JP2003116161A - Information providing system and information providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing system and an information providing method by which a user can utilize a service center independently of whether or not a terminal of the user is provided with a communication means capable of directly communicating with the service center or a means for acquiring particular information. SOLUTION: The information providing system is provided with; the service center 3 for storing various information items; and first and second terminals 1, 2, the first terminal 1 includes a communication means 11 for making communication with the service center 3, the first and second terminals 1, 2 include an inter-terminal communication means 4, and the second terminal 2 acquires desired information from the service center 3 through the inter-terminal communication means 4 and the communication 11 of the first terminal 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing system and an information providing method in which a user of a terminal, for example, acquires various information held by the service center through communication between the service center and the terminal. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional information providing system, for example, a service center and a terminal having a communication means such as a mobile phone capable of directly communicating with the service center are used. By directly communicating with the terminal, the terminal receives various desired information from the service center, and the service center charges the terminal at least an acquisition fee for the information.

[0003]

However, in the information providing system as described above, since it is necessary to provide the terminal with communication means for directly communicating with the service center, the cost of the terminal becomes high, and therefore the service is There is a problem that the number of terminals that use the center, that is, the number of users who own the terminals is limited.

Further, when the user on the terminal side acquires, as the desired information, a specific area which is an example of the specific information, for example, desired information related to the position information of the user himself / herself, the current terminal is first used. Need to know the location information of
In order to acquire this position information, for example, it is necessary to provide the terminal with GPS positioning means for acquiring the position information that is the specific information, and there is a problem that the cost of the terminal increases.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the service center regardless of whether or not the terminal has a communication means capable of directly communicating with the service center and a means for obtaining the specific information. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information providing system and an information providing method that can utilize the.

[0006]

An information providing system according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a service center 3 which stores and holds various kinds of information, as shown in FIG.
The terminal 1 and the second terminal 2 are included, and the first terminal 1
The communication means 11 for communicating with the service center 3
The first terminal 1 and the second terminal 2 are provided with inter-terminal communication means 4 for performing communication between the terminals 1 and 2, and the second terminal 2 is provided with the inter-terminal communication means 4 Also, desired information of the service center 3 is acquired via the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1.

[0007] Further, the information providing system according to claim 2 is, as shown in an example in FIG. 4, in the invention according to claim 1, a service center 3 which stores and holds various kinds of information. , A first terminal 1 and a second terminal 2, and the first terminal 1 includes a communication means 11 for communicating with the service center 3, and the first terminal 1 and the second terminal 2 Comprises an inter-terminal communication means 4 for performing communication between the terminals 1 and 2, the first terminal 1 preliminarily owns or obtains specific information from the outside, and the second terminal 2 communicates between the terminals. Request the specific information and desired information related to the specific information from the first terminal 1 via the communication means 4, and the first terminal 1 receives the specific information via the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1. Request and obtain desired information related to specific information from the service center 3. As well as, it is characterized in transmitting the desired information associated with the identification information to the second terminal 2.

The information providing system according to the third aspect of the present invention, as shown in the example in FIG. 7, includes a service center 3 which stores and holds various kinds of information, a first terminal 1,
A second terminal 2 is provided, the second terminal 2 is provided with communication means 21 for communicating with the service center 3, and the first terminal 1 and the second terminal 2 are provided with the both terminals 1, The communication means 4 for performing communication between two terminals,
The terminal 1 holds the specific information in advance or acquires it from the outside, and the second terminal 2 requests the specific information from the first terminal 1 via the inter-terminal communication means 4 to acquire the specific information. Two
The desired information related to the specific information acquired from the first terminal 1 is requested and acquired from the service center 3 via the communication means 21 of the terminal 2.

Further, in the information providing system according to claim 4, in the invention according to claim 2 or 3, the specific information is, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 6 to FIG. It is characterized by being position information.

The information providing system described in claim 5 is, in the invention described in claim 4, the first terminal has a GPS positioning means, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7. It is characterized by

Further, in an information providing system according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, as shown in an example of FIG. 8, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, the first terminal is provided in a fixed station whose position is known. It is characterized by that.

