JP2003030059A - Server for communication, communication method between portable terminals using sever for communication and computer program for server for communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a server for communication suitable for communication of portable terminals such as a PDA(personal digital assistants). SOLUTION: In the server for communication provided for communication between the portable terminals, it is characterized by providing a server 1 for communication with a format converter 2 to convert a fist data format received from a first portable terminal 5 into a second data format different from the first one and transmitting data the format of which is converted to a second portable terminal 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication server and a communication method between a mobile terminal using this communication server, and particularly to a communication server and a mobile terminal suitable for communication between mobile terminals such as PDAs. It relates to a communication method between terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A portable terminal such as a PDA has a weak processing ability (amount of memory or computing capacity), a data format that can be handled by each portable terminal may be different, peripheral devices adopting a unique format, etc. Therefore, it is difficult to develop and install a data conversion application for all mobile terminals. Furthermore, depending on the data format etc., it is not possible to develop a data conversion application due to rights issues, etc. However, the configuration in which the received data is stored and transmitted in the same format with respect to the transmission request cannot meet the user's request. In addition, when creating a data creation function on a mobile terminal, or when creating data for a mobile terminal using peripheral devices, it is very difficult to implement a format that can be applied to all mobile terminals on the mobile terminal. there were.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and in particular, to use a novel communication server suitable for communication of portable terminals such as PDAs and the communication server. A communication method between mobile terminals is provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer program for the server.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention basically adopts the technical constitution as described below.

[0006] That is, the first of the communication server according to the present invention
Aspect is a communication server provided for communication between mobile terminal devices, wherein the communication server stores a first data format received from a first mobile terminal device as the first data. A format conversion device for converting into a second data format different from the format is provided, and the format-converted data is transmitted to the second mobile terminal device. Further, the second aspect is The format conversion device, in response to a request from the second mobile terminal device, receives data received from the first mobile terminal device based on an identification signal indicating the type of the data format received from the first mobile terminal device. Is converted into a data format receivable by the second mobile terminal device, and the third aspect is the format. The conversion device is capable of receiving data received from the first mobile terminal device from the second mobile terminal device based on information registered in advance in the communication server according to a request from the second mobile terminal device. It is characterized by converting to various data formats,
In a fourth aspect, the data format conversion device is
It is characterized in that a charging means is provided for charging the first mobile terminal device or the second mobile terminal device when the format conversion processing is performed.

Further, a mode of a communication method between mobile terminals according to the present invention is a communication method for performing communication between mobile terminal devices using a communication server, wherein the communication server is the first
Receiving the data in the first format from the mobile terminal device and storing the received data, and the communication server receiving a read request for the stored data received from the first mobile terminal device. A second step of receiving from the second mobile terminal device, a third step of converting data received from the first mobile terminal device into a data format receivable by the second mobile terminal device, and conversion A fourth step of sending the generated data to the second mobile terminal device;
It is characterized by including.

Further, a computer program according to the present invention is a computer program for the communication server for communicating between mobile terminal devices using the communication server, wherein the communication server is a first computer program. A first procedure of receiving data of a first format from a mobile terminal device and accumulating the received data, and the communication server receiving a read request of the data received and accumulated from the first mobile terminal device. The second procedure received from the second mobile terminal device and the third procedure for converting the data received from the first mobile terminal device into a data format receivable by the second mobile terminal device are converted. And a computer program for executing a fourth procedure for transmitting data to the second mobile terminal device.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In transmitting and receiving information by a mobile terminal, there are restrictions on a data format that can be handled by a system mounted on the terminal, obstacles to data format conversion due to weak processing power, and communication cost reduction. Due to various factors such as a request for a data format with a smaller amount of data, the data format of the mobile terminal may be different depending on the terminal, and the data format may differ between transmission and reception.

According to the present invention, when data is transmitted from the mobile terminal to the communication server, the data format is such that the mobile terminal can easily handle it, and when data is transmitted from the server to another mobile terminal, the data is transmitted to the mobile terminal. Convert to a suitable format and send. As a result, there is no need to install a special conversion program in the mobile terminal, and the range of use of the mobile terminal can be expanded.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A specific example of a communication server according to the present invention and a communication method of a mobile terminal using this communication server will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Specific Example) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first specific example of a communication server according to the present invention, and FIG.
It is a flow chart showing the procedure of format conversion,
In these figures, the communication server 1 receives the data of the first format from the first mobile terminal device 5, and the first means (step S1) for accumulating the received data and the communication server 1 are shown. , Second means (step S2) for receiving a read request for the accumulated data received from the first mobile terminal device 5 from the second mobile terminal device 9, and receiving from the first mobile terminal device 5. The data obtained is the second
The third means (step S3) for converting into the data format receivable by the mobile terminal device 9 and the fourth means (step S4) for sending the converted data to the second mobile terminal device 9. There is shown a communication method between mobile terminals, which is characterized by including the above.

The first specific example will be described in more detail below.

1 is a communication server of the present invention, and 5 and 9 are
It is a mobile terminal such as a PAD connected to the communication server 1.

