JP2003141406A - Electronic coupon issuing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic coupon issuing system capable of allowing an electronic coupon client to automatically acquire the electronic coupon capable of being used around a present position without the complicated input operation. SOLUTION: This electronic coupon issuing system comprises a coupon information issuing, requesting, creating and transmitting means 15 for acquiring the present positional information from a longitude and latitude positional information acquiring means 12 in the electronic coupon client 3, and requesting the electronic coupon capable of being used around the present position to an electronic coupon server 2, a longitude and latitude position-related coupon information retrieving means 9 for creating the electronic coupon information limited in a geographic area on the basis of the positional information received from the electronic coupon client 3 in the electronic coupon server 2, and an address position-related coupon information retrieving means 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electronic coupon issuing system including an electronic coupon client and an electronic coupon server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional electronic coupon issuing system, for example, when an electronic coupon client terminal device requests an electronic coupon server to issue an electronic coupon via a communication line as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-16053. It is known that an electronic coupon server creates an electronic coupon according to this request and sends it to an electronic coupon client. Examples of coupon selection in response to a request include explicit category designation and area designation by an electronic coupon client.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional electronic coupon issuing system, since the user inputs the conditions for selecting the electronic coupon by the electronic coupon client, the user can finely specify the coupon selection condition. Although it is possible to secure a certain quality of service, the location information input in the electronic coupon client is often address information such as the name of a municipality, so the electronic coupon client is in the border of the address, for example, near the city border. If you are located in, you could get coupon information in the same city, but actually far away, or, on the contrary, you could not get a coupon for a facility located near a city boundary.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic coupon issuing system which enables an electronic coupon client to automatically acquire an electronic coupon of the closest facility in an actual distance.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an electronic coupon server which receives a coupon information issuance request and issues coupon information, and an electronic coupon information received from the electronic coupon server. In an electronic coupon issuing system configured with an electronic coupon client displayed on a display device, in the electronic coupon server, coupon information storage means for storing coupon information, and based on the latitude and longitude position information from the electronic coupon client, Latitude / longitude position related coupon information searching means for searching coupon information from the coupon information storing means is provided, and longitude / latitude information acquiring means for acquiring longitude / latitude position information in relation to a request to issue coupon information in the electronic coupon client. , Latitude and longitude obtained using this means of obtaining latitude and longitude information Characterized in that a coupon information issuing request transmission means for the coupon information issuing request including information.

In the electronic coupon issuing system according to the present invention, the coupon information issuance request is made by including the latitude / longitude position information acquired from the coupon information issuance request transmitting means of the electronic coupon client using the latitude / longitude information acquiring means, In the electronic coupon server that has received the coupon information issuance request, since the coupon information storage means in the electronic coupon server storing the coupon information, to retrieve the coupon information based on the latitude and longitude position information,
You will be able to obtain information on the electronic coupons that can be used closest to your current location.

[0007]

1 is a block diagram showing an electronic coupon issuing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic coupon issuing system includes an electronic coupon server 2 and an electronic coupon client 3, and the computer terminal device 13 which is a component of the electronic coupon client 3 and the electronic coupon server 2 are connected by a communication line 4.

This electronic coupon server 2 has a communication line 4
Communication means 5 for communicating with the electronic coupon client 3, reception of a coupon information issuance request requested by the electronic coupon client 3, and coupon information issuance acceptance transmission means 6 for transmitting the electronic coupon issued by the electronic coupon server 2 to the electronic coupon client.
, Coupon information creating means 7 for creating coupon information, address related coupon information number searching means 8 for searching for coupons based on the address position, and latitude / longitude position related for performing coupon search on the latitude / longitude position. It is composed of coupon information searching means 9, coupon information managing means 10 for managing all coupon information, and coupon information storing means 11 for storing all coupon information.

The electronic coupon client 3 comprises a latitude / longitude position information acquisition means 12 for acquiring the geographical location of the electronic coupon client 3 and a computer terminal device 13. This computer terminal device 13 has an input means 14 for inputting information necessary for requesting coupon issue, and a coupon information issue request making and transmitting means 15 for making and transmitting a message for requesting coupon information issue.
And a communication means 16 for communicating via the communication means 4,
It comprises a coupon information receiving means 17 for receiving an electronic coupon from the electronic coupon server 2, a coupon information display means 18 for displaying coupon information on a screen, and a coupon information printing means 19 for printing coupon information.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing a specific configuration of the above-mentioned electronic coupon issuing system. The electronic coupon issuing system includes an electronic coupon server 2 and a communication line 4
The computer terminal devices 13 of the plurality of electronic coupon clients 3 are connected to each other via the. This electronic coupon client 3 uses a PDA (Pe
rsonal Digital Assistance)
Computer terminal device 1 such as a notebook computer or a laptop
3 and GPS (Global Positioning)
System) and longitude / latitude position information acquisition means 20.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned electronic coupon issuing system will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation when the electronic coupon client 3 requests the electronic coupon server 2 to issue an electronic coupon. First, in step S1, the electronic coupon client 3
When a user issues a coupon request in step S,
In 2, the coupon information issuance request creation transmission means 15 of the computer terminal device 13 in the electronic coupon client 3 uses the latitude and longitude position information acquisition means 12 to specify the place where the electronic coupon to be issued can be used. Get the current latitude and longitude position.

