JP2003116169A - Position information providing service system and mobile communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a position information providing service system that allows a user utilizing a mobile communication terminal to receive information as to whether or not other desirable user is resident in the vicinity of the user. SOLUTION: In the position information providing service system that provides information as to whether or not other designated user is resident in the vicinity of the user in response to a request to a service center 110, the service center 110 includes; a request reception means 111 for receiving required information from the user being a requester; a position information collection means 112 for collecting proper position information from a position information management center 101 on the basis of the information received by the request reception means 111; a distance calculation means 113 for calculating respective distances from the requester user and users of searching objects on the basis of the collected position information; a searching result generating means 114 for generating a searching result on the basis of the distances calculated by the distance calculation means 113; and a report means 115 for transmitting the produced searching result to the requester user.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention utilizes a function of a mobile communication network system to provide a position information service for providing a user of a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone or a PHS with information on the position of a desired user. The present invention relates to a system and a mobile communication terminal compatible with this position information providing service system. As the number of users of mobile communication terminals such as mobile phones and PHS has increased, various services have been required in accordance with the demands of various users.

The position information providing service is a service for providing information depending on the location of the terminal while a person carrying the terminal or a vehicle is moving, and particularly, when walking in the service area. It is expected that there will be a full-scale increase in demand for services that provide information on the whereabouts of people. In recent years, it has become established that users always carry mobile phones, PHS, etc., so that users of mobile phones act on the premise that they can contact other users at the place where they are going. There is a tendency to do so.
In particular, this tendency is remarkable in young users. Therefore, as a service for young users,
There is a demand for a service that provides information about the location of the user, such as finding a friend near him.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a service that provides information on the position of a user of a mobile communication terminal is a service called a position monitoring service. This service allows a wandering elderly person or a child to carry a specific mobile communication terminal, tracks the position of the mobile communication terminal, and reports the position at any time. In such a position monitoring service, the person or vehicle to be tracked is registered in the service center in advance in response to a request from the user of the service, and the GPS or the like is used to store the tracking target mobile communication terminal. In many cases, the exact position is specified, and a map in which the position is plotted is transmitted to the personal computer or facsimile of the user of the service to report.

[0004] Further, there is also a service such as "a short-distance friend service" provided by TTNet, in which a desired message can be selectively received from messages registered in the message board by using the distance from the user as a key. is there. In this service, when registering a message in the message board, the message board service system receives the position information of the user together with the message and registers this position information in correspondence with the message. Further, when a user who intends to receive the service accesses the message board, the message board service system receives the input of the distance indicating the search range together with the position information of the user who is the service target and exists within the specified distance. A message registered in the message board corresponding to the position information is selected and transmitted to the user.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-209640, information regarding the location of another PHS terminal is provided via the PHS terminal as the location of the partner PHS terminal or two PHS terminals.
A technique for providing a "simple mobile phone with a position information confirmation function and a simple mobile phone system" capable of notifying a distance of an HS terminal and a change in the distance is disclosed.

[0006] In this technology, the service center periodically collects the position information of the PHS terminals registered as the users of the service and the PHS terminals registered as the counterpart terminals of these PHS terminals. A device that creates requested information based on the location information collected in the service center and sends it back to the user's PHS terminal when inquiring location information by designating a registered partner terminal Is.

[0007]

The position monitoring service described above is based on the premise that the user who receives the service confirms the position of a specific individual or a specific vehicle. Therefore, the target for tracking the position is registered in advance. Need to be kept. In addition, information is provided as image data in order to accurately report the positions of people and vehicles to be tracked,
In order to receive the information, a personal computer, a facsimile machine, and the like are indispensable, so that they are poor in portability.

Further, since the "short-distance friend service" is just an extension of the message board service, the searchable range is limited to the terminal of the user who left the message on the message board. On the other hand, the message board is a service that allows an unspecified number of users to leave messages freely, so simply selecting a message based on the distance does not affect the relationship with the service target user. , Many messages may be sent to users.

[0009] On the other hand, in the technique of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-209640, in order to provide a service, the service center determines the positions of these PHS terminals of the user's PHS terminal and the partner terminal that are registered in advance. Information is collected on a regular basis. Therefore, the service center needs to frequently access the base station management device that manages the base station via the network in order to collect the above-mentioned position information, which may increase the network traffic. There was a nature. Further, the work of registering the information necessary for the service in advance is complicated for the user, and the registered terminal fixes the partner terminal to which the position information is provided. Furthermore, since the location information of the partner terminal that the user who is the service is trying to search is automatically collected at the service center, the user of the terminal to be searched has options such as refusing the search. Was not done. In other words, it cannot be said that sufficient consideration was given to the privacy of the user on the searched side.

The present invention provides a position information providing service system for providing information on whether or not a user is near another desired user by using a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone, and the provision of this service. The purpose is to provide a mobile communication terminal for receiving.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the position information providing service system of the present invention. According to the invention of claim 1, in response to a request from the user to the service center 110, the position information provision for providing information on whether or not at least one other user designated by the user is near the user. In the service system, the service center 110 detects a predetermined request message for requesting the position information providing service, and at least the identification information indicating the mobile communication terminal of the user from the request source user who has transmitted the request message. A request receiving unit 111 that receives the identification information indicating the mobile communication terminal of one user who should be the search target, and the user who made the request and the use that should be the search target based on the information received by the request receiving unit 111. Location information collecting means 112 for collecting the location information of a person by inquiring the location information management center 101.
And a distance calculation means 113 for calculating the distance between the requesting user and each of the users to be searched based on the position information collected by the position information collecting means 112.
Search result creating unit 114 creates a search result indicating whether or not these users are near the requesting user, based on the distance calculated by the distance calculating unit 113 for each user to be searched. And a reporting means 115 for transmitting the search result created by the search result creating means 114 to the requesting user.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, each of the above-mentioned means operates as follows, whereby the user of the requesting mobile communication terminal can be provided with the positional information described later.
When the predetermined request message sent by the requesting mobile communication terminal is received, the request receiving means 111 of the service center 110 exchanges information with the requesting mobile communication terminal, and the mobile communication is performed. In addition to the terminal identification information, the identification information of the other mobile communication terminal to be searched is received and passed to the position information collecting means 112.
Based on the information received from the request receiving unit 111, the position information collecting unit 112 provides the position information management center 101 with information regarding the positions of the requesting mobile communication terminal and the specified search target mobile communication terminal. Request. The position information returned from the position information management center 101 in response to this request is passed to the distance calculating means 113 via the position information collecting means 112, and based on these position information, the requesting mobile communication terminal is identified. The distance to each mobile communication terminal to be searched is calculated. Based on the distance thus calculated, the search result creating means 114 requests the mobile communication terminal to be searched by comparing the distance corresponding to the mobile communication terminal to be searched with a predetermined distance, for example. It is determined whether or not the mobile terminal exists near the original mobile communication terminal, a search result indicating this determination result is created, and reporting means 1
It is sent to the requesting mobile communication terminal via 15.

