shown as in FIG. 6, but interruption may be caused by another factor. After interrupting the distribution process, the distribution device 101 transmits a terminal status monitoring request to the subscriber management device in the exchange 702 because the status of the communication terminal 106 is not monitored in real time (712). This terminal status monitoring request is
It requests the exchange 702 to notify the subscriber terminal as a specific communication terminal when it returns to the service area. When the communication terminal 106 once goes out of the service area (710) and then returns to the service area (711),
It outputs its own location registration request (location registration response message) to exchange 702 (713). Exchange 702
Notifies the subscriber management device in itself that the location registration request has been received. After giving the location number to the terminal, the subscriber management device determines that the terminal is in a communicable state, and notifies the distribution device 101 that the communication terminal 106 is newly communicable. (714). Further, the exchange 702 returns a registration (location registration) success by the location registration response message to the terminal 106 as a location registration response (715).

FIG. 12 shows an example of the data format of the terminal status notification message 714. Header section 120
1 includes information such as a subscriber management device ID and an exchange ID. The terminal status 1203 is information indicating whether or not the terminal is in a communicable state, and includes information such as whether the terminal is not physically connected, whether communication is possible but there is a problem in protocol, or whether there is a problem in the application state. Have. The problem with the application state is, for example, that the memory in the terminal is full and data cannot be stored even if the distribution process is continued, or the remaining battery level is low. Indicates information such as the risk that

In order for the subscriber management device to recognize the application state, for example, the following measures are taken. After the call is established between the terminal and the distribution device and the communication state is established, if the application status problem, for example, a memory shortage occurs, the communication terminal notifies the exchange of the disconnection by a message for releasing the call (RELEASE message). I do. At this time, usually, the reason for the disconnection is notified, but the content of the reason for the notification is extended to notify information such as a memory shortage or a battery excess based on the concept of an application error. Thereafter, the terminal does not request or accept distribution restart until the problem of the application is resolved. The subscriber management device determines that the problem has been solved when the terminal requests or accepts distribution restart.

The physical layer failure of the terminal is detected by a radio control station such as a base station and the information is notified to an upper layer. The exchange controlling the call can thereby receive notification that a radio layer failure has occurred in the terminal. Therefore, the subscriber management device can also recognize occurrence of a physical layer failure of the terminal.

Returning to FIG. 7, upon receiving terminal status notification 714 from the subscriber management device, distribution device 101 determines that terminal 106 has become communicable, and resumes data distribution. In order to resume the distribution, it is necessary to know how accurately the terminal 106 has received the data before the suspension of the distribution, and to confirm whether the communication terminal can resume the distribution process, The request is transmitted to the communication terminal 106 (716). The communication terminal 106 notifies the identification information (individual BlockSN or its range) of the received block or the unreceived block, together with the service name and the content ID, and delivers a delivery restart response message requesting the transfer of the remaining unreceived block. Send to device (71
7).

The distribution apparatus 101 determines in step 627 of FIG.
Then, the distributed block stored therein is compared with the block identification information of the received block of the communication terminal, and it is confirmed that they match or differ by one block.
(The received block of the communication terminal can also be specified from the unreceived block identification information.) Otherwise, error processing is performed. For example, if there is a problem in checking the transmission / reception block, retransmission is refused. If there is no problem in the collation, the communication terminal selects a block that has not been received as a block to be transmitted (7).
18). Thereafter, content data transfer control is performed (7.
19) When all data transfer is completed, a billing process (720) is performed and a content purchase response is transmitted to the communication terminal (721).

FIG. 13 shows an example of the data format of the distribution restart response message. The header 1301 is shown in FIG.
2 is the same as the header 1201 of the terminal status notification message shown in FIG. The content ID 1302 is content identification information to be restarted for distribution. Distribution start Bloc
The kSN 1303 is typically a block SN of a start block that requests a restart of distribution, but may specify a received block as described above. The non-received block of the terminal can be specified on the distribution device side based on the received block identification information.