In the information providing system according to claim 7, as shown in an example in FIG. 6, in the invention according to claim 4, the first terminal and the second terminal are provided in a vehicle. It is characterized by that.

An information providing system described in claim 8 is characterized in that, in the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 7, the communication means is a mobile phone.

Further, the information providing system according to claim 9 is characterized in that, in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the inter-terminal communication means uses a wireless line. It is what

An information providing system according to a tenth aspect is characterized in that, in the invention according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the inter-terminal communication means uses a wired line. It is what

The information providing method according to the eleventh aspect, as shown in an example in FIG. 1, enables communication between the service center 3 which stores and holds various kinds of information and the service center 3. First terminal 1 having communication means 11 for performing
An information providing method using the information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the information providing system comprises:
The service center 3 provides desired information to the second terminal 2 via the inter-terminal communication means 4 between the terminal 1 and the second terminal 2. .

The information providing method according to the twelfth aspect, as shown in an example in FIG. 4, enables communication between the service center 3 which stores and holds various kinds of information and the service center 3. The information providing system according to claim 2, comprising a first terminal 1 having a communication unit 11 for performing the operation, and a second terminal 2, wherein the first terminal 1 holds the specific information in advance or obtains it from the outside. The information provision method used,
Through the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1 and the inter-terminal communication means 4 between the first terminal 1 and the second terminal 2, the service center 3 communicates with the second terminal 2. Desired information related to the specific information is transmitted.

The information providing method according to the thirteenth aspect, as shown in an example in FIG. 7, includes a service center 3 which stores and holds various kinds of information, a first terminal 1, and
The information providing system according to claim 3, wherein the information providing system includes a second terminal 2 including a communication unit 21 that communicates with the service center 3, and the first terminal 1 preliminarily owns or acquires specific information from the outside. A method of providing information using
It is characterized in that the service center 3 provides desired information to the second terminal 2 via the communication means 21 of the second terminal 2.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 are block diagrams showing an information providing system and an information providing method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a service center.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the first embodiment, the information providing system includes a service center 3 which stores and stores various kinds of information and a first terminal 1 such as P.
DA (Personal Digital Assist)
(tant) and a portable information terminal such as a second terminal 2 such as a PDA.
The first terminal 1 has a communication unit 11 that directly communicates with the service center 3. Further, the first terminal 1 and the second terminal 2 each have an inter-terminal communication means 4 capable of communicating between the terminals 1 and 2.

Here, in the first embodiment, a mobile phone is used as the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1, but P
HS (Personal Handyphone Sy
or a next-generation mobile phone (third-generation mobile phone) capable of large-capacity multi-access, or a wired communication line. The wired communication line may be an ordinary telephone line such as a copper wire or an optical communication line capable of simultaneously communicating a large amount of data.

As the inter-terminal communication means 4, a specific low power radio is used, but in addition to this, for example, radio such as short-distance radio data communication technology or short-distance radio communication such as data communication technology using infrared rays. A means using a line may be used.
It should be noted that using a wireless line as an inter-terminal communication means
It is effective in that it does not require communication charges because the public line is not used.

Further, as the terminal-to-terminal communication means 4, a wired line capable of communicating with a cable (not shown) or the like may be used. It should be noted that the use of a wire as the inter-terminal communication means 4 does not require an expensive communication part such as a wireless line, so that the terminals 1 and 2 which are cheaper than the wireless line and have a high communication speed can be used by the user. Can be provided to.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the service center 3 manages access from various terminals, an access server 31, a content distribution server 32 that distributes various contents of desired information, and billing for services. Is configured to include a charging / payment system server 33 in charge of the above, various content data 34, charging / payment data 35 that is data relating to charging and payment, and user authentication data 36 that is data for user management. ing.

Here, in the first embodiment, the desired information is various content data 34 distributed from the content distribution server 32, such as news and
It includes various information such as weather forecasts, stock prices, personal information linked by common hobbies, newspaper information, shopping information, and the like.