As described above, according to the position information providing service system of claim 1, in response to a request from the mobile communication terminal, another mobile communication terminal desired by the user of this mobile communication terminal is the mobile terminal of the request source. It is possible to provide the requesting user with desired position information by searching for the existence of the communication terminal near the communication terminal and returning the result to the requesting mobile communication terminal.

FIG. 2 shows a principle block diagram of the position information providing service system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, in the position information providing service system according to claim 1, the position information collecting unit 112 and the request receiving unit 11 are arranged.
Acceptance confirmation means for confirming whether or not to accept the search for each user to be the search target based on the information 1 received from the request source user as the information indicating the user to be the search target The location information management center 10 for the user 121 and the requesting user who are confirmed to accept the search by the acceptance confirmation means 121.
Inquiry management unit 122 that inquires of the location information in 1 and uses the obtained location information in the processing of distance calculation unit 113
You may comprise and.

In the position information providing service system having such a configuration, each of the above-mentioned means operates as follows, thereby reflecting the intention of the user of the mobile communication terminal designated by the requesting user. , It is possible to operate the location information providing service. In the position information collection means 112, the acceptance confirmation means 121 is the request acceptance means 11
1 calls the corresponding mobile communication terminal based on the identification information of the search target mobile communication terminal indicated by the information received from the requesting mobile communication terminal,
Each user's intention is confirmed via each mobile communication terminal. These confirmation results are the inquiry management means 1
The inquiry management means 12 only for the mobile communication terminal which has been passed to the server 22 and has been confirmed to accept the search.
2, an inquiry is issued to the location information management center 101. Therefore, the inquiry management means 12
The position information passed from 2 to the distance calculation means 113 includes only information on the position of the mobile communication terminal of the user whose acceptance of the search is confirmed by the acceptance confirmation means 121 described above. Therefore, in the search result created based on the position information obtained in this way, each user designated as a search target by the requesting user reflects the intention of accepting the search. There is.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the acceptance confirmation means 121 calls the mobile communication terminals 102 of the respective users to be searched, and a voice call is made with each mobile communication terminal 102 via the network. A predetermined voice message prompting the user to perform an operation necessary for confirming whether or not to accept the search is transmitted to the call unit 123 that performs the processing for the call and the mobile communication terminal 102 called by the call unit 123. Response determination means for determining whether or not the user of each mobile communication terminal 102 accepts the search based on the voice transmission means 124 for transmitting and the response returned from each mobile communication terminal 102 called by the call means 123. And 125.

The acceptance confirmation means 1 configured as described above
21 notifies the user of each mobile communication terminal designated by the requesting user that the above-mentioned means operate as described later, and that the user is a search target by the position information providing service. However, it is possible to confirm the intention of the search target user as to whether or not to accept this search.

In the acceptance confirming means 121, the calling means 123, based on each of the received identification information,
After calling the mobile communication terminal designated as the search target, the voice sending unit 124 sends a predetermined voice message to the call path established by the call unit 123.
This voice message is sent to the mobile communication terminal called up via the network (that is, one of the mobile communication terminals designated as the search target), and this voice message is sent to the user of this mobile communication terminal. To reach.
After that, when the call means 123 receives a response from the opposite mobile communication terminal via the above-mentioned call path, the response determination means 125 causes the search target user to accept the search based on the response. Is determined and the inquiry management unit 122 is notified of the determination result.

Since the service center 110 that manages the position information providing service is provided with such acceptance confirmation means 121, a response indicating the clear intention of the user to be searched is collected as a response to the above voice message. be able to. FIG. 3 shows a principle block diagram of a position information providing service system according to the present invention.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the acceptance confirmation means 121 accesses the mobile communication terminals 102 of the respective users to be searched through the network and is held by each mobile communication terminal 102. In addition, the permission information collecting unit 126 that collects the permission information indicating the users who are permitted to search, and the permission information corresponding to each of the users who should be searched, includes the identification information that indicates the requesting user. And an acceptance determining unit 127 that determines whether or not the search from the request source user is accepted for the user corresponding to the permission information including the identification information indicating the request source user. It may be provided.

Acceptance confirmation means 1 configured as described above
The unit 21 can confirm the intention of the search target user based on the information automatically collected by the operation of each unit described above as described later. In the acceptance confirmation means 121, the permission information collection means 126 accesses the mobile communication terminal 102 by calling each of the search target mobile communication terminals 102 silently based on the identification information received from the request acceptance means 111. , Permission information is received from the mobile communication terminal 102 that responded. On the other hand, the acceptance determination means 127 is the request acceptance means 1
Identification information indicating the request source user received from
By collating with the permission information corresponding to each mobile communication terminal 102 to be searched, the mobile communication terminal 102 to be searched
Confirm the intention of the user corresponding to each.

Here, since the permission information reflects the intention of the user of the mobile communication terminal to be searched for the acceptance of the search, this permission information is collected and used based on this permission information. By determining the intention of the person, the intention can be automatically reflected in the search processing by the position information providing service without bothering the user designated as the search target.

FIG. 4 shows a principle block of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention. The invention of claim 2 is the address book 1
03 and display means 104, the address book 103 provided in the mobile communication terminal displays a selection instruction in response to an input of a selection instruction including information indicating a person to be searched. Target information extracting means 131 for extracting target information including identification information of the mobile communication terminal corresponding to the identified person, and a predetermined request message for detecting a predetermined operation by the user and requesting the position information providing service. A search requesting means 132 for sending to the service center 110 the identification information indicating itself and the target information extracted by the target information extracting means 131, and the position provided by the service center 110 as a response to a predetermined request message. Information receiving means 133 for receiving information
And a search result display unit 134 for displaying, via the display unit 104, a search result indicating whether or not a person to be searched is in the vicinity based on the position information received by the information receiving unit 133. Is characterized by.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the address book 10 is realized by the above-mentioned means operating as will be described later.
Based on the information registered in 3, it is possible to receive the position information indicating whether or not the mobile communication terminal of the desired user (for example, a friend) exists in the vicinity of the user. In this mobile communication terminal, the target information extracted by the target information extracting means 131 is sent to the service center 110 by the search requesting means 132 together with the request message and the identification information of itself. After that, the information receiving means 133
However, when the location information is received from the service center 110, the search result display means 134 displays the search result represented by the location information via the display means 104 and provides it to the user.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the target information extracting means 131 causes the information indicating the correspondence between the information indicating the persons belonging to the group and the information registered in the address book 103 for at least one group. The group list 135 to be held, and a group designation unit 136 that selects one of the groups held in the group list 135 based on an input selection instruction, and a group designation unit 13.
A reading unit 137 that reads out the information registered in the address book 103 corresponding to the person belonging to the group selected by 6 and outputs it as the target information may be provided.

The target information extraction means 1 configured as described above
The unit 31 can easily extract the target information corresponding to the desired set of persons from the information registered in the address book 103 by the operation of each unit described above as will be described later. In the target information extraction unit 131, the group list 135 holds the correspondence relationship between the persons who belong to each group and the information registered in the address book 103, so that any group is selected by the group designation unit 136. Then, based on the information held in the group list 135 corresponding to this group, the reading unit 137 reads appropriate information from the address book 103.