Here, how to specify the block SN will be briefly described. Of course, the designation of the block SN can be performed by individually describing each block SN of the block to be designated. However, for the consecutive numbers, the start block SN and the end block SN Range can be specified. More specifically, for example, as individual / range identifiers, suppose that 0x00 (0x indicates that the following numerical value is a hexadecimal number) is individually designated, 0x10 indicates the start of the range, and 0x01 indicates the end of the range. For example, if the designated data of the block SN is “00030005100701114001”
6 ", this is the BlockSN 3,5,7-1
4 and 16 are shown. Note that this notation is merely an example for explanation, and the method of designating the block SN of the present invention is not limited to this.

Note that the communication terminal 106 transmits the distribution restart request 7
Upon receiving 16, a screen for confirming whether or not to accept distribution restart may be displayed to the user, and after confirming the user's intention, a distribution restart response 717 may be transmitted to the distribution apparatus 101. . In this case, if the user does not want to resume the distribution, the fact is notified to the distribution device, and the distribution device gives up the distribution restart.

FIG. 8 shows distribution apparatus 1 in the present embodiment.
6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of No. 01. When receiving the content purchase request from the event waiting state (801) (802), the distribution device stores the requested content ID and the communication terminal ID that issued the request (8).
03), data distribution in block units is started (80).
4). Next, a timer for monitoring the communicable state of the terminal is started (805). Thereafter, an event waiting state is set (806). When a message (data reception confirmation or retransmission request) is received from the terminal (807), the timer is stopped (808). If the message is a retransmission request message (809), the same block is transmitted again (810). Until the data transfer of all blocks is completed (No, 812), the next block data is transmitted (814), the timer is started (815), and the process returns to step 806 to wait for an event. If distribution of all blocks is completed (Yes in 812), a content purchase response message indicating distribution completion is transmitted (81).
3), the distribution process ends.

When a timeout occurs in the event waiting state (806) (816), it is determined that communication with the terminal has not been normally performed, and a terminal state monitoring request message is transmitted to the exchange (subscriber management device). (817). If this request is made, when the terminal returns to the communicable state, the subscriber management device can notify that fact.
When the terminal returns to the service area and communication becomes possible, a terminal status notification message is received from the state of the event wait 801 (818), and a distribution restart request message is transmitted to the terminal (819). When a delivery restart response message is received as a response to this (820), the range of data to be delivered is specified based on this message (82).
1) Normal distribution processing is restarted.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing of the communication terminal 106. First, the communication terminal
The base station is searched for neighboring base stations (901), and when a valid base station is found, a location registration request is transmitted (902). After receiving the location registration response to this request (903), the system enters the event waiting state (904). If there is any content whose distribution has been interrupted, a distribution restart request message is received from the distribution device (905), and the above-described distribution restart response message is transmitted (906). Thereafter, data transfer control for content reception is performed (907). The details will be described later with reference to FIG. Thereafter, in the event determination (908), when a content purchase response is received (909), the user is preferably notified on a predetermined screen (not shown). afterwards,
The process returns to the previous step 904 to be in an event waiting state. Also, if an abnormality occurs that interrupts the distribution (91
0), returning to the first step 901;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of the data transfer control of the communication terminal shown in step 907 of FIG. After the timer starts (1001), an event waiting state is entered (1002). When a block is received from the distribution device (1005), the timer is stopped (1005).
6), a parity check is performed to verify whether the data was correctly received (1007). If the data has not been correctly received, a data retransmission request is transmitted to the delivery device (10).
08). If the reception is successful, the received data is stored in the non-volatile memory (1009), and the BlockSN information of the block that has been successfully received is stored in the non-volatile memory (1010). Next, a data reception confirmation message is transmitted to notify that one block of data has been correctly received (1011). Thereafter, the process returns to the first step 1001. When the timer times out (1003), the receiving process is stopped (1004).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The system configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. What is different from the first embodiment is the content data transfer control sequence and the operation related thereto. Hereinafter, the operation of the second embodiment will be described in detail.

First, FIGS. 22 (a), (b) and (c) show
Some block structures that can be used in this embodiment are shown.

The block structure of the content data shown in FIG. 22A is the same as the block structure shown in FIG.
02a and a parity 1103a.