Next, in step S3, the electronic coupon client 3 requests the electronic coupon server 2 to issue an electronic coupon. At this time, the latitude and longitude position information of the place of use of the electronic coupon created in step 2 is also attached. In subsequent step S4, the electronic coupon server 2 receives the request from the electronic coupon client 3 and searches for a coupon corresponding to the condition based on the latitude and longitude position information. next,
In step S5, the electronic coupon server 2 transmits the coupon information searched using the latitude and longitude position information to the electronic coupon client 3.

Thereafter, in step S6, the electronic coupon client 3 receives the electronic coupon information from the electronic coupon server 2 by the coupon information receiving means 17 via the communication means 16 and displays it using the coupon information display means 18. To do. The screen display by the coupon information display means 18 at this time displays a coupon issue shop list 21 such as shop names, coupons and distances as shown in FIG. When the user selects the coupon of the desired store name from these,
The coupon information 22 can be obtained as shown in FIG. Based on such supplementary information, the user may print the coupon information 22 using the electronic coupon information printing means 19 in the electronic coupon client 3 in step S7.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing detailed processing when the electronic coupon client 3 issues a coupon information issuance request. A place where the coupon information issuance request creation / transmission means 15 uses the longitude / latitude position information acquisition means 12 to issue a coupon in step S2 when the user gives an instruction to issue an electronic coupon in the electronic coupon client 3 in step S1. Acquires the latitude and longitude position information of. At this time, although the latitude / longitude position information acquisition means 12 is used, for example, GPS can be used as a specific example. In other words, a GPS capable of performing positioning using an artificial satellite with an error of several meters can be connected to the computer terminal device 13 to acquire position information with sufficient accuracy for specifying the place where the coupon is issued.

At this time, in step S8, it is determined whether or not the latitude / longitude position information has been acquired by the determination means not shown in detail. This is a process for the case where the current position cannot be acquired by GPS because various conditions such as an artificial satellite are not satisfied. If the determination means determines that the position information cannot be acquired, step S
The electronic coupon search using the conventional address is performed by the address information acquisition means (not shown in detail in 9), and the address information is acquired using the input means 14.
As a concrete method, for example, a message prompting the input of location information is displayed, and the prefecture name, city name, town name,
A method of entering an address such as town chome information can be considered. Moreover, in order to confirm the input contents, it is possible to display the input contents such as an address and check whether the contents are correct.

Next, in step S3, after the latitude / longitude information or the address / location information for which the coupon search is performed is prepared, a request for issuing the electronic coupon information is transmitted to the electronic coupon server 2 together with the information. At this time, the communication means 16 and the communication line 4 are used, but for example, wireless communication which is rapidly prevailing at present can be used. A mobile phone with a data communication function can be used as the communication means 16, and a wireless packet communication network mainly targeting the mobile phone can be used as the communication line 4.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing detailed processing when the electronic coupon server 2 selects an electronic coupon. When the issuance of the electronic coupon information is accepted from the electronic coupon client 3 in step S14,
This processing is executed. Here, the acceptance of the issuance of the electronic coupon information is performed by exchanging a telegram through the communication means 4, and it is determined whether or not the latitude / longitude position information can be acquired by the electronic coupon client 3, and therefore step S1 is performed.
At 5, it is determined whether or not the latitude / longitude position information is designated. For example, when a value other than a specific value such as 0 is entered in the latitude / longitude designated area of the electronic message, the latitude / longitude is designated, and in other cases, the address information is designated to make this determination. .

If it is determined by this determination that the latitude / longitude position information is designated, coupon information is searched for in the order of the closest actual distance in step S16. This function can be realized by calling the coupon information management means 10 from the longitude / latitude position information related coupon search means 9 and searching this coupon information management means 10 from the coupon information storage means 11. As these means, the address position related coupon information searching means 8 is a program, and the coupon information managing means 1
A database management system can be used for 0, and a database can be used for the coupon information storage means 11.

The search algorithm can be easily calculated by registering the latitude and longitude in advance in the facility to be searched. For example, the latitude and longitude of the facility (couponX, coup
onY) and the latitude and longitude of the electronic coupon client are (clientX, clientY), the distance is squ (couponX-clientX) + sq.
It is represented by u (couponY-clientY). Here, sqr represents a square root and squ represents a square. The range of the actual distance to be searched here may be a fixed value such as 500 m, but it can be specified by the electronic coupon client 3 and stored in a message and used by the electronic coupon server 2. Good. In addition, the data adopted as the search result is sorted in ascending order of the actual distance. As a method of this sort, for example, conventionally known quick sort or bubble sort can be used.