Therefore, the operation necessary for the user who uses the mobile communication terminal having the target information extracting means 131 to specify the person to be searched by the position information providing service is performed by a plurality of groups. It is only a simple operation to select a group that includes a desired person. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the principle of the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the mobile communication terminal having the non-ringing incoming call function, the acceptance list 141 holding the permission information including the identification information indicating the person who is permitted to search the position information, and the service center 110 Inquiry receiving means 1 for receiving an inquiry message including a ringing-free incoming call in response to the call of the user and including identification information indicating a search requester.
42 and identification information included in the inquiry message,
When it is determined that the identification information indicating the search requester matches one of the elements of the permission information by the collation unit 143 that collates the permission information held in the acceptance list 141 and the collation result by the collation unit 143, the search is performed. Acceptance response means 144 for returning a response message to the effect that the request is permitted to the service center 110.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, each of the above-mentioned means operates as described below, so that the service center 1
In response to the inquiry from 10, an appropriate response can be automatically returned based on the permission information prepared in advance. The permission information held in the acceptance list 141 is
The collating means 143 collates with the identification information indicating the search requester received by the inquiry receiving means 142. The identification information included in this permission information indicates a person who is considered by the user of the mobile communication terminal to be permitted to search by the position information providing service. It is possible to determine whether or not the search requester is included in the set of persons who the user of the terminal is willing to permit the search. Therefore, the acceptance response unit 144 determines whether the identification information indicating the search requester matches one of the elements of the permission information according to the collation result.
By returning the response message to the service center 110, the response reflecting the user's intention can be automatically returned to the service center 110.

As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the above-mentioned means, a predetermined operation by the user is detected, and the search for the position information by the position information providing service is temporarily rejected in accordance with the predetermined operation. Selection means 145 for selecting whether to accept or restart acceptance, and when the selection means 145 selects to temporarily reject the search for the position information, the acceptance response means 144 temporarily responds to the service center 110. And a response control means 146 for prohibiting
A mobile communication terminal may be configured.

In the mobile communication terminal configured as described above,
The search by the location information service can be temporarily rejected according to a predetermined operation by the user. When the selection unit 145 shown in FIG. 5 selects to temporarily reject the search by the position information service in response to a predetermined operation by the user, the response control unit 146 responds by the acceptance response unit 144. Temporarily prohibit sending messages. Therefore, the user of the mobile communication terminal configured as described above automatically rejects the acceptance of the automatic acceptance confirmation performed by the service center 110 by performing an appropriate operation as necessary. A response to that effect can be returned.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 shows a first embodiment of the position information providing service system according to the present invention. In the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 6, the mobile communication terminal 210 is a mobile communication terminal of a request source requesting application of the position information providing service. This requesting mobile communication terminal 210, service center 220, and FIG.
Other mobile communication terminals 230a, 230b and 2 shown in FIG.
30c has a function of communicating with each other via a mobile communication network. In addition, this service center 220
Uses a home location register (HLR) or GPS that has a data communication processing unit (not shown) in addition to the communication processing unit 222 and manages information indicating a base station with which the mobile communication terminal can communicate. It is possible to exchange information with the position information center 201 such as the positioning center.

Here, in PHS, which has many young users, the area covered by one base station is small, so HL
By using R as a position information center, it is possible to perform a search that is practical. On the other hand, with a mobile phone, sufficient accuracy cannot be obtained with the position information stored in the HLR, so it is desirable to receive highly accurate position information measured by a positioning center using GPS. In any case, by constructing the location information service system on the premise of a unified platform for location information providing services such as DLP (DoCoMo Location Platform) provided by NTT Docomo, The time and effort required to obtain information can be greatly reduced.

The requesting mobile communication terminal 210 shown in FIG.
Includes a service processing unit 214 in addition to the wireless communication processing unit 211, address book 212, and display unit 213.
In the service processing unit 214, the service request control unit 215 responds to the instruction input by the user.
Group information extraction unit 216, request message transmission unit 21
7 and the search information extraction unit 218 respectively input appropriate instructions to control the operations of these units.
The request message sending unit 217 shown in FIG. 6 sends a predetermined request message to the service center 220 via the wireless communication processing unit 211 in response to an instruction from the service request control unit 215. Also, the group information extraction unit 216
In response to the instruction from the service request control unit 215, the identification information indicating the mobile communication terminals belonging to the group designated by this instruction is extracted from the address book 212, and the group information including the extracted identification information is wirelessly communicated. Processing unit 211
To the service center 220 via. On the other hand, FIG.
The search information extraction unit 218 shown in FIG. 2 extracts search information corresponding to the above-mentioned group information from the data received by the wireless communication processing unit 211 from the service center 220.
It is passed to the display data creation unit 219. Display data creation unit 21
9 creates display data for displaying this search information on the display unit 213, and displays this display data on the display unit 21.
It is subjected to the treatment of 3.

On the other hand, the service center 220 shown in FIG.
In, the request receiving unit 221 receives the request message received by the communication processing unit 222 and notifies the service control unit 223 of necessary information. In response to this notification, the service control unit 223 instructs the confirmation processing unit 224 to execute the confirmation processing described later, and the confirmation processing unit 2
According to the confirmation result notified from 24, the search processing unit 22
5 is instructed to execute the search process described later.
The confirmation processing unit 224 shown in FIG. 6 exchanges information with the mobile communication terminals designated by the instruction from the service control unit 223 via the communication processing unit 222, and the users of these mobile communication terminals. Confirms whether to accept the search by the location information providing service. Also, the search processing unit 225
Makes a necessary inquiry to the location information center 201 based on an instruction from the service control unit 223, and designates the requesting mobile communication terminal 210 and the search target based on the information received from the location information center 201. Create search information showing the positional relationship with the mobile communication terminal,
The mobile communication terminal 210 of the request source via the communication processing unit 222.
This search information is sent to.

FIG. 7 shows the detailed structure of the service center. In the request receiving unit 221, the request detecting unit 231 detects a predetermined request message from the data received by the communication processing unit 222 when the service center 220 is called by the user, When it is detected, the reception processing unit 232 is notified of that fact. In response to this notification, the reception processing unit 232 performs an appropriate authentication process based on the identification information of the source mobile communication terminal 210, and then makes an inquiry to the source mobile communication terminal 210 regarding the search target. , Group information designating a mobile communication terminal to be searched is received from the mobile communication terminal 210. The group information received by the reception processing unit 232 is passed to the service control unit 223 together with the notification that the request for the position information providing service has been received from the mobile communication terminal 210 of the transmission source.

In the confirmation processing unit 224 shown in FIG. 7, the voice message transmission unit 233 uses the function of the communication processing unit 222 each time it receives an instruction from the service control unit 223 to execute the confirmation processing. Then, the mobile communication terminal indicated by the identification information designated by each instruction is called and a predetermined voice message is transmitted. On the other hand, the response detection unit 234 detects a predetermined response from the data received by the communication processing unit 222, and receives the detection result as the acceptance determination unit 235.
To notify. Based on the detection result notified from the response detection unit 234, the acceptance determination unit 235 indicates that the user indicated by the identification information designated by each of the above-described instructions accepts the search by the position information providing service. It is determined whether or not the result is notified to the service control unit 223.