FIG. 22B is a block data structure when a plurality of blocks are collectively distributed at once. With this structure, it is possible to reduce the data amount (size) of one block and transmit a plurality of blocks collectively. In this case, a BlockSN range 1101b is added to the beginning of the plurality of blocks, and a parity 1103b for all blocks is added to the end. The communication terminal receiving the plurality of blocks performs an error check by integrating the plurality of blocks. The method of specifying the BlockSN range is as described above.

When a parity error is detected, a retransmission request is sent to a specific Bloc if parity is provided for each block.
If retransmission of kSN is requested and parity calculation is performed collectively for a plurality of blocks, all of those Blocks are used.
Requests retransmission of SN. Since the data size of one block is not particularly defined here, it is set to an arbitrary size.

The block structure shown in FIG.
Although a plurality of blocks are transmitted at one time as in (b), the parity 1103c is added for each block. Therefore, the error check in this case is performed only for each block.

In the first embodiment described above, it is also possible to use the block structures shown in FIGS. 22 (b) and 22 (c).

FIG. 14 shows a detailed sequence of the content data transfer control 312 shown in FIG. 3 in the present embodiment in a normal state. As can be seen by comparing with the corresponding FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, in the present embodiment, the content data is transferred from the distribution apparatus 101 to the communication terminal 106 for each unit of data, but is the same. A procedure in which the communication terminal 106 returns a data reception confirmation every time unit data is received is omitted. That is, in the first embodiment, the distribution apparatus 101 sequentially manages up to which block has been distributed during the content data transfer, whereas in the present embodiment, the distribution apparatus 101 Do not perform any management. Accordingly, the distribution device 10
In 1, the timeout management by the timer is not performed.

After the communication terminal 106 starts a timer for measuring the timing of storing the information on the block range for which reception has been completed (430), the distribution apparatus 101 divides the data into blocks and divides the data into blocks. Data is transferred to the communication terminal 106 for each unit data (43
1). The communication terminal 106 that has received this data performs a parity check (432), and if the data is correctly received, waits for the next unit data. Next data transfer (4
A parity check is similarly performed for (33) (43).
4) temporarily store the data. If a timeout occurs (435), the reception status (BlockS received so far)
N) is stored in a non-volatile memory, and the temporarily stored data is stored in a non-volatile memory (436).
The timer is started again (437). Further, every time data transfer (438, 440) is performed, a parity check is performed (439, 441), and the same processing is repeated until all data is distributed.

FIG. 15 shows a content data transfer control sequence when retransmission is required in the second embodiment. As in FIG. 14, the timer start (53
0), data transfer (531), parity check (53
After 2), it is assumed that a parity error is detected in the received data of the next data transfer (533) (534). At this time,
The communication terminal 106 transmits a data retransmission request message to the distribution device 101 (535). The distribution apparatus 101 receiving this retransmits the same data (536). However, in the case of the block structure as shown in FIGS. 22B and 22C, if BlockSN is included in the retransmission request message, the distribution apparatus 101 that has received the BlockSN may specify the block to be retransmitted and transmit it. it can. Subsequent steps 539 to 542 are the same as steps 434 to 437 in FIG.

FIG. 16 shows a sequence in the case where the content distribution in the second embodiment is interrupted. In this example, a case where the cause of the interruption is a power supply abnormality of the communication terminal will be described. The same applies to interruptions caused by other factors.

When the battery of the communication terminal is disconnected for a moment and the process is interrupted for a moment, so-called momentary interruption occurs, only the data in the non-volatile memory area can be used at the next start-up. Now, a parity check (632) is performed on the data obtained by the data reception (631) after the timer start (630), and the reception completion data range (Blo
ckSN) is stored (634), and the parity check (617) of the data obtained by the data transfer (636) after the timer start (635) is performed again. Immediately after that, a power supply abnormality (638) occurs. At this time, since the data obtained by the data transfer (636) is not stored in the reception completion data range, this data may not be guaranteed. When the communication terminal 106 is turned off (639), the distribution device 101 detects a communication failure (640). Thereby, the distribution device 1
01 suspends data distribution to the communication terminal 106 (6
41). In addition, information of data that has already been delivered to the communication terminal 106 (which block of which content to which terminal)
SN) (642).

