JP2002543480A - System and method for using an optical memory card to communicate over a network for electronic commerce - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract: A system and method for communicating over a wide area network (28), such as the Internet, wherein data is stored in a web browser format on an optical memory card (12), wherein the card comprises a wide area network (28). 28) linked to a plurality of other user addresses (30) via a card read / write device (16). The data may include various types of information, such as personal user data, configuration information, bookmark files, URL links, or other such data. For example, the use of an optical memory card (12) with this data allows a user to personalize a remote browsing site for convenience in using a wide area network (28).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

【Technical field】

The present invention relates to an optical memory card and a method for linking an optical memory card to a wide area network such as the Internet for communication with a network.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Optical memory cards are well known in the art and are typically credit card sized, with dimensions of about 2x3 inches, and can store information on high resolution laser recording material.

[0003] Historically, the use of optical memory cards has been limited to two basic types of system architectures: completely offline systems and closed network systems. In a first type of system, the offline system, the card acts as an independent data storage device in which all data required for a particular application is stored, retrieved and maintained only on an optical memory card medium. Data can only be retrieved through the use of an optical memory card read / write device. A second type of system involves a combination of storage on a separate optical memory card and storage in a closed network. In this structure, data on the card is used in combination with data held in a closed network system. The data on the card and the network may or may not include all data on other devices, but in most cases the data on the optical memory card is stored in some type of backup file on the network device. You.

[0004] In recent years, the popularity and use of wide area networks such as the Internet has increased. Thus, today's Internet users are faced with the increasingly complex task of maintaining current state and rights across numerous Internet and private network systems. For example, a user may be a member of several online services, Internet Service Provider (ISP) accounts, and corporate networks. Each of these services has independent security and logon procedures. Once in a given service, additional access codes may also ensure access to various files, links and services. Most secure sites require that passwords be changed regularly, but logon access sites, telephone numbers, and Internet Protocol addresses also change quickly. If one could access, manage, update and use all these personal data sets from one particular user address (rather than having to log on to several different user addresses to maintain different sets of data) It would be convenient. In addition, many Internet users have customized their computers by storing configuration information and logging important and interesting URL files to reference files called "bookmarks." It would be highly advantageous to have easy access to a user's computer configuration information and bookmark files at many different user addresses and at remote locations.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for linking a card with a wide area network to extend the use of optical memory cards. It is a further object of the present invention that an optical memory card storing personal data of a user thereon can communicate via a wide area network having a plurality of user addresses, thereby establishing a wide area network for e-commerce and other applications. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and a method through which data can be accessed at another user address. It is a further object of the present invention to provide Internet users with personalization of a remote browsing site.

[0006]

Summary of the Invention

The object is to communicate over a wide area network, storing data on an optical memory card in a format readable by a web browser and linking the card to a wide area network such as the Internet via a card read / write unit. Filled by systems and methods. The data stored on the card is H
It can be in any format readable by an Internet browser, such as TML or Java® language, and can include various types of user personal data. Types of personal data that can be stored on the card include identification and security access information, hospital practice data, bank account information, membership information for use in the customer card system, and user bookmark files on URL sites. .

[0007] Many Internet users set up their personal configuration on their home computer or on their usual Internet user address or browsing site. The configuration information typically includes a bookmark file, the user's personal data of the type described above, and any other desired files, links or services that the user desires to easily access. By using an optical memory card to store this data on the Internet, the user can go to any browsing site where the card reader / writer is linked to the Internet and communicate via the Internet. You can set your own personal configuration for use. Possible locations where the optical memory card can be implemented include various public places such as kiosks, banks or supermarkets, or the card can be used at another personal user's terminal where the card reader is located.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an optical memory card 12 is shown as part of the system of the present invention. The optical memory card 12 has a size common to most credit cards, and the card substrate material is typically made of a dielectric material such as plastic. The substrate on the card holds a strip 24 of high resolution laser recording material for storing data. In addition, for identification or other such purposes,
Visually readable information may be printed on the card substrate. Details of the construction of the optical memory card can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,619 to Dyball, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Data may be recorded and stored on card 12 in any format compatible with an Internet browser, such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Java®, or other formats. Thus, the data can be read by the web browser. Web browsers allow users to view information from remote computers on a wide area network, regardless of device. The software browser receives information from a web server via a network and retrieves documents from the server. After obtaining a copy of the document from the remote computer, the browser software automatically formats and displays the document and allows the user to select the relevant document. The advantage of storing the data in web browser format and reading it with web browser software is that the data is compatible and can be read from any type of computer platform used by the user.

Various types of data can be stored on the strip 24 of the optical memory card 12 to perform many different user applications over a wide area network. In one type of application, the user may store personal identification information on the card, such as the user's email address, security access information, personal web page or other identification information. The user can then easily carry all this personal information to a different location, without having to re-enter the information when using a remote browsing site or a browsing site other than his normal browsing site. In addition, the user may be interested or important URLs
The site's bookmark file can be stored on the card. By doing so, regardless of where the user logs on to the Internet, the user will have easy access to these bookmark files.