Further, in the search processing section 225 shown in FIG. 7, the inquiry issuing section 236 has the service control section 22.
3 to receive a group of identification information, make an inquiry about the current location of the mobile communication terminal indicated by these identification information, issue the inquiry to the location information center 201, and send the location information returned from the location information center 201 to the distance. Calculation unit 23
Pass to 7. The distance calculation unit 237 uses the inquiry issuing unit 23.
The distances between the requesting mobile communication terminal 210 and the search target mobile communication terminal are respectively obtained based on the position information passed from No. 6, and information indicating these distances is passed to the search result creation unit 238. The search result creation unit 238 is used by the distance calculation unit 2
A search result in a predetermined format is created based on the information received from 37, and is notified to the requesting mobile communication terminal 210 via the communication processing unit 222.

Correspondences between the respective means shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 and the respective portions shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 will be shown below. The position information center 201 shown in FIG. 6 corresponds to the position information management center 101 shown in FIG. The mobile communication terminal 210 shown in FIG. 6 corresponds to the mobile communication terminal (request source) shown in FIG. 1, and the mobile communication terminal 23 shown in FIG.
0a, 230b and 230c correspond to the mobile communication terminals (searched) shown in FIG. The service center 220 shown in FIG. 6 corresponds to the service center 110 shown in FIG. The function of the request receiving means 111 shown in FIG.
It is fulfilled by the communication processing unit 222 and the request receiving unit 221 shown in FIG. In addition, the function of the position information collecting unit 112 shown in FIG. 1 is that the confirmation processing unit 224 shown in FIG. 6 and the inquiry issuing unit 236 provided in the search processing unit 225 shown in FIG. This is accomplished by operating according to the instruction from 223. Moreover, this FIG.
The distance calculation unit 23 provided in the search processing unit 225 shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 7 corresponds to the distance calculation means 113 shown in FIG. Further, the functions of the search result creating unit 114 and the reporting unit 115 shown in FIG. 1 are the same as those of the search result creating unit 238 shown in FIG.
And the communication processing unit 222.

The position information collecting means 11 shown in FIG.
The acceptance confirming means 121 provided in the No. 2 corresponds to the confirmation processing unit 224 shown in FIG.
21 is equipped with a communication means 123, a voice transmission means 124
Correspond to the communication processing unit 222 and the voice message sending unit 233, respectively. In addition, the response detection unit 2 shown in FIG.
34 and the acceptance determination unit 235 correspond to the response determination unit 125 shown in FIG. On the other hand, the function of the inquiry management unit 122 shown in FIG. 2 is fulfilled by the inquiry issuing unit 236 shown in FIG. 7 issuing an inquiry in response to an instruction from the service control unit 223.

The address book 212 and the display unit 213 shown in FIG. 6 correspond to the address book 103 and the display means 104 shown in FIG. 4, respectively. Further, the function of the target information extraction unit 131 shown in FIG. 4 is that the group information extraction unit 2 in the service processing unit 214 shown in FIG.
16 is performed by extracting necessary information from the address book 212 according to an instruction from the service request control unit 215. Further, the function of the search request means 132 shown in FIG. 4 is fulfilled by the request message sending section 217 shown in FIG. 6 sending a predetermined message via the wireless communication processing section 211, and shown in FIG. Information reception means 1
The function of 33 is that the search information extraction unit 218 shown in FIG.
This is achieved by extracting the information indicating the search result from the information received by the wireless communication processing unit 211. Further, the display data creation unit 219 shown in FIG. 6 corresponds to the search result display means 134 shown in FIG. It should be noted that each means constituting the target information extraction means 131 shown in FIG. 4 will be described later.

Next, the operation of the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 6 will be described. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the position information providing service system.
Further, FIG. 9 shows a flowchart showing the operation of the service center. As shown in FIG. 8, in the mobile communication network, regardless of whether each mobile communication terminal is the search request side or the search target side, the new This location is registered in the home location register.

When a user of the mobile communication terminal 210 shown in FIG. 6 operates a predetermined button, for example,
The service request control unit 215 detects this operation, instructs the request message sending unit 217 to send a predetermined request message to the service center 220, and sends the address to the group information extracting unit 216. It is instructed to extract the group information including the proper identification information from the book 212.

In response to the instruction from the service request control unit 215, the group information extraction unit 216 extracts, for example, all the identification information items that are in the selected state in the address book 212 at that time, and extracts from these identification information items. Group information is created to prepare for the subsequent processing. In addition, if at least one group including a plurality of pieces of identification information is created in advance in the address book 212, the user should perform the operation of selecting the desired group as well as the operation of pressing the predetermined button described above. Thus, a group of identification information corresponding to a desired person can be designated.

On the other hand, the request message sending section 217 calls the service center 220 via the wireless communication processing section 211 in response to an instruction from the service request control section 215 and sends a request message (see FIG. 8). When receiving this request message, the request receiving unit 221 of the service center 220 shown in FIG. 7 performs a service request receiving process (step 301 in FIG. 9).

In this step 301, for example, the request detection unit 231 detects the request message and the identification information indicating the requesting user, and if this identification information and the reception processing unit 232 are passed, the reception processing unit 232 The service usage qualification of the requesting user can be confirmed based on this identification information. For example, when an application for a location information providing service is received from a user, identification information indicating the mobile communication terminal of the user, that is, a telephone number is registered in a user list (not shown), and a request message is sent. When the reception processing unit 232 receives this information, the reception processing unit 232 refers to this user list, and only when the identification information received from the request detection unit 231 is registered in the user list, the position information providing service is received and searched. It is only necessary to request the mobile communication terminal 210 that is the request source to transmit the group information indicating the target (see FIG. 8). Then, the group information transmitted by the requesting mobile communication terminal 210 is received by the communication processing unit 222 of the service center 220 and passed to the service control unit 223 via the request receiving unit 221.

For example, when the service control unit 223 receives the group information including the identification information indicating the mobile communication terminals 230a, 230b, 230c, the service control unit 223 sequentially outputs the identification information included in the group information. One by one is selected, and the acceptance intention of the user corresponding to the selected identification information is confirmed via the confirmation processing unit 224 (step 302).

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the operation of confirming the search acceptance. In step 311 shown in FIG. 10, the voice message sending unit 233 shown in FIG. 7 receives the identification information, which is one of the elements included in the group information, from the service control unit 223 and uses the function of the communication processing unit 222. Then, the mobile communication terminal indicated by this identification information (for example, the mobile communication terminal 230a shown in FIG. 7) is called (step 312).

After that, when a call arrives at the mobile communication terminal of the other party (affirmative determination at step 313), the voice message sending section 233 asks the user of the other party whether to accept the search by the position information providing service. A voice message is sent (step 314, see FIG. 8). For example, after clarifying the information that identifies the person requesting the search (morphological phone number, etc.), a voice message instructing to operate different buttons depending on whether or not to accept this search is displayed. It is created in advance, and the voice message sending unit 233 sends this voice message to the communication processing unit 22.
It may be sent to the mobile communication terminal of the other party by utilizing the function of 2.