FIG. 17 shows a sequence executed when the content is returned to the distributable state after the interruption of the content distribution in the second embodiment. After returning from the power failure state (730) (731) and entering the service area (732), the normal position registration procedure is executed in the wireless communication system as described above. That is, the communication terminal 106 issues a location registration request to the exchange 702 (733), and the exchange 702 returns a location registration response (73).
4). Thereafter, the communication terminal checks whether there is any interrupted communication service, and if so, notifies the user 701 of the fact by displaying a message or the like (73).
5). Preferably, the reason for the interruption is confirmed before or after the interruption of the communication service, and the reason for the interruption is also notified in step 735. Based on this notification, the user 701 determines whether to resume distribution. When the user 701 desires to resume distribution, a predetermined operation is performed to inform the communication terminal 106 of the intention to request distribution restart (73).
6).

It should be noted that the determination of the return from the interruption in the communication terminal 106 can be made as follows except when the interruption reason is the above-mentioned radio interference or power supply abnormality. For example, when the radio resources are insufficient, when the service-providing device or exchange detects and notifies that the radio resources have been secured, it is determined that the service is available again. If the reason for the interruption was insufficient memory area for data storage, then when it was detected that a necessary area was secured by adding a new storage means or deleting other information, it returned to the service available state. Judge that you have done.

Here, FIG. 18 shows step 736 in FIG.
5 shows an example of a display screen when notifying the user. The liquid crystal display screen 750 of the communication terminal 106 includes information indicating that the service has been interrupted, information such as the type of interrupted service (service name), the name of the content whose distribution has been interrupted, the interruption time, and the amount of received data. 751 and option information 752 for the user to input an intention display based on this are displayed. In this example, the user has three options: “Resume Immediately” to request the communication service to be resumed immediately, “Resume Later” to request the resume later, and “Cancel” to stop receiving the service. The preparation improves user convenience.

Referring back to FIG. 17, when the user makes a distribution restart request (736), the communication terminal 106 transmits a distribution restart request message to the distribution apparatus 101 (737).
The message includes a service name, a content ID, received or unreceived block identification information (individual Blocs).
kSN or its range). Distribution device 101
Returns a distribution restart response message notifying that the distribution restart request has been received (738). At this time, as in the case of the step 718 (FIG. 7), the transmitted and received data on the transmitting side and the receiving side are collated, and it is confirmed whether they match or the data difference is one unit. If there is no problem in the collation, the data range to be transmitted by the distribution device is determined based on the received information (739). Thereafter, the same data transfer control as described above is performed (740). When the distribution of all data is completed, the distribution device stores distribution information indicating that the distribution of the content of the content ID is completed for the terminal of the communication terminal ID (741), and performs a charging process (7).
42), a content purchase response is sent to the communication terminal (74).
3).

FIG. 19 shows a processing flowchart of the distribution apparatus according to the second embodiment. When the distribution device receives the content purchase request (831), it stores the requested content ID and communication terminal ID (831).
32), data distribution is started in data units having any of the data structures shown in FIGS. 22 (a), (b) and (c) (835). If all data has been delivered (833, Y
es), and transmits a content purchase response message (8
37), the distribution process ends. If the message is a retransmission request message (838, Yes), the requested block (or block group) is transmitted (839). When an abnormality of the communication terminal is detected (840, Yes), the distribution process is interrupted (841). When the restart request is received from the terminal after the distribution is interrupted (833), the content ID, the transmission start BlockSN, the communication terminal ID, and the like are specified based on the received information (834), and the data distribution process is executed again (8).
35 and later).

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication terminal 106 according to the second embodiment. When the power of the communication terminal is turned on, a search is made for a nearby base station (92).
1) When a valid base station is found, a location registration message is transmitted (922). After receiving the response to this message (923), if there is any content whose distribution has been interrupted (925, Yes), the user is notified of the information of the interrupted service as described above (93).
2). In the event waiting state (926), if there is a communication service use request or a distribution restart request such as a content purchase request (927, 928) by the user (93)
3, 934) and data transfer control (929) is executed. If there is an abnormality that interrupts the distribution in the subsequent event determination (930), the process returns to the first step 921. When the content purchase response is received (930), the user is notified of this by a predetermined screen (not shown) (931).