The communication server 1 is provided with an Internet information transmission / reception unit 3 for communicating with the mobile terminals 5 and 9, and the transmission / reception unit 3 is configured to store received data. Information from the server 1 is transmitted / received by the transmitter / receiver 3
It is designed to be sent to a mobile terminal via. Two
Is a data format conversion unit provided in the communication server 1, converts data received via the Internet information transmission / reception unit 3 into a predetermined data format in accordance with a request from another mobile terminal, and converts the converted data. It has a function of outputting to the transmitting / receiving unit 3. Reference numeral 4 is a charging unit provided in the communication server 1 that charges a necessary fee in accordance with the data format conversion.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a data creating unit of the mobile terminal 5, and the data creating unit 7 has a function of loading data created by an external device into the mobile terminal 5. Also,
Reference numeral 6 denotes an Internet information transmission / reception unit of the mobile terminal 5, which has a function of communicating with the Internet information transmission / reception unit 3 of the communication server 1. Reference numeral 8 denotes a data display unit for displaying input data or output data. The portable terminal 5 and the portable terminal 9 have different data formats that can be handled, but have the same configuration.

Next, the operation of the present invention configured as described above will be described in more detail.

The user communicates with the server 1 using the mobile terminal 5, and at that time, creates data using the data creating section 7 provided in the mobile terminal 5. In this case, data may be created using the data creation unit 7, or data may be taken into the mobile terminal 5 from a peripheral device or the like. The created data is stored in the Internet information transmitting / receiving unit 6 of the mobile terminal 5 and the Internet information transmitting / receiving unit 3 of the server 1.
The data transmitted from the mobile terminal 5 by communicating with the server 1 via the
Accumulated within. When the server 1 receives a request for reading the previously stored data of the mobile terminal 5 from the mobile terminal 9,
Format conversion is performed based on information set in the server 1 in advance, information from the mobile terminal 9, or information specified by the user, and the converted data is sent to the mobile terminal 9. The mobile terminal 9 receives data via the Internet information transmission / reception unit 10 and presents the received data to the user using the data display unit 12. As data in this case, various data such as still images / moving images, audio reproduction, musical score surface data reproduction, and sentence display are targeted.

Further, according to the present invention, the charging unit 4 of the server 1
Charges a predetermined fee to the mobile terminal 5 or the mobile terminal 9 in accordance with the format conversion.

(Second Specific Example) FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second specific example of the communication server according to the present invention.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 5 is a conventional Internet server, which is not equipped with the data format conversion function of the present invention. When the data format conversion function of the present invention is added to this system, another server 1A is prepared and the data format conversion function 2 is added to the server 1A.
And Internet information transmission / reception function 3 are installed. As a result, the change of the server 5 is minimized, the load on the server 5 is hardly increased, and the server 1A is a server specialized for the data format conversion, so that the processing efficiency is improved.

[0022]

Since the communication server according to the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. (1) It is possible to provide services that go beyond the models of mobile terminals. (2) When transmitting data from a mobile terminal, a data format that minimizes the communication cost is used, and when receiving the mobile terminal, a data format that allows the user to take communication cost into consideration is used so that the data format can be received. Then, the satisfaction of the user can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first specific example of a communication server according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first specific example.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second specific example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 server 2 Data format converter 3, 6, 10 Internet information transmitting / receiving unit 4 Billing department 5, 9 Mobile terminal 7, 11 Data creation section 8, 12 Data display section

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5B082 GA02                 5B085 BG02                 5B089 GA11 GA25 GB01 HA10 KA09                 5K030 GA08 HA08 HC09 HD03 JL01                       JT09 KA07 LB16 LE11                 5K033 AA09 CA11 CB01 CB02 DA01                       DA19 DB18

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A communication server provided for communication between mobile terminal devices, wherein the communication server stores a first data format received from a first mobile terminal device as the first data format. And a format conversion device for converting into a second data format different from the above data format, and the format-converted data is transmitted to the second mobile terminal device. 2. The format conversion device comprises:
According to the request from the mobile terminal device, the data received from the first mobile terminal device is transferred to the data received from the first mobile terminal device based on the identification signal indicating the type of the data format received from the first mobile terminal device. The communication server according to claim 1, wherein the communication server converts to a receivable data format. 3. The format conversion device comprises:
According to a request from the mobile terminal device, the data received from the first mobile terminal device is converted into a data format receivable by the second mobile terminal device based on information registered in the communication server in advance. The communication server according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The data format conversion device is provided with a charging means for charging the first mobile terminal device or the second mobile terminal device when performing the format conversion processing. The communication server according to claim 1. 5. A communication method for performing communication between mobile terminal devices using a communication server, wherein the communication server receives and receives data in a first format from a first mobile terminal device. A first step of accumulating data; a second step in which the communication server receives a read request for the accumulated data received from the first mobile terminal device from the second mobile terminal device; The data received from the first mobile terminal device to the second
And a fourth step of transmitting the converted data to the second mobile terminal device, between the mobile terminals. Communication method. 6. A computer program for the communication server that performs communication between mobile terminal devices using the communication server, wherein the communication server transmits data in a first format from the first mobile terminal device. And a second procedure in which the communication server receives a request for reading the stored data from the second mobile terminal device, and a second procedure in which the communication server receives the received data from the first mobile terminal device. And the data received from the first mobile terminal device to the second mobile terminal device.
And a fourth procedure for converting the converted data into a data format receivable by the mobile terminal device, and a fourth procedure for sending the converted data to the second mobile terminal device.