After the voice message described above has been sent,
When the response detection unit 234 detects a response from the mobile communication terminal of the other party within a predetermined time (step 315) and the response indicates that the search is to be accepted (affirmative determination in step 316), the response is accepted. The determination unit 235
It is determined that the search has been accepted by the user of the mobile communication terminal of the other party, the fact is notified to the service control unit 223 (step 317), and the processing ends.

On the other hand, if the mobile communication terminal of the other party does not respond to the call (negative determination in step 313), or if no response is returned within a predetermined time (negative determination in step 315), the returned response is When it indicates that the search is rejected (negative determination in step 316), the acceptance determination unit 235 determines that the search is rejected by the user of the mobile communication terminal of the other party, and notifies the service control unit 223 of the fact. A notification is given (step 318), and the process ends.

The service control unit 223 collects the confirmation result notified from the confirmation processing unit 224 in this manner in correspondence with the identification information selected in Step 302 shown in FIG. 9 (Step 303), and thereafter, It is determined whether the confirmation results for all the identification information included in the group information have been collected (step 304). This step 3
In the case of a negative determination of 04, the service control unit 223 returns to step 302 to execute the confirmation processing for the next identification information, while the confirmation processing for all identification information ends (Yes in step 304). (Determination), the service control unit 223 passes necessary information to the inquiry issuing unit 236 of the search processing unit 225, and in response to this, the inquiry issuing unit 236, based on these identification information,
Inquiries about location information are made (step 30).
5).

At this time, the inquiry issuing unit 236 causes the service control unit 223 to send the request to the mobile communication terminal 210.
Together with the identification information indicating that the identification information confirmed to accept the search in the group information described above,
An inquiry about the position of the mobile communication terminal indicated by these pieces of identification information is issued (see FIG. 8), and the position information returned from the position information center 201 in response to this inquiry is passed to the distance calculation unit 237.

For example, when it is confirmed by the above-mentioned confirmation process that the search is accepted for the mobile communication terminals 230a and 230b, the distance calculation section 237 informs the mobile communication terminal 210 of the request source together with the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 210 of the request source. Identification information indicating the terminals 230a and 230b is input. In this case, the distance calculation unit 237 calculates the distance between the mobile communication terminal 210 and the mobile communication terminals 230a and 230b (step 306), and passes the calculated distance to the search result creation unit 238. It should be noted that a mobile communication terminal (for example, mobile communication terminal 230
Regarding c), the distance calculation unit 237 may create, for example, data indicating a sufficiently large distance or a code indicating that the search could not be performed, and pass it to the search result creation unit 238 together with the above-described distance calculation result.

Search result creating section 238, based on the result of comparison between the distance calculated corresponding to each piece of identification information included in the group information and a predetermined threshold value, the mobile communication terminal indicated by these pieces of identification information. Is the requesting mobile communication terminal 2
A search result indicating whether or not there is within a predetermined distance from 10 is created (step 307). At this time,
When the distance calculated corresponding to each piece of identification information is smaller than a predetermined distance, the search result creation unit 238 determines that the mobile communication terminal indicated by the identification information is the requesting mobile communication terminal 21.
A search result indicating that the mobile communication terminal exists in the vicinity of 0 and that the corresponding mobile communication terminal does not exist in the vicinity is created in other cases. Note that the above-mentioned predetermined threshold may be set in advance to a practical value based on the accuracy of position information that can be acquired by the position information providing service system, or may be requested by the user. It may be changed according to.

The search result thus created is sent via the communication processing unit 222 to the requesting mobile communication terminal 210.
(Step 308, see FIG. 8). The search result received by the wireless communication processing unit 211 included in the mobile communication terminal 210 is passed to the display data creation unit 219 via the search information extraction unit 218 shown in FIG. , Processed into appropriate display data. The display data creation unit 219 creates display data based on the above-described search result, for example, corresponding to each piece of identification information included in the group information, for displaying with a simple symbol whether or not it exists in the vicinity. Then, it may be passed to the display unit 213.

As described above, in the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 6, in response to a request from the user, a search indicating whether or not the desired user exists in the vicinity of the requesting user. Results can be provided. In this position information providing service system, the user requesting the search must naturally register his or her own identification information in the service center 220 in advance and perform a procedure related to settlement of service usage fees. It is not necessary to register the mobile communication terminal on the searched side. Therefore, the user of the location information providing service specifies the identification information indicating the mobile communication terminal of the person regardless of whether or not the desired person is registered in the service, and the service center of the location information providing service system. By requesting a search from the person, it is possible to check whether the person is near him or not.

On the other hand, in the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 6, the service center 220 is limited to the case where the user of the mobile communication terminal that is the search target returns a response indicating that the search is accepted. The search processing unit 225 collects the position information of the corresponding mobile communication terminal. Therefore, unless the user on the searched side shows the intention to accept the search, the position information is not used, so that the privacy of the user on the searched side can be protected.

Further, in the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 6, since a voice message is sent in order to confirm the intention of the user on the searched side, it is sent to the mobile communication terminal of the user on the searched side. , You don't have to have any special features. Next, assuming that the mobile communication terminal to be searched has the function for the position information providing service system, a method for automatically confirming the willingness of the user of the mobile communication terminal to be searched will be described. To do.

FIG. 11 shows a second embodiment of the position information providing service system according to the present invention. In the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 11, the same components as those shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. , The description is omitted.

The mobile communication terminal 230a shown in FIG.
The reception processing unit 241 is provided, and the reception processing unit 241 provides a function for adapting to the position information providing service system. In the acceptance processing unit 241, the permission information holding unit 242 holds permission information including identification information corresponding to a person who satisfies a predetermined condition. Further, in response to the notification from the message detection unit 243, the acceptance control unit 244, in accordance with the value of the refusal flag 246, causes the permission information holding unit 242 to send the above-mentioned permission information to the service center via the wireless communication processing unit 211. Instruct to send to 220. In addition, the refusal operation detection unit 245
Operates the value of the refusal flag 246 according to a predetermined operation performed by the user.

The mobile communication terminal 230 shown in FIG.
b and 230c are also configured similarly to the mobile communication terminal 230a described above. Hereinafter, the mobile communication terminals 230a, 23
The 0 b and 230 c are collectively referred to as the mobile communication terminal 230. On the other hand, the service center 220 shown in FIG. 11 includes a confirmation processing unit 250 including a permission information collection unit 251 and an ID collation unit 252, instead of the confirmation processing unit 224 shown in FIG.

The permission information collecting unit 251 shown in FIG.
In response to an instruction from the service control unit 223, permission information is collected from the search target mobile communication terminal 230 via the communication processing unit 222. The permission information collected by the permission information collection unit 251 is subjected to the collation processing by the ID collation unit 252, and the collation result is passed to the acceptance determination unit 235 as a response from the user.