FIG. 21 is a flowchart relating to data transfer control of communication terminal 106 in the second embodiment. After the timer starts (1201), it enters an event waiting state (1202). In this state, when data is received from the distribution device (1203), a parity check is performed (1204), and it is verified whether the data was correctly received. If it is not received correctly, a retransmission request is transmitted (12
05). If the reception is successful, the received data is stored in the nonvolatile memory (1206). Until reception of all data is completed (1207), the process returns to step 1202 and repeats the above steps. When a timeout occurs (1208), the information of the BlockSN that has been successfully received is stored in the nonvolatile memory (1209). If a reason for interrupting the distribution occurs during the distribution (1210), the reception processing is stopped or disabled (121).
1).

When a computer program for executing the processing of the present invention in the communication terminal or the distribution device can be installed as an application program or a part thereof, a program storage medium storing the computer program is also included in the present invention. Can be grasped as embodying. Examples of a program storage medium used to install such a program in a computer and make it executable by the computer include, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk and a CD-ROM.
Not only package media such as ROM and DVD,
The program may be realized by a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk in which the program is temporarily or permanently stored. As means for storing programs in these program storage media, wired and wireless communication media such as a local area network, the Internet, and digital satellite broadcasting may be used, and the programs are stored via various communication interfaces such as a router and a modem. You may do so.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various modifications and changes other than those described above are possible. For example, although a mobile phone has been described as an example of a communication terminal, the communication terminal of the present invention may include any terminal such as a mobile information terminal, a game machine, a car navigation device, and a personal computer having a communication function. Although the content data is not specifically mentioned, it includes various data such as music data, image data, video data, and text data, as well as computer programs such as games and various applications. Although only data distribution to a wireless communication terminal has been described, the features of the present invention relating to factors other than wireless-specific factors can also be applied to a wired communication terminal.

[0070]

According to the present invention, when a subscriber of a wireless communication system uses a content delivery service, after the delivery service is interrupted due to a radio failure, a battery failure, a memory capacity shortage, etc., the delivery completed data is already delivered again. Prevent
It is possible to perform stable distribution processing. As a result, the user can avoid wasting time and communication charges when receiving large-sized content again. The content distributor not only can reduce the processing load, but also can prevent the unnecessary distribution of duplicate data when the content is distributed for a fee, and can minimize the occurrence of a situation where charging cannot be performed. Furthermore, the communication carrier can expect reduction of useless increase in communication traffic by eliminating redistribution of duplicated data.

In the communication terminal, when a user uses a communication service such as content distribution, the user is notified of the reason for the interruption after the interruption of the distribution service due to a radio failure, a battery failure, an insufficient memory size, or the like. In addition, the reason can be notified and the transition to service resumption or the like can be smoothly performed.

Further, according to the method for providing a terminal status notification service in the subscriber management device of the communication network, the communication device of the service provider, for example, does not need to check the status of a specific subscriber terminal by itself. Notification can be received from the device. Thus, for example, the notification can be used as a trigger for restarting the service after the interruption, and the present service is extremely useful for reducing the processing load on the communication device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a content distribution system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the communication terminal shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a basic sequence of content distribution according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a detailed sequence when content data transfer control in FIG. 3 is normal.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a content data transfer control sequence when retransmission is required according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a sequence in a case where content distribution is interrupted during communication in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a content distribution abnormality recovery sequence according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the distribution device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the communication terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of data transfer control of a communication terminal shown in one step in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a content data block structure used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a terminal status notification message showing an example of a data format of the terminal status notification message in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a data format of a delivery restart response message according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a detailed sequence in a normal state regarding content data transfer control according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a content data transfer control sequence when retransmission is required in the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a sequence in the case where content distribution is interrupted in the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a sequence that is executed when the content distribution is returned to a distributable state after interruption of content distribution according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen when notifying a user in the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the distribution device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the communication terminal according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart relating to data transfer control of a communication terminal according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing some block structures (a), (b), and (c) in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: distribution device, 102: network IF, 103
... Communication network, 104 ... Exchange, 105 ... Base station, 106 ...
Communication terminal.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04M 11/00 302 H04L 13/00 301A 5K067 H04N 7/173 610 H04B 7/26 109M 5K101 H04Q 7/04 D F-term (reference) 5B089 GA11 GA21 GB01 JA33 KA12 ME15 5C064 BA07 BB10 BC03 BC04 BC18 BC23 BC25 BD02 BD05 BD08 BD09 BD13 5K015 AF09 5K024 AA76 CC11 DD01 5K034 AA05 AA19 BB06 CC01 DD03 EE11 EE12 FF12H01 MM12 H01 FF12MM 5K067 AA33 BB04 EE04 EE10 FF23 HH22 5K101 KK16 KK18 LL12 TT06