An information providing method using the information providing system in the first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. First, when acquiring desired information in the service center 3 from the second terminal 2 side, the second terminal 2 requests the first terminal 1 to acquire desired information via the inter-terminal communication means 4. The first terminal 1 first uses the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1 to access the access server 31 of the service center 3 and request acquisition of desired information. In the service center 3, the user authentication data 36 is used to verify the authentication of each of the first terminal 1 and the second terminal 2 that is the requester of the desired information. If the authentication is successful, The desired information is transmitted to the content distribution server 32
Send more. Then, the first terminal 1 transmits desired information to the second terminal 2.

The flow of the desired information is shown by a broken line, and the service center 3 uses the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1 and the acquisition fee of the desired information for the second terminal 2. The communication line use charge for communication with the service center 3 and the use charge of the first terminal 1 are grasped as the charge / payment data 35, and the charge / payment system server 33 charges (charges). That is, the second terminal 2 pays the above-mentioned communication line usage fee and the usage fee of the first terminal 1 to the service center 3.

Further, for the first terminal 1, the service center 3 grasps the terminal device usage fee for providing the terminal 1 to the second terminal 2 as the charging / payment data 35,
Pay from the billing / payment system server 33.

In the information providing system and the information providing method, even if the second terminal 2 does not have a communication means for directly communicating with the service center 3, the first terminal 1
It is possible to communicate with the service center 3 by using the communication means 11 and paying a communication fee as needed. That is, the user of the second terminal 2 can use the service center 3 without the initial investment of purchasing a terminal equipped with an expensive communication means.

Further, since the service center 3 can provide various desired information as a service to a terminal such as the second terminal 2 which does not have a communication means, for example, the service center 3 and If there is only one first terminal 1 having the communication means 11 capable of direct communication, without the initial investment of purchasing terminals each having an expensive communication means for a plurality of second terminals 2 having no communication means. Can provide services.

For the first terminal 1, the communication means 1
1 must be purchased with initial investment, but second terminal 2
Since the terminal device usage fee can be obtained from the service center 3 every time the first terminal 1 is used by the communication means 1
It is possible to recover the initial investment cost of 1.

In order to further shorten the communication time, as shown in FIG. 3, the second terminal 2 and the first terminal 1
The information providing system may include the communication unit 21 having substantially the same communication speed as that of the communication unit 11 and can communicate with the second terminal 2 to directly communicate with the service center 3. In this case, the second terminal 2 directly uses the service center 3 via the communication means 21 of the second terminal 2,
A method for obtaining desired information, and like the first embodiment,
It is possible to use the inter-terminal communication means 4 and the method of using the service center 3 via the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1.

The communication means 11 of the first terminal 1 and the second terminal 2
In the information providing system in which the communication means 21 is provided at the same time, it is possible to complete the communication in half the time required to use one of the communication means 11 or 21. Further, the service center 3 side can also provide a service at a communication speed of half for one information request from the second terminal 2, so that even a service center of the same capacity can double the number of terminals at the same time. Since the service can be provided to the other party, for example, when obtaining the providing fee for the information service, it is possible to obtain more service providing fee.

Next, an embodiment in which the first terminal 1 acquires its own position information from the outside in the first embodiment will be described.
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing method according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a service center. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of common parts will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the first terminal 1 is
In the first terminal 1 in the first embodiment, the GPS (Global
l Positioning System) A portable information terminal to which a positioning means 12 is added, and the GPS positioning means 12 provides a GPS satellite 40 outside the first terminal 1.
The position information of the first terminal 1 is subjected to positioning calculation using the information acquired from the. This position information is the specific information acquired from the outside.

Here, in the second embodiment, the position related information distribution server 37 and the position related information data 38 are added to the service center 3 in the first embodiment.

The desired information related to the above-mentioned specific information is, for example, the position-related information distributed from the position-related information distribution server 37. The location-related information is
For example, news for each area, weather forecast for each area,
It includes various local information created for each area, such as map information around the area, information on shops, information up to the destination when there is a destination, etc. The position related information data 38 is added in parallel to the various content data 34 distributed from the content distribution server 32 described in the first embodiment, and the position related information data 38 is distributed from the position related information distribution server 37.