The correspondence relationship between each means shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 and each part shown in FIG. 11 is shown below. The permission information collecting unit 251 shown in FIG. 11 corresponds to the permission information collecting means 126 shown in FIG. Also, the ID shown in FIG.
The collating unit 252 and the acceptance determining unit 235 correspond to the acceptance determining unit 127 shown in FIG. In addition, FIG.
The permission information holding unit 242 shown in (1) corresponds to the acceptance list 141 shown in FIG. Further, the function of the inquiry receiving unit 142 shown in FIG. 5 is fulfilled by the wireless communication processing unit 211 and the message detection unit 243 shown in FIG. Further, the function of the selection unit 145 shown in FIG. 5 is that the refusal operation detection unit 245 shown in FIG.
The function of the response control means 146 shown in FIG. 5 is achieved by manipulating the value of
This is achieved by the acceptance control unit 244 shown in FIG. 11 giving an appropriate instruction to the permission information holding unit 242 in accordance with the value of.

Next, the operation of the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 11 will be described. The permission information holding unit 242 of the mobile communication terminal 230 shown in FIG. 11 stores permission information including identification information extracted from the data held in the address book 212 by the user of the mobile communication terminal 230. . At this time, the user of the mobile communication terminal 230, for example, sequentially selects the identification information indicating the other party who accepts the search by the position information providing service in the address book 212, and each identification information is one of the elements of the permission information. The permission information holding unit 242 may be copied.

Further, when an input means (not shown) such as a push button provided in the mobile communication terminal 230 is operated in a predetermined procedure, the reject operation detecting section 245 shown in FIG.
Determines that the search by the position information providing service is instructed, and operates the refusal flag 246 to set a value (for example, logic “1”) indicating that the search is rejected. When the input means is operated in the predetermined procedure of No. 1, the refusal operation detection unit 245 determines that the search refusal state is canceled, operates the refusal flag 246, and indicates a value indicating that the search is permitted (for example, Logic "0").

In the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 11, after the request from the mobile communication terminal 210 is accepted by the service center 220, the service control unit 223 sends it in the same manner as the procedure shown in FIG. In response to the instruction, the confirmation processing unit 250 shown in FIG. 11 performs confirmation processing described later. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of confirming the search acceptance in the second embodiment.

The permission information collecting unit 251 shown in FIG.
Similar to the confirmation processing in the first embodiment described above, the identification information that is an element of the group information is received from the service control unit 223 (step 311). At this time, I
The D collating unit 252 receives the request source identification information from the service control unit 223. Next, the permission information collecting unit 25
1 instructs the communication processing unit 222 to establish a communication path with the mobile communication terminal of the other party without ringing, and then
Via the communication processing unit 222, the mobile communication terminal indicated by the identification information received in step 311 is called (step 321).

In this case, if the mobile communication terminal (for example, mobile communication terminal 230a) indicated by the above-mentioned identification information can receive the call, a communication path is immediately formed between the mobile communication terminal 230a and the service center 220. To be done. At this time, the permission information collection unit 251 proceeds to step 322 as an affirmative decision in step 313, and instead of the voice message shown in FIG. 8, a request message requesting transmission of permission information is sent via the above-mentioned communication path. Send.

When this request message is received by the wireless communication processing unit 211 of the mobile communication terminal 230a shown in FIG. 11, the message detection unit 243 notifies the acceptance control unit 244 that the request message has been detected.
In response to this notification, the acceptance control unit 244 first refers to the refusal flag 246. When the value of the refusal flag 246 indicates that the search is permitted, the acceptance control unit 244 instructs the permission information holding unit 242 to
Instruct to send permission information. In response to this instruction,
The permission information holding unit 242 stores the permission information held by itself in the service center 220 via the wireless communication processing unit 211.
Send to.

In this case, instead of the response shown in FIG. 8, permission information is returned to the service center 220, received by the communication processing unit 222 provided in this service center 220, and the permission shown in FIG. It is passed to the information collecting unit 251 (step 323 shown in FIG. 12). The ID collation unit 252 shown in FIG. 11 collates the identification information of the request source received from the service control unit 223 with each piece of identification information included in this permission information (step 324), and the identification information of the request source is permitted. It is determined whether the information is included (step 325).

When the ID collating unit 252 notifies the determination result that the request source identification information is included in the permission information (Yes in step 325), the acceptance determining unit 235 causes the service control unit 223 to execute. Is notified that the search has been accepted (step 317), and the process ends.
On the other hand, if the mobile communication terminal 230 of the other party does not respond to the call (negative determination of step 313) and the identification information of the request source is not included in the permission information (step 32).
In 5), the acceptance determination unit 235 notifies the service control unit 223 that the search has been rejected (step 318), and ends the processing.

In this manner, the confirmation processing is performed for each mobile communication terminal 230 indicated by each piece of identification information indicated by the group information, so that the user of the search target mobile communication terminal is not bothered. Permission information preset by each user can be automatically collected. Then, based on this permission information, only when it is confirmed that the search is accepted, the intention of the user of the mobile communication terminal to be searched is automatically collected by collecting the position information of the corresponding mobile communication terminal. It is possible to operate the location information providing service while reflecting the information.

As described above, since the permission information specifies the person who the user is willing to accept the search in the mobile communication terminal 230, the confirmation processing is performed based on this permission information. , It is possible to automatically perform a fine-tuned response, such as allowing a search by one person but rejecting a search by another person. Accordingly, it is possible to save the trouble of listening to and responding to the voice message each time the search target is set, and thus the convenience of the user on the searched side can be significantly improved.

Further, if a value indicating that the search is rejected is set in the refusal flag 246 provided in the mobile communication terminal 230 by performing a predetermined operation, the permission information held in the permission information holding unit 242 is stored. Regardless, search by anyone can be denied. This function is provided by the user on the mobile communication terminal 230 by the permission information holding unit 2
Although it is not desired to change the permission information held in 42, it is effective when it is desired to temporarily reject the search.

Finally, a modification of the above-described second embodiment will be described. FIG. 13 shows a third embodiment of the position information providing service system according to the present invention. In the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 13,
The same components as those shown in FIGS. 7 and 11 are designated by the same reference numerals as those of the components in FIG. 11, and their explanations are omitted.

In the mobile communication terminal 230 shown in FIG. 13, the acceptance processing unit 241 includes an ID collating unit 247 in addition to the units shown in FIG. In this acceptance processing unit 241, each piece of identification information included in the permission information held in the permission information holding unit 242 is collated by the ID collating unit 247 with the identification information designated by the instruction from the acceptance control unit 244. , This matching result is
It is returned to the acceptance control unit 244.

The mobile communication terminal 230 shown in FIG.
b and 230c are also configured similarly to the mobile communication terminal 230a described above. Hereinafter, the mobile communication terminals 230a, 23
The 0 b and 230 c are collectively referred to as the mobile communication terminal 230. On the other hand, in the service center 220 shown in FIG. 13, the confirmation processing unit 224 includes a determination requesting unit 253 and a response detecting unit 234 instead of the permission information collecting unit 251 and the ID collating unit 252 shown in FIG. There is. In the confirmation processing unit 224, the determination requesting unit 253 responds to the instruction from the service control unit 223,
The identification information of the request source is sent to the mobile communication terminal 230 to be searched through the communication processing unit 222 together with the predetermined confirmation message. In addition, the response returned from the mobile communication terminal 230 that is the search target is detected by the response detection unit 234 as in the first embodiment described above, and the acceptance determination unit 23 is received.
Passed to 5.