Claims (29)

[Claims] 1. A data distribution method for a distribution device that distributes content data to a communication terminal via a wireless communication medium, comprising: dividing the content data into blocks of a predetermined size; A step of sequentially transferring the content data in units of at least one block of unit data; and a step of distributing blocks and an undistributed block when distribution is interrupted due to inability to communicate with the communication terminal before transfer of the entire content data is completed. And detecting that the communication terminal has returned to a state where it can communicate with the communication terminal. Requesting a restart, transmitting a response to the communication terminal when receiving a response of accepting restart from the communication terminal. A step of identifying a can block, data distribution method which comprising the the steps of initiating the transfer of the identified blocks. 2. A data distribution method in a distribution device for distributing content data to a communication terminal via a wireless communication medium, comprising: a step of dividing the content data into blocks of a predetermined size; Transmitting the content data sequentially for each unit data of at least one block; and, when the distribution is interrupted due to the inability to communicate with the communication terminal before the complete transmission of the content data, the distributed block and the undistributed block are transmitted. Specifying, after returning to the communicable state, receiving, from the communication terminal, a request to restart the distribution of the content data interrupted by the communication disabled state; and when receiving a restart request from the communication terminal, Identifying a block to be transmitted to the communication terminal; and identifying the identified block. Data distribution method characterized by comprising the the steps of initiating the transfer. Receiving, from the communication terminal, block identification information for specifying a received block or a non-received block received by the communication terminal before specifying the block to be transmitted; 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of comparing a block or an unreceived block with a delivered block or an undistributed block specified by the delivery device.
Or the data distribution method described in 2. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of, when a message to be received from the communication terminal cannot be received for a predetermined time or more, determining that the communication terminal cannot communicate with the communication terminal. 3. The data distribution method according to 1 or 2. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting of the return to the state capable of communicating with the communication terminal includes determining that the communication state has been restored when a message from the communication terminal is received. 1. The data distribution method according to 1. 6. The step of detecting that the communication terminal has returned to a state in which it can communicate with the communication terminal, the method comprising: determining a communication disabled state; 2. The data according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a status monitoring request from the control device; and receiving, from the control device, a notification that the control device has detected reception of a message from the communication terminal. Delivery method. 7. A data receiving method in a communication terminal for receiving content data from a distribution device via a wireless communication medium, wherein the content data divided into blocks of a predetermined size is sequentially divided into unit data of at least one block. Receiving, storing the received unit data in a nonvolatile manner, storing block identification information of the nonvolatilely stored unit data in a nonvolatile manner, and before receiving the entire content data, A step of receiving a distribution restart request for the content data from the distribution apparatus when the communication apparatus returns to the communicable state after the distribution is interrupted due to a communication disabled state with the distribution apparatus; Returning a response of resumption acceptance together with the identification information of the unreceived block; and Data receiving method characterized by comprising the steps of receiving the unreceived block of serial content data for each unit data. 8. The data receiving method according to claim 7, wherein the communication terminal automatically responds to the restart request from the distribution device to accept the restart. 9. The data receiving method according to claim 7, wherein said communication terminal responds to the restart request from said distribution apparatus with a user's consent and accepts a restart. 10. A data receiving method in a communication terminal for receiving content data from a distribution device via a wireless communication medium, wherein the content data divided into blocks of a predetermined size is sequentially divided into at least one block of unit data. Receiving, storing the received unit data in a nonvolatile manner, storing block identification information of the nonvolatilely stored unit data in a nonvolatile manner, and before receiving the entire content data, After the distribution is interrupted after being in a communication-disabled state with the distribution device, when returning to the communicable state, transmitting a distribution restart request of the content data together with identification information of a received block or an unreceived block to the distribution device, An unreceived broadcast of the content data is received from the distribution device that has received the distribution restart request. Data receiving method characterized by comprising the steps of receiving a click for each unit data. 11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of, when a message to be received from the distribution device cannot be received for a predetermined time or more, determining that the communication device cannot communicate with the distribution device. 11. The data receiving method according to 7 or 10. 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of detecting the return to the communicable state includes a step of outputting a location registration request to the exchange, and a step of receiving a location registration response from the exchange. 11. The data receiving method according to 7 or 10. 13. The data receiving apparatus according to claim 7, wherein each time the unit data is received a predetermined number of times, the received unit data and their block identification information are stored in a nonvolatile manner. Method. 14. A method for providing a terminal status notification service in a subscriber management device of a communication network, comprising: receiving a notification service request from a communication device requesting notification of a status of a specific subscriber terminal; Monitoring the status of the subscriber terminal; and notifying the communication device that has issued the notification service request of the status of the subscriber terminal. Delivery method. 15. The terminal state notification service providing method according to claim 14, wherein the state of the subscriber terminal that can be managed by the subscriber management device includes a physical layer failure. 16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the status of the subscriber terminal that can be managed by the subscriber management device includes a protocol failure. 17. The method for providing a subscriber management notification service according to claim 14, wherein the status of the subscriber terminal that can be managed by the subscriber management device includes a failure at the time of executing an application. 18. The terminal status notification service providing method according to claim 14, wherein said notification service request requests notification when a terminal status of said subscriber terminal changes. 19. The terminal state notification service providing method according to claim 18, wherein said notification service request requests notification when a terminal state of said subscriber terminal changes to a designated state. 20. The terminal status notification according to claim 19, wherein the notification service request requests notification when the terminal status of the subscriber terminal changes from a communication disabled state to a communication enabled state. Service delivery method. 21. A means for confirming the reason for interruption when the use of a service is interrupted due to the disconnection of the communication while the user of the communication terminal is using the communication service; Communication means for notifying a user of at least the interruption reason. 22. The communication terminal according to claim 21, wherein said notifying means notifies the user of the interruption reason when said interruption reason is resolved and service use can be resumed. 23. The communication terminal according to claim 22, wherein the communication terminal starts control of restart of service use when a user inputs a service use restart instruction based on the notification. 24. If the user does not immediately resume service use based on the notice, the notice to the user is stored in a storage means, and it can be resumed by a user instruction thereafter. Claim 23.
Communication terminal as described. 25. A notice to a user by the notifying means,
23. The communication terminal according to claim 22, wherein the communication terminal is automatically executed when service use can be resumed. 26. The wireless communication terminal, wherein the communication terminal is a wireless communication terminal, and when the interruption reason is a power failure of the wireless communication terminal or outside the service area, the wireless communication executed when the interruption reason is resolved. 26. The communication terminal according to any one of claims 22 to 25, wherein the user is notified that the terminal has returned to the service resumable state due to completion of the terminal location registration procedure. 27. The communication terminal is a wireless communication terminal, and when the interruption reason is a shortage of radio resources, the service-providing device or exchange detects that the radio resources can be secured thereafter. 26. The communication terminal according to claim 22, wherein when notified, it is determined that the service has returned to the service available state, and the user is notified. 28. The communication terminal is a wireless communication terminal, and when the reason for the interruption is a shortage of a memory area for storing data, when the reservation of a necessary area is detected thereafter, the communication terminal returns to a service available state. The communication terminal according to any one of claims 22 to 25, wherein the communication terminal is determined to notify the user. 29. When notifying the reason for interruption, the name of the service that was interrupted, if the service is a data distribution service, the name of the content that was being distributed, the time when the interruption was made, and the amount of data already distributed 26. The communication terminal according to claim 22, wherein the communication terminal notifies the user of the total data amount of the content or an arbitrary combination thereof.