Another type of data that can be stored on the card would be a user's hospital practice data or medical record. This data can be used when interacting with healthcare systems, insurance companies or other healthcare related websites. Similarly, bank account information can be stored on the card for use in banks and transaction systems. This may be a very useful feature as many people today make banking transactions and pay bills over the Internet. With the use of optical memory cards, these transactions can still be performed even when away from the user address at home, such as during a vacation or business trip.

Another use for which the card can be used is to store membership information for use in a loyalty card system. Many businesses have a loyalty card system, such as the frequent flyer mile program that many airlines have, or a good customer card that many grocery and retail stores currently have. The data of the customer card system can be tracked on an optical memory card for the customer card system, which is processed via the Internet. Again, this would be a useful application for optical memory cards, as many people now buy air tickets or shop for many types of goods over the Internet.

As the bandwidth capacity on the Internet increases, more data can be stored on the card and communicated over the Internet. The types of data that can be realized in systems with greater bandwidth include car user manuals, encyclopedias, novels, or even audio or video files.
For automobile maintenance manuals, the central storage location has a collection of manuals, each manual being in browser format on an optical card. Since the card also has visually readable information on the label, the mechanic can call the central storage location and request a specific manual. The card is located using a visually readable label, the card is scanned by a card reader, and the scanned information is transmitted to a mechanic via the Internet. The mechanic can download the information to the hard drive and then view the information in browser software. As can be seen, many different applications can be realized using the system of the present invention.

Returning to FIG. 1, the optical memory card 12 is inserted into the read / write unit 16.
The read / write unit 16 reads data from the card and also has the ability to write data on the card. The data on the card is permanent, and all data tracked on the card is permanent and readable. Additional information can be written to unused locations on the card. A description of read / write unit 16 is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,619 to Dieball and U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,693 to Haddock, which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention. And incorporated herein by reference. Since the read / write unit 16 can have its own web browser, it is web enabled (
web enable) and connected to the wide area network 28, in this case the card 12
Serves as an integral part of an Internet-based personal website. Read /
If the writing unit 16 is an offline stand-alone unit, the card 12
May be independently browsed on any Internet web browsing interface 22. Because the data is stored in any format compatible with the Internet browser, the data will be browsed with the Internet browser in any manner known in the prior art. Through interaction with the wide area network 28, a user of the read / write unit 16 can interact with another user of the second read / write unit 18, which may be using another optical memory card, or , Some of which may be interacting with multiple other user addresses 30, which may be storing data using conventional media.

FIG. 2 illustrates the method of the present invention. Referring to the flowchart, step 5
1, an optical memory card is provided. The next step 53 is to store the data on the optical memory card in web browser format. Next, the next step 55 is to link the optical memory card to the wide area network, and then step 57 is to communicate data from the optical memory card over the wide area network.

The following example illustrates how the system and method of the present invention works. People living in California have a home computer or a regular browsing site that stores personalized configuration information. The person travels to New York and wants to access a wide area network such as the Internet. Typically, this person must log on to the Internet from a home configuration or a remote browsing site that does not have the information available at the home computer or a normal browsing site. Assuming that this person finds a remote browsing site with a read / write unit, he sends the read / write unit an optical memory card with all of the stored personal data and configuration information thereon. Can be inserted. When the card is read via the read / write unit and the web browser, this person has all his personal configuration information, bookmarks and personal data available, re-enter his personal data or use a URL site No need to look for. In this way, when using a remote browsing site, information stored on a home computer or a normal browsing site can be conveniently carried and implemented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of the method of the present invention.

[Procedure for Amendment] Submission of translation of Article 19 Amendment of the Patent Cooperation Treaty

[Submission date] June 28, 2000 (2000.6.28)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Contents of correction]

[Claims]

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Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A system for communicating via a network, comprising: an optical memory card for holding stored data; and means for receiving the optical memory card and reading data stored on the optical memory card. A card reading unit, wherein the reading unit communicates with a network having a plurality of user addresses having web browser software so that web browser format data on the card is accessible over the network at the plurality of user addresses. There is a system. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein data stored on the optical memory card is stored in a web browser format. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the data includes personal information of a system user. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the personal information includes an ISP account, an online service provider account, or identification and security access information for a private network system. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data comprises a URL site user bookmark file. 6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the reading unit is connected to a separate web browsing interface, wherein the web browsing interface is linked to a network. 7. A method for communicating over a network, comprising: providing an optical memory card; storing data on the optical memory card in a web browser format; and connecting the optical memory card to a network having a plurality of user addresses. A method comprising: linking; and communicating data over a network to another user address. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing the user's personal information on an optical memory card. 9. A system for communicating over a network, comprising a network having a plurality of user addresses, from which data is transmitted and received in a web browser format, and further comprising data stored in a web browser format. A system comprising: an optical memory card; and an optical card reading unit that communicates with a network such that data is accessible at a plurality of user addresses over the network.