Next, the operation of the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 13 will be described. In the position information providing service system shown in FIG. 13, after the request from the mobile communication terminal 210 is accepted by the service center 220, in response to the instruction from the service control unit 223, in the same manner as the procedure shown in FIG. Then, the confirmation processing by the confirmation processing unit 250 shown in FIG. 11 is performed.

First, after receiving the identification information indicating the search target in step 311 shown in FIG. 12, similarly to step 321, the mobile communication terminal 230 indicated by this identification information is called in the silent mode to receive an incoming call. In this case, instead of sending the information request message in step 322, the determination requesting unit 253 requests the search together with the determination request message requesting the mobile communication terminal 230 to determine whether or not to accept the search. Identification information indicating the existing mobile communication terminal 210 is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 230 via the communication processing unit 222.

In this case, instead of the inquiry message shown in FIG. 8, the identification request information indicating the above-mentioned determination request message and request source reaches the mobile communication terminal 230 on the searched side, and in response to this, the mobile communication terminal 230 is searched. The acceptance processing unit 241 of the communication terminal 230 performs acceptance determination processing described later. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the acceptance judgment operation.

In the acceptance processing unit 241 shown in FIG. 13, the acceptance control unit 244 has a radio communication processing unit 211.
When the determination request message and the identification information received by are received via the message detection unit 243 (step 331), first, the refusal flag 246 is referred to (step 332). If the refusal flag 246 is not set to a value indicating refusal of the search (negative determination in step 333), the acceptance control unit 244 compares the identification information of the request source received in step 331 with the ID collation unit. 247, and gives an instruction to start the matching process.

In response to this instruction, the ID collating unit 247
The identification information of the request source passed from the acceptance control unit 244 is compared with the identification information included in the permission information held in the permission information holding unit 242 (step 334), and the identification information of the request source is changed to the permission information. The acceptance control unit 244 is notified of whether or not it is included. When the same identification information as the request source is included in the permission information (Yes in step 335), the acceptance control unit 244 creates a response to the effect that the search is accepted, and causes the wireless communication processing unit 211 to operate. The data is sent to the service center 220 via the server (step 336), and the process ends.

On the other hand, if the refusal flag 246 is set to a value indicating refusal of the search (affirmative determination in step 333), the same identification information as the request source is not included in the permission information. In this case (negative determination in step 335), the acceptance control unit 244 creates a response to the effect that the search is rejected, sends the response to the service center 220 via the wireless communication processing unit 211 (step 337), and ends the processing. To do.

Thus, the mobile communication terminal 23 on the searched side
In 0, when determining whether or not to accept the search, it is not necessary for the user on the search target side to disclose permission information indicating the person who permits the search to the service center 220. Since the permission information indicating the person who is permitted to search by the user belongs to the privacy of this user, disclosing such information is unnecessary to protect the privacy of the user on the searched side. Can be further strengthened.

With respect to the above description, the following items will be further disclosed. (Supplementary Note 1) In a position information providing service system that provides information regarding whether or not at least one other user designated by the user is near the user in response to a request from the user to the service center 110. The service center 110 detects a predetermined request message for requesting the position information providing service, and identifies the requesting user who has transmitted the request message with the identification information indicating the mobile communication terminal of the user and at least one search. A request receiving unit 111 that receives the identification information indicating the mobile communication terminal of the target user, and the positions of the requesting user and the user to be searched based on the information received by the request receiving unit 111. Position information collecting means 112 for collecting information by inquiring the position information management center 101;
Based on the position information collected by the position information collection unit 112, a distance calculation unit 113 that calculates the distance between the request source user and each user who should be the search target, and the distance calculation unit 113 sets the search target. Created by the search result creating unit 114 and the search result creating unit 114, which creates a search result indicating whether or not these users are in the vicinity of the requesting user, based on the distances calculated for the respective users who should be A location information providing service system, comprising: a reporting unit 115 for transmitting the searched result to the requesting user.

(Supplementary Note 2) The position information collecting means 112 is
Based on the information received by the request receiving unit 111 from the requesting user as the information indicating the user who should be the search target, whether or not to accept the search is confirmed for each user who should be the search target. Acceptance confirmation means 121
Then, regarding the user confirmed to accept the search by the acceptance confirmation unit 121 and the requesting user, the positional information management center 101 is inquired about the positional information, and the obtained positional information is provided to the processing of the distance calculation unit 113. The position information providing service system according to Appendix 1, wherein the position information providing service system is configured to include an inquiry management unit 122.

(Supplementary Note 3) The acceptance confirmation means 121
Mobile communication terminal 102 of each user to be searched
To call each mobile communication terminal 1 via the network.
Calling means 12 for performing processing for voice call with 02
3 and a voice transmitting means 124 for transmitting to the mobile communication terminal 102 called by the call means 123 a predetermined voice message prompting the user to perform an operation necessary to confirm whether or not to accept the search. A response determination means 125 for determining whether or not the user of each mobile communication terminal 102 accepts the search based on the response returned from each mobile communication terminal 102 called by the call means 123. The position information providing service system according to appendix 2, characterized in that.

(Supplementary Note 4) The acceptance confirmation means 121
Mobile communication terminal 102 of each user to be searched
To the mobile communication terminal 1 via the network.
No. 02, permission information collection means 126 for collecting permission information indicating users who are permitted to search, and permission information corresponding to each user to be a search target,
It is determined whether the identification information indicating the requesting user is included, and the user corresponding to the permission information including the identification information indicating the requesting user is identified by the requesting user. The position information providing service system according to appendix 2, wherein the position information providing service system is configured to include an acceptance determining unit 127 that determines that the search is accepted.

(Supplementary Note 5) A mobile communication terminal equipped with an address book 103 and a display means 104 is provided inside the mobile communication terminal in response to an input of a selection instruction including information indicating a person to be searched. Target information extraction means 131 for extracting target information including identification information of the mobile communication terminal corresponding to the person indicated by the selection instruction from the address book 103.
A service center that detects a predetermined operation by the user and requests a position information providing service, a predetermined request message, identification information indicating itself, and the target information extracted by the target information extracting unit 131. Search request means 132 to be sent to 110, information accepting means 133 to receive position information provided from service center 110 as a response to a predetermined request message, and information accepting means 1
Based on the position information received by 33, the display unit 1 displays the search result indicating whether or not the person to be searched is in the vicinity.
A mobile communication terminal, comprising: a search result display means 134 for displaying via 04.

(Supplementary Note 6) The target information extracting means 131 is
A group list 135 that holds, for at least one group, information indicating the correspondence between the information indicating the persons belonging to the group and the information registered in the address book 103.
Then, based on the selection instruction, a group designating unit 136 for selecting one of the groups held in the group list 135 and a person belonging to the group selected by the group designating unit 136 are registered in the address book 103. 6. The mobile communication terminal according to appendix 5, further comprising: a reading unit 137 that reads the information and outputs it as target information.