Next, when the search by address designation is requested in the determination of step S15, the search is performed using the address position related coupon information search means 8 in step S17.
This is similar to the conventional method, but for example, the address information is added to the facility information in advance, and the electronic coupon client 3
It can be realized by comparing with the address information received from.

Then, in step S18, the coupon information creating means 7 determines the size of the list of longitude / latitude position related coupon information or address position related coupon information. If the result of this determination is that the size is too large to be sent to the electronic coupon client 3 at once, it is determined in step S19 that the size of the list is not appropriate, and a process of selecting the first few items in the search order is performed. This processing is the coupon information creating means 7
Can be implemented by, for example, creating a program. Then, in step S20, the coupon information is transmitted to the electronic coupon client 3. For example, a program for communication management can be used as the coupon information issuance acceptance transmission means 6, and communication of a company providing a provider service for wireless communication devices can be used as the communication means 5.

As described above, the coupon information storage means 10 for storing coupon information in the electronic coupon server 2 and the history of searching coupon information from the coupon information storage means 10 based on the latitude / longitude position information from the electronic coupon client 3. The degree position related coupon information retrieval means 9 is provided, and the latitude and longitude information acquisition means 12 for acquiring the longitude and latitude position information in association with the coupon information issuance request and the longitude and latitude information acquisition means 12 are provided in the electronic coupon client 3. Since the coupon information issuance request transmission means 15 for making a coupon information issuance request including the longitude and latitude position information acquired by using is provided, the latitude and longitude information acquisition means 12 is used from the coupon information issuance request transmission means 15 of the electronic coupon client 3. It is possible to issue a coupon information issuance request including the latitude and longitude position information acquired by In the coupon information issuing electronic coupon server 2 requesting received from coupon information storage unit 11 of the electronic coupon server in 2 which stores coupon information,
The coupon information can be searched based on the latitude and longitude position information, and the information of the electronic coupon that can be used closest to the current position can be obtained.

Moreover, it is determined in the electronic coupon client 3 whether or not the latitude / longitude information can be acquired from the longitude / latitude information acquisition means 12, and it is determined that the longitude / latitude information cannot be acquired by this determination means. Address information acquisition means for acquiring address information, and the coupon information issuance request transmission means 15 is configured to request coupon information issuance including latitude and longitude position information and address information. Since the address position-related coupon information search means for searching the coupon information storage means 11 for the coupon information based on the address information from the electronic coupon client 3 is provided, the latitude / longitude position information from the longitude / latitude information acquisition means 12 should be provided. Even if the coupon information cannot be acquired, the coupon information can be acquired by the address information acquisition means. It is possible to improve the reliability of the Pont issuing system.

[0024]

As described above, according to the electronic coupon issuing system of the present invention, the electronic coupon client can automatically acquire the electronic coupon of the facility closest to the actual distance. The quality of service provided can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electronic coupon issuing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing a specific example of the electronic coupon issuing system shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of the electronic coupon issuing system shown in FIG.

4 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing operation of an electronic coupon server in the electronic coupon issuing system shown in FIG.

5 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing operation of an electronic coupon client in the electronic coupon issuing system shown in FIG.

6 is a front view showing a display example of coupon information display means in the electronic coupon issuing system shown in FIG.

7 is a front view showing another display example of coupon information display means in the electronic coupon issuing system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Electronic coupon server 3 electronic coupon client 4 communication lines 5 Communication means 6 Coupon information issue acceptance means 7 Coupon information creation means 8 Address location related coupon information search method 9 Coordinate information search means related to longitude and latitude 8 Address location related coupon information search method 10 Coupon information management means 11 Coupon information storage means 12 Latitude and longitude position information acquisition means 13 Computer terminal equipment 15 Coupon information issuance request creation and transmission means 17 Coupon information receiving means 18 Coupon information display means 19 Coupon information printing means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic coupon issuing system including an electronic coupon server that receives a coupon information issuing request and issues coupon information, and an electronic coupon client that displays electronic coupon information received from the electronic coupon server on a display device. In the electronic coupon server, coupon information storage means for storing coupon information, and longitude / latitude position related coupon information for searching coupon information from the coupon information storage means based on latitude / longitude position information from the electronic coupon client. A search means is provided, and in the electronic coupon client, a latitude / longitude information acquisition means for acquiring longitude / latitude position information related to a coupon information issuance request, and a longitude / latitude position acquired by using this longitude / latitude information acquisition means. Coupon information for requesting coupon information issuance including information An electronic coupon issuing system comprising an issuing request transmitting means. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic coupon client has a determination means for determining whether or not the latitude / longitude position information has been acquired from the longitude / latitude information acquisition means, and the determination means for determining the longitude / latitude. An address information acquisition unit that acquires address information when it is determined that the information could not be acquired is provided, and the coupon information issuance request transmission unit is configured to make a coupon information issuance request including longitude and latitude position information and address information. Then, the electronic coupon issuing system is characterized in that the electronic coupon server is provided with address position related coupon information retrieving means for retrieving coupon information from the coupon information storing means based on address information from the electronic coupon client.