An information providing method using the information providing system will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the second terminal 2
When acquiring the position-related information in the service center 3 from the side, the second terminal 2 sends the position information of the first terminal 1 to the first terminal 1 existing in the vicinity through the inter-terminal communication means 4. Request desired location-related information. Although the first terminal 1 performs positioning calculation of its own position information after the request from the second terminal 2, the first terminal 1 has not moved significantly and the previous positioning calculation result is the first terminal. In the case where it can be considered that the current position of the first terminal 1 is the current position of the first terminal 1, it is possible to use the previous positioning calculation result that is held in advance as the current position information of the first terminal 1. Here, the second terminal 2 assumes that the position information of the first terminal 1 is substantially the position where its own terminal is.

Then, the first terminal 1 transmits the position information requested by the second terminal and the desired position-related information to the service center 3 via the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1,
Access the access server 31. The service center 3 confirms the authentication of each of the first terminal 1 and the second terminal 2 that is the requester of the desired information using the user authentication data 36, and if the authentication is successful, The position related information distribution server 37 transmits desired position related information corresponding to the position information. Then, the first terminal 1 transmits desired position-related information to the second terminal 2.

The flow of the desired position-related information is shown by a broken line, and the service center 3 requests the second terminal 2 to acquire the desired information and the communication means 1 of the first terminal 1.
The charge / payment system server 33 charges (charges) a communication line use charge for communicating with the service center 3 using 1 and a terminal device use charge for using the first terminal 1, and further, To the terminal 1, the billing / payment system server 33 pays the terminal device usage fee for providing the terminal 1 to the second terminal 2.

In the information providing system and the information providing method, even if the second terminal 2 does not have the GPS positioning means 12, the communication means 11 capable of directly communicating with the service center 3 and the position information can be obtained. By requesting the position information and desired position-related information from the first terminal 1 having the GPS positioning means 12, the service center 3
It becomes possible to acquire position-related information from.

The user of the second terminal 2 can use the desired position-related information by using the service center 3 without the initial investment of purchasing an expensive communication means or a terminal having a GPS positioning means function. can do. In addition, the service center 3 can obtain advertisement income from the service content providing company by posting an advertisement or advertisement in the position-related information.

In the first terminal 1, as the specific information,
Personal information such as age information and sex information of the user of the second terminal 2 is stored in advance, and the second terminal 2 stores the information of a specific age target and the information of gender limitation as desired information. It may be obtained from 32.

In the first terminal 1, as the specific information,
Stored in advance is a store name or business type that handles a predetermined product, and the second terminal 2 obtains, as desired information, the actual price of the predetermined product, or a selling item in the store name or business type from the content distribution server 32. It may be something like this.

Next, in the second embodiment, the first terminal 1
An embodiment in which the user is installed in the vehicle 50 and the user (not shown) who owns the second terminal 2 is also a passenger of the vehicle 50 will be described as a second embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing method according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
The same parts as those in the second embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of the common parts will be omitted.

The third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in that the first terminal 1 is installed not in the form of a portable information terminal but in a vehicle 50 which is a public means such as a train, bus or taxi. That is, the user (not shown) who owns the second terminal 2 is also a passenger of the vehicle 50.

The second terminal 2 is connected to the service center 3
Although it may have a communication means (not shown) capable of directly communicating with, in the vehicle 50 which is currently a public means,
Since the use of the mobile phone is often restricted in consideration of the influence of electromagnetic waves on passengers wearing a pacemaker or the like, the user of the second terminal 2 uses this communication means in the vehicle 50. Shall not be used.

The information providing method according to the third embodiment will be briefly described. The second terminal 2 communicates with the first terminal 1 from the inside of the vehicle 50 using the inter-terminal communication means 4, and the second embodiment will be described. In the same way as the information providing method shown, the service center 3
The desired position-related information is acquired from.

In the information providing system and the information providing method, the service of the second terminal 2 is provided even in the public vehicle 50 in which the use of the mobile phone is restricted in consideration of the influence of electromagnetic waves on the passengers in the vicinity. Communication means 11 capable of direct communication with the center 3 and GP capable of acquiring position information
By requesting the position information and desired position-related information from the first terminal 1 having the S positioning means 12 and installed in the vehicle 50, the position-related information can be acquired from the service center 3.

In addition to the service from the service center 3, the first terminal 1 provides the user of the second terminal 2 with
It is also possible to provide destination information for the vehicle 50 and information about the surrounding area such as the next station.

Next, in the second embodiment, the second terminal 2
An embodiment in which the user directly obtains desired position-related information from the service center 3 will be described as a fourth embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in the second embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of the common parts will be omitted.

The fourth embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the second terminal 2 has a communication means 21 capable of directly communicating with the service center 3 and the first terminal 1
Is a communication means 11 capable of directly communicating with the service center 3.
Is not necessarily required. As the communication means 21 of the second terminal 2, for example, a mobile phone is used as in the communication means 11 of the first terminal 1 shown in the first embodiment, but a next-generation mobile phone (third-generation mobile phone) is used. ) Or a wired communication line.

Since the second terminal 2 is not equipped with the GPS positioning means 12, when the current position cannot be grasped, the second terminal 2 requests the current position information from the first terminal 1 existing in the vicinity. The first terminal 1 uses the GPS positioning means 12 to make the first
The current position information of the terminal 1 is obtained by performing positioning calculation, and for example, via the inter-terminal communication means 4 using specified low power communication, the second
The position information is returned to the terminal 2.

As shown in FIG. 7, the second terminal 2 transmits the position information acquired from the first terminal 1 and desired position-related information to the service center 3 to access the access server 31. The service center 3 uses the user authentication data 36
Authentication confirmation of the second terminal 2 is performed using, and if the authentication is successful, the position-related information distribution server 37 is sent to the second terminal 2.
Transmits desired position-related information corresponding to the position information.

The service center 3 charges the second terminal 2 for the acquisition fee of the desired position information information and the terminal equipment usage fee for using the first terminal 1 from the charging / payment system server 33 (charging). ) Do. Further, for the first terminal 1, the billing / payment system server 33 pays the information providing fee for providing the position information to the second terminal 2.

In the information providing system and the information providing method, even if the second terminal 2 does not have the GPS positioning means 12, by acquiring the position information from the first terminal 1 having the GPS positioning means 12, It is possible to obtain desired position-related information from the service center 3.

Next, in the fourth embodiment, the first terminal 1
Will be described with reference to FIG. 8 as a fifth embodiment of the present invention, in which the GPS positioning means 12 is not provided and the first terminal 1 is installed in the fixed station 60 whose position is known. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing system according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in the fourth embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals,
Description of common parts is omitted.

The fifth embodiment differs from the fourth embodiment in that the first terminal 1 is not in the form of a portable information terminal and is not equipped with the GPS positioning means 12, but, for example, as a fixed station 60. That is, the first terminal 1 is installed in a building whose position is known. At this time, the first terminal 1
The current position information of is regarded as the position of the building which is the fixed station 60. In this case, the first terminal 1 has the positional information of the fixed station 60 as the specific information.

As shown in FIG. 8, the second terminal 2 requests the current position information from the first terminal 1 existing in the vicinity. The first terminal 1 returns known position information to the second terminal 2 via the inter-terminal communication means 4.

Since the information providing system thereafter is the same as the content described in the fourth embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

In the information providing system and the information providing method, even if the second terminal 2 does not have the GPS positioning means 12, the position information is obtained from the first terminal 1 installed in the fixed station 60 whose position is known. By acquiring the information, desired position-related information can be acquired from the service center 3.

Further, since the business operator who installed the first terminal 1 in the fixed station 60 whose position is already known can obtain the information provision fee from the service center 3, the installation cost of the first terminal 1 can be recovered. it can.

[0063]

As described above, in the information providing system of the invention according to claim 1 of the present application, even if the second terminal is not provided with the communication means for directly communicating with the service center, the first terminal By acquiring desired information from the service center using the communication means provided in the terminal, it is possible to provide an information providing system that can use the service center.

Further, in the information providing system of the invention according to claim 2, even if the second terminal is not provided with the communication means for directly communicating with the service center and the means for obtaining the specific information, the service is provided. The specific information and the desired information regarding the specific information are requested from the first terminal that externally acquires or has the communication means and the specific information that can directly communicate with the center, and the desired information is acquired from the service center via the first terminal. By doing so, it was possible to provide an information providing system that can use the service center.

Further, in the information providing system according to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the second terminal is not provided with means for acquiring the specific information, the first terminal acquires the specific information from the outside or holds it in advance. By requesting the specific information from the terminal, acquiring the specific information, and directly acquiring the desired information regarding the specific information from the service center, it is possible to provide an information providing system that can use the service center.

Further, in the information providing system of the invention according to claim 4, in the invention according to claim 2 or claim 3, since the specific information is position information, the second terminal is
It is possible to obtain desired information related to the position information from the service center.

In the information providing system of the invention according to claim 5, the first aspect of the invention according to claim 4 is provided.
Since the terminal is equipped with the GPS positioning means, there is an effect that the position information can be accurately acquired.

Further, in the information providing system of the invention according to claim 6, in the invention according to claim 4,
By providing the terminal in a fixed station whose position is already known, even if the second terminal itself cannot acquire the position information or there is no terminal capable of acquiring the position information in the vicinity of the second terminal, the service center can be reliably operated. The effect of being able to receive services from In addition, the first terminal does not need to be provided with GPS positioning means for acquiring position information, so that the cost of the first terminal can be reduced.

Further, in the information providing system of the invention according to claim 7, in the invention according to claim 4,
By providing the terminal and the second terminal in the vehicle, the second terminal
Even in a public vehicle in which the use of a mobile phone or the like is restricted in consideration of the influence of electromagnetic waves on passengers in the vicinity, it is possible to receive the service from the service center via the first terminal.

Further, in the information providing system of the invention according to claim 8, in the invention of claims 1 to 7, the communication means of the first terminal or the communication means of the second terminal is a mobile phone. By doing so, since the communication equipment has already spread all over Japan, there is an effect that it is possible to build a communication environment without new investment.

Further, in the information providing system of the invention according to claim 9, in the invention according to claim 1 to claim 8, by using a wireless line as a communication means between terminals, Since the communication charge between the second terminals is not required, the user of the second terminal can easily use the service.

Further, in the information providing system of the invention according to claim 10, in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 8, a wire line having stable communication performance is used as the terminal communication means. As a result, there is an effect that data communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is reliably performed. Wired lines are generally cheap, so
The first terminal and the second terminal having the inter-terminal communication means can be obtained at low cost.

The information providing method of the invention according to claim 11 is the information providing method using the information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the information providing method is provided between the first terminal and the second terminal. Since the service center provides desired information to the second terminal via the terminal-to-terminal communication means, the second terminal does not require initial investment to purchase a terminal equipped with an expensive communication means. In addition, by paying the acquisition fee for the desired information when needed, it was possible to provide an information providing method for using the service center. Further, since the service center can provide various desired information as a service to a terminal such as the second terminal which is not provided with a communication means, many service users can use the service. It has the effect of being able to provide the services of the center.

The information providing method of the invention according to claim 12 is the information providing method using the information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the communication means of the first terminal and the first terminal are provided. Since the service center transmits the desired information related to the specific information to the second terminal via the inter-terminal communication means between the second terminal and the second terminal,
The terminal was able to provide an information providing method capable of using the service center without the initial investment of purchasing a terminal equipped with an expensive communication means and a means for acquiring specific information. Further, since the service center can provide various desired information as a service to a terminal such as the second terminal which is not provided with a communication means, many service users can use the service. It has the effect of being able to provide the services of the center.

The information providing method of the invention according to claim 13 is the information providing method using the information providing system according to claim 3, wherein the information providing method is performed via the communication means of the second terminal. Since the service center provides desired information to the second terminal, the second terminal provides service without the initial investment of purchasing a terminal equipped with means for obtaining expensive specific information. I was able to provide the information provision method that can use the center. In addition, the service center can provide various desired information as a service to a terminal such as the second terminal that does not have a unit for acquiring the specific information. An effect that the service of the service center can be provided to the user is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a service center according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another information providing system and information providing method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a service center according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing method according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an information providing system and an information providing method according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 terminals 3 service centers 4 Communication means between terminals 11, 21 Communication means 12 GPS positioning means 31 Access Server 32 Content distribution server 33 Billing / Payment System Server 34 Various content data 35 Billing / Payment Data 36 User authentication data 37 Position-related information distribution server 38 Position related information data 40 satellites 50 vehicles 60 fixed stations

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Junichi Suzuki             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Kazuo Yamada             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Takuya Sueto             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Masahito Fukuda             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Koji Sakamoto             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Ikuo Tsujimoto             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Kenji Kuramae             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Masaki Koyama             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Kawamoto             1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.             Inside the company F term (reference) 2F029 AA07 AB07 AC02 AC09 AC14                       AC16                 5H180 AA21 BB04 BB05 CC12 EE10                       FF05 FF13 FF22 FF27 FF38                 5K067 AA21 BB04 BB21 DD17 DD29                       EE02 EE10 EE16 EE25 HH23                       JJ52 JJ56

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A communication means comprising a service center, which stores and holds various information, a first terminal, and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal communicates with the service center. The first terminal and the second terminal are provided with inter-terminal communication means for performing communication between the both terminals, wherein the second terminal is the inter-terminal communication means and the communication of the first terminal. An information providing system characterized by acquiring desired information of the service center via a means. 2. A communication means comprising a service center which stores and holds various information, a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal communicates with the service center. And the first terminal and the second terminal are provided with inter-terminal communication means for performing communication between the two terminals, the first terminal preliminarily holds or acquires specific information from the outside, The terminal requests the specific information and desired information related to the specific information from the first terminal via the inter-terminal communication means, and the first terminal via the communication means of the first terminal, An information providing system characterized by requesting and acquiring desired information related to the specific information from the service center and transmitting the desired information related to the specific information to a second terminal. 3. A communication means comprising a service center which stores and holds various information, a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the second terminal communicates with the service center. The first terminal and the second terminal are provided with inter-terminal communication means for performing communication between the both terminals, the first terminal has specific information in advance, or acquires from outside, Two terminals request and acquire the specific information from the first terminal via the inter-terminal communication means, and acquire the specific information from the first terminal via the communication means of the second terminal. An information providing system characterized by requesting and acquiring desired information related to the above from the service center. 4. The information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the specific information is position information. 5. The information providing system according to claim 4, wherein the first terminal has GPS positioning means. 6. The information providing system according to claim 4, wherein the first terminal is provided in a fixed station whose position is known. 7. The information providing system according to claim 4, wherein the first terminal and the second terminal are provided in a vehicle. 8. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit is a mobile phone. 9. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal-to-terminal communication means uses a wireless line. 10. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal-to-terminal communication means uses a wired line. 11. A service center, which stores and holds various kinds of information, a first terminal equipped with communication means for communicating with the service center, and a second terminal. An information providing method using the information providing system described above, wherein the service center requests the second terminal via an inter-terminal communication unit between the first terminal and the second terminal. An information providing method characterized by providing information of. 12. A service center, which stores and holds various kinds of information, a first terminal equipped with communication means for communicating with the service center, and a second terminal,
The information providing method using the information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the first terminal holds the specific information in advance or obtains it from the outside, the communication means of the first terminal, the first terminal and the Second
The information providing method, wherein the service center transmits desired information related to the specific information to the second terminal via an inter-terminal communication means with the terminal. 13. A service center, which stores and holds various kinds of information, a first terminal, and a second terminal having a communication means for communicating with the service center. Is an information providing method using the information providing system according to claim 3, wherein the specific information is held in advance or acquired from the outside, wherein the service center uses the second means via the communication means of the second terminal. An information providing method, characterized by providing desired information to a terminal.