(Supplementary Note 7) In a mobile communication terminal having a silent incoming call function, an acceptance list 1 holding permission information including identification information indicating a person who is permitted to search position information
41, and an inquiry receiving means 142 for receiving an inquiry message that receives a silent call in response to a call from the service center 110 and includes identification information indicating a search requester.
The collation unit 143 that collates the identification information included in the inquiry message with the permission information held in the acceptance list 141, and the collation result by the collation unit 143 indicates that the identification information indicating the search requester is an element of the permission information. The mobile communication terminal is provided with an acceptance response unit 144 that returns a response message to the effect that the search is permitted to the service center 110 when it is determined to match one of the above.

(Supplementary Note 8) Selection for detecting a predetermined operation by the user and selecting whether to temporarily reject the search for the position information by the position information providing service or restart the acceptance according to the predetermined operation. The means 145 and the response control means 146 for temporarily prohibiting the response from the response means 144 to the service center 110 when it is selected by the selection means 145 to temporarily reject the search for the position information.
8. The mobile communication terminal according to appendix 7, further comprising:

[0094]

As described above, according to the position information providing service system of the first aspect, the position information of the desired user designated by this user is obtained in response to the request from the user. It is possible to realize a service that collects and provides the search result created based on these position information to the requesting user. Such a location information providing service can provide a user of a mobile communication terminal with information indicating whether or not a friend or acquaintance is near his / her whereabouts at a destination, and thus, it is particularly useful for young people. It is considered very convenient for the users.

Further, according to the position information providing service system including the acceptance confirmation means, the position information of each user is obtained after obtaining the consent of the other users designated by the requesting user as the search target. By collecting, the search target user is given an option as to whether or not to accept the search,
The service can be operated while considering the privacy of the user on the searched side. In particular, when confirming the intention of the user to be searched by voice message, it is not necessary to equip the mobile communication terminal of the user to be searched with a dedicated function for this position information providing service system. Therefore, a user who is using an existing mobile communication terminal can be a search target, and a clear intention of the search target user can be confirmed regarding whether or not to accept the search. On the other hand, according to the position information providing service system configured to automatically collect the permission information held in the mobile communication terminal of the searched user, the searched user is
By preparing the permission information indicating the person who accepts the search, only the search from the desired person is selectively accepted without being bothered by the voice message for confirming the acceptance of the search by the position information providing service. be able to.

According to the mobile communication terminal of the second aspect, the information indicating the search target extracted from the existing address book is sent to the service center of the position information providing service system, and the search result received from the service center. Can be provided to the user through existing display means. In particular, if a configuration is adopted in which one of a plurality of groups set in the address book is extracted as information indicating a search target, the operation of the requesting user can be very simple.

On the other hand, according to the mobile communication terminal of the third aspect, the mobile communication terminal on the searched side collates the identification information indicating the requesting mobile communication terminal with the permission information, and based on this collation result. Then, by returning a response indicating whether or not to accept the search to the service center, the voice message for confirming the acceptance of the search by the position information providing service is not troubled, and only the search from the desired person is selectively performed. Can accept Furthermore, by providing a function that responds to the service center to reject the search in response to a predetermined operation, the search by the position information provision service can be temporarily performed while maintaining the permission information preset by the user. Since it is possible to refuse the request, the user on the search side can more firmly secure his / her privacy while maintaining the convenience by using the preset permission information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of a position information providing service system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the principle of a position information providing service system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a principle block diagram of a position information providing service system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a principle block diagram of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a principle block diagram of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of a position information providing service system according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a service center.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a sequence representing an operation of the position information providing service system.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the service center.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of confirming search acceptance.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the position information providing service system according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an operation for confirming acceptance of exploration.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of a position information providing service system.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an acceptance determination operation.

[Explanation of symbols] 101 Location Information Management Center 102, 210, 230 mobile communication terminals 103,212 Address book 104 display means 110, 220 Service Center 111 Request receiving means 112 Location Information Collection Means 113 Distance calculation means 114 Search Result Creating Means 115 Report means 121 Acceptance confirmation means 122 Inquiry management means 123 means of communication 124 audio transmission means 125 Response determination means 126 Permission Information Collection Means 127 Acceptance judging means 131 Target Information Extraction Means 132 Search Request Means 133 Information reception means 134 Search result display means 135 group list 136 Group designation means 137 reading means 141 Acceptance list 142 Inquiry receiving means 143 verification means 144 acceptance response means 145 selection means 146 Response control means 201 Location Information Center 211 Wireless communication processing unit 214 display 214 Service Processing Unit 215 Service Request Control Unit 216 Group information extraction unit 217 Request message sending unit 218 Search Information Extraction Unit 219 Display data creation section 221 Request reception unit 222 Communication processing unit 223 Service control unit 224 Confirmation processing unit 225 Search Processing Unit 231 Request Detection Unit 232 Reception processing unit 233 Voice message sending unit 234 Response detector 235 Acceptance determination section 236 Inquiry Issue Department 237 Distance calculator 238 Search Result Creation Unit 241 Acceptance processing unit 242 Permission information holding unit 243 Message detector 244 Acceptance control unit 245 Rejection operation detection unit 246 Rejection flag 247 ID collation unit 250 Confirmation processing unit 251 Permission Information Collection Unit 252 ID collation unit 253 Judgment request section

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Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A position information providing service for providing information regarding whether or not at least one other user designated by the user is near the user in response to a request from the user to the service center. In the system, the service center detects a predetermined request message requesting a position information providing service, and at least the identification information indicating the mobile communication terminal of the user from the request source user who has transmitted the request message. Request accepting means for receiving identification information indicating a mobile communication terminal of a user to be one search target, and based on the information received by the request accepting means, the request source user and the search target Location information collecting means for collecting location information of a user by inquiring to a location information management center, and the location information collecting means Therefore, based on the collected position information, distance calculation means for calculating the distance between the user of the request source and the user to be the search target, and the user to be the search target by the distance calculation means Based on the distances calculated for each, a search result creating means for creating a search result indicating whether or not these users are near the request source user, and a search created by the search result creating means. The result
A location information providing service system, comprising: a reporting unit for transmitting the requesting user. 2. A mobile communication terminal equipped with an address book and display means, wherein an address book provided inside the mobile communication terminal is selected in response to a selection instruction including information indicating a person to be searched. A target information extracting means for extracting target information including identification information of a mobile communication terminal corresponding to the person indicated by the selection instruction, and a request for a position information providing service by detecting a predetermined operation by the user. From the service center as a response to the predetermined request message, a search request means for transmitting to the service center the predetermined request message, identification information indicating itself, and the target information extracted by the target information extracting means. Information receiving means for receiving the provided position information, and the person to be searched is attached based on the position information received by the information receiving means. Mobile communication terminals, characterized in that a search result display means for displaying through the search results, the display means indicating whether or not being in. 3. In a mobile communication terminal having a ringing-free incoming call function, a reception list holding permission information including identification information indicating a person who is permitted to search location information, and ringing in response to a call from a service center. Incoming,
An inquiry receiving unit that receives an inquiry message including identification information indicating a search requester, a collation unit that collates the identification information included in the inquiry message with the permission information held in the acceptance list, and the collation unit. And an acceptance response unit that returns a response message to the service center to permit the search when the collation result indicates that the identification information indicating the search requester matches one of the elements of the permission information. A mobile communication terminal characterized by: