JP2003281005A - Calling server device and terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that it is difficult to directly transmit data to a terminal in a house from an application server as an origin in order to ensure security or the like. <P>SOLUTION: A server side of an information center is provided with a calling server 4. The calling server 4 is provided with an instruction analysis part and receives an instruction from a plurality of application servers 2. A terminal 1 accesses the calling server 4. The calling server 4 is provided with a communication responding part and transmits to the terminal 1 information from the application servers 2 as a response of the communication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a calling server device and a client side terminal device in a server client system via the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of the Internet, server-client type systems have become widespread. In particular, as a commercial system, an ASP (Application Service Provider) system centering on the WWW (World Wide Web) is prevalent. Recently, wideband communication is often used by always connecting using communication media such as CATV, ADSL, and optical fiber. FIG. 7 shows a conventional example of such a system that always connects to the Internet.
Shown in.

Reference numeral 101 is a terminal in the house. The figure shows an example of using a plurality of terminals. The usual terminals are often personal computers, Internet TVs, game consoles, etc., but there are also dedicated terminals specialized for services.
102 is a communication device such as a modem or a router. Although shown as one block here, it may actually be divided into a plurality of units. In many cases, the communication interface of the terminal 101 is TCP / IP using Ethernet (registered trademark), and the communication interface of the line drawn from outside the house by the modem part of the modem / router 102 and the communication inside the house. Convert the interface. Further, in the router part, settings are made to connect a plurality of terminals 101 to the outside, and filter settings are made to prohibit unauthorized access from the outside. 1
Reference numeral 03 is an application server including programs such as a Web server and CGI. Reference numeral 104 denotes a database that stores all information related to services such as user information. As shown in the figure, the application server 103 and the database 104 are installed in the information center.

The terminal 101 installed in the home is a modem
A public line is used to connect to the provider via the router 102, and further to the application server 103 in the information center via the Internet. The application server 103 performs information processing while exchanging data with the database 104 and provides an information communication service desired by the user.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional system has the following problems,
Communication from the server side to the terminal was not available.

(1) For terminals and modems / routers, DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is provided by the provider.
The IP address is often given by using l), and the fixed address is not always available to the terminal.

(2) The modem / router 102 often rejects access originating from an external server in order to prevent unauthorized access from the outside.

(3) In order to use a plurality of terminals at home, NAT (Network Address Translation), IP masquerading, etc. are often used. When these are used, a local address (private address) is generally used in the home network, and is converted into a global address by the router when making an external connection. In this case, there is no way to know the network configuration or address in the house from the external server, and the terminal cannot be specified directly.

For the above reasons, the IP address given to the terminal is not fixed, and it is difficult to connect to the terminal in the house from the outside due to security settings and multiple terminal settings.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a calling server device in an information center and a terminal has a function of communicating with the calling server.

The calling server device includes a communication response unit for returning a response to communication from a terminal, an instruction interpreting unit for receiving a calling instruction from an application server and analyzing the contents, and an instruction interpreting unit. According to the content of the calling command, the calling control unit adds a communication instruction command to the terminal to the response generated by the communication response unit.

The terminal transmits information to the calling server device and receives a response, a response analysis unit that analyzes a communication command included in the response from the server obtained by the communication unit, and a response. The communication unit includes a communication unit that performs communication according to the analysis result of the communication command obtained by the analysis unit.

As a result, the terminal communicates with the calling server. When a call command is issued from the application server to the call server, the communication response unit of the call server returns the command to the terminal side as a response to the communication from the terminal. The current IP address of the terminal can be extracted by the communication sent from the terminal, and the TCP packet of the response signal is added with information peculiar to the response signal such as an ACK flag. Even if the terminal does not have access, or the terminal excludes access originating from the outside to ensure security, data can be directly transmitted from the server to the terminal.

Further, the calling server includes an instruction analysis unit,
Accept call requests to the terminal from multiple application servers. Therefore, the calling system can be shared by a plurality of application servers.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A calling server device according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a communication response unit for returning a response to a communication from a terminal, and at least one or more information communication services for the terminal. A command interpreting unit that receives a call command from the application server and analyzes the content, and a communication command command to the terminal in the response generated by the communication response unit according to the content of the call command obtained by the command interpreting unit. A call control unit is added.

With this configuration, it is possible to make a call from the application server to the terminal.

A terminal device according to claim 2 of the present invention includes a communication unit that transmits information to the calling server device and receives a response, and a response from the calling server device obtained by the communication unit. And a communication unit that performs communication according to the analysis result of the communication command obtained by the response analysis unit.

With this configuration, for example, the communication parameters of the terminal can be sent to the calling server device periodically, and the connection command from the calling server device can be reliably received.

The terminal device according to claim 3 of the present invention receives the ID information such as the terminal ID and the user ID transmitted from the terminal and the communication destination information such as the IP address of the terminal, and returns a response thereto. The user ID is received from the communication response unit and the call command from at least one application server that provides information communication service to the terminal.
A command interpreting unit that extracts ID information such as a terminal ID and a connection command information such as a connection destination URL, the ID information received when communication is received by the communication response unit, and the I obtained by the command interpreting unit.
The call control unit compares D information, and when they are equal, connection command information corresponding to the ID information is returned as a response to the terminal using the received IP address.

As a result, the calling server can periodically know the IP address of the terminal, etc., and can transmit the information from the application server to the terminal even when the IP address of the terminal changes. .
Further, since the information from the calling server is transmitted as a response to the communication from the terminal, it is possible to communicate without depending on the security setting of the router or the like existing in the communication path.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the terminal device provides the calling server device with a user ID, for example, periodically.
And a response analysis unit for analyzing connection command information included in the response obtained by the communication unit, and a response analysis unit that transmits a response by transmitting ID information such as a terminal ID and a communication destination information such as an IP address If the connection destination URL is included in the information obtained in step 3, the communication unit that starts the connection to the connection destination URL is provided.

With this configuration, the terminal can specify the specified URL according to the connection command obtained from the calling server device.
Can be connected to. This allows the user to obtain appropriate information.

A calling server device according to claim 5 of the present invention is an I / O device such as a terminal ID or a user ID transmitted from a terminal.
D, receiving communication destination information such as the IP address of the terminal, and returning a response thereto, and a command from at least one or more application servers that provide information communication services to the terminal, ID information such as a user ID and a terminal ID, a command interpreting unit that extracts a setting change command for the communication interval and communication procedure of the terminal, and the received ID information and the command interpreting unit when communication is received by the communication responding unit. ID information compared and ID when they are equal
A call control unit that returns a setting change command corresponding to the information as a response to the terminal using the received IP address is provided.

As a result, it becomes possible to send a setting change command issued by the application server, such as the communication procedure of the terminal, to the terminal, and the communication setting can be changed according to the service to be provided.

A terminal device according to claim 6 of the present invention is a communication unit for communicating with a calling server device to obtain a response, and a communication setting storage unit for storing a time interval of communication performed by the communication unit and a communication procedure. And a response analysis unit that analyzes information included in the response obtained by the communication unit, and if the information obtained by the response analysis unit includes a change instruction for at least one of communication time and communication procedure information. The communication setting storage unit is rewritten, and if the connection destination URL is included, a communication unit that starts connection to the connection destination URL is provided.

With this configuration, the terminal side can receive the setting change command such as the communication procedure of the terminal issued by the application server, and the setting can be changed according to the request.

A calling server device according to claim 7 of the present invention comprises a user information database for storing information related to a user such as communication destination information such as user ID, terminal ID, domain name, etc. and communication form in association with each other. Connect,
Receives a call command from at least one or more application servers that provide information communication services to terminals, and obtains ID information such as user ID and terminal ID, and connection destination UR.
The command interpreter that extracts connection command information such as L and the domain name server that stores the relationship information between the domain name and the IP address and updates the relationship information by accessing the Internet can obtain the command interpreter. User I
The user information database is searched from D and the terminal ID, and when the communication mode is directly communicable, if the corresponding communication partner information is an IP address, the connection command information is transmitted to the IP address, and the corresponding If the communication destination information to be transmitted is a domain name, a call control unit is provided for converting the IP address using a domain name server and transmitting the connection command information to the IP address. With this configuration, the information can be directly transmitted from the application server to the terminal by using the IP address or the domain name.

A terminal device according to claim 8 of the present invention communicates with a domain name server to register and update the correspondence between the IP address assigned to the terminal and the domain name, and a domain name setting unit. When receiving information such as the connection destination URL from the call server device, the communication unit connects to the specified connection URL and starts information communication.

With this configuration, the terminal can periodically register the relationship between the domain name and the IP address, for example. Therefore, the information can be transmitted from the server even when the IP address of the terminal changes.

A calling server device according to claim 9 of the present invention is the calling server device according to any one of claims 1, 3, 5 and 7, wherein at least one of a command interpreting portion, a calling control portion and a communication responding portion is provided. A log storage unit that stores the operating status and communication status of each of the date and time and each application server is provided.

As a result, the operation contents of each unit can be recorded, and the service can be expanded to other services such as billing.

A program according to claim 10 of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to realize all or a part of the functions according to any one of claims 1 to 9. Since it is a program, some or all of the functions of the present invention can be easily realized using a general-purpose computer or server. Further, by recording the program on a recording medium or distributing the program using a communication line, the program can be distributed and installed easily.

[0033]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall construction of this embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a terminal (a dedicated terminal specialized for services, a personal computer, an Internet TV, a set top box, etc.) installed in a house. Two
Is an application server installed in an information center, an IDC (Internet data center) or the like, which sends and receives data to and from the terminal 1 to provide an information communication service to the user. Application server 2
Generally, it is often built around a Web server, etc., and not only content information such as HTML / XML files and image / sound files, but also authentication, database connection, mail delivery, data processing, HTML / XML dynamic generation, etc. Perform CGI, Java, JavaScript
It also includes programs written in languages such as t, PHP, and ASP. Reference numeral 3 denotes a database, which stores data necessary for the information communication service provided to the user by the application server 2. Generally, it is a customer information database, content such as HTML / XML, terminal information, processing history, and the like, and the content varies depending on the service provided. Reference numeral 4 denotes a calling server, which is a device that transmits data to the terminal 1 in the home according to a command issued from the application server 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, there are two routes for connecting the terminal and the server. One is to make a call from the terminal 1, connect to a provider (Internet service provider) via a public line network or data line such as an ADSL line or a CATV line, and then connect to an application server 2 via the Internet. It is a route ((A) and (B) in the figure). The other is a route ((C) (D) in the figure) for making a call from the calling server 4 and directly connecting to the terminal via the Internet and the public line network. In FIG. 1, two flows are shown to show the data flow, but the actual physical line may be one.

Further, the calling command is issued to the calling server 4 not only to one application server 2 but also to a plurality of application servers 2 (a, b, c) in the same information center as shown in the figure. Further, it may be an application server (2 'in the figure) of another information center connected by a communication line. Calling server 4 can be shared by multiple applications,
As a result, the operating cost per service will be reduced. Although the terminal is located inside the house in FIG. 1, it may be in the form of a mobile terminal (PDA, mobile phone, car navigation system, etc.) existing outside the house. In this case, the communication line is a wireless line using radio waves or infrared rays. Although only one terminal connected to the application server 2 is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of terminals generally connect to the server.

FIG. 2 shows the details of the configuration of the calling server 4. Reference numeral 10 interprets a command from the application server 2 to communicate destination information (IP address,
It is an instruction interpreting unit that extracts information such as a domain name), communication mode, and terminal ID. Reference numeral 11 denotes a call control unit that searches the information obtained by the command interpretation unit 10 for information required for a call and controls communication. Reference numeral 12 denotes a user information database that stores information about the user such as personal information about the user and the user ID, the type of terminal used, the terminal ID, the type of model, the type of line used, and the communication partner information. 13 stores, for each terminal, information about the terminal such as a terminal ID, a device type, a periodic communication interval of the terminal, a communication procedure, a start signal and a start code for switching the terminal from a power-off state or a standby state to an operating state. It is a terminal information database. Reference numeral 14 is a domain name server that stores and registers the relationship between the IP address and the domain name, connects to the Internet, and periodically updates the domain name server. Reference numeral 15 denotes a regular communication response unit that receives a periodic call from the terminal 1 and sends back a response thereto. Reference numeral 16 is a server-side communication unit that performs data communication with the terminal according to instructions from the call control unit 11 and the regular communication response unit 15. Reference numeral 17 is an element that constitutes the server-side communication unit 16, and is a data flow control unit that separates lines and routes data when a plurality of lines are connected from the outside. Reference numeral 18 is also an element that constitutes the server-side communication unit 16, and is a line interface unit for physically connecting and communicating with a line from the outside. As a specific example of the line interface unit 18,
There are ADSL modems, cable modems, line terminating devices for optical fibers, and the like. Specific examples of the data flow control unit 17 include a switch and a router.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the terminal 1.
Reference numeral 21 is a router / modem for connecting to a public line such as ADSL or CATV. As a specific configuration, A
Examples include DSL modems and cable modems. It should be noted that the router / modem does not necessarily have a single configuration in practice, and may be divided into two or more configurations such as a modem section and a router section. Reference numeral 22 denotes a terminal side communication unit for the terminal to communicate with the router / modem 21. Reference numeral 23 is a regular communication unit for performing regular communication with the calling server 4. Reference numeral 24 denotes a communication setting storage unit that stores the procedure of communication performed by the regular communication unit 23, communication interval time, timeout time, and the like. A response analysis unit 25 analyzes the response from the server obtained by the communication performed by the regular communication unit 23 and performs the communication according to the connection command included in the response. Reference numeral 26 denotes a user interface unit that displays information obtained by communication on a screen or outputs a voice to the user and receives an input from the user.

Calling server 4 configured as described above
The operation of the terminal 1 will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5. First, the operation of the calling server 4 will be described below with reference to FIG.

(Step A1) The program in the application server 2 outputs an instruction (command) for calling and setting to the calling server 4.

The application server 2 is a server that communicates with terminals via the Internet and provides information communication services to users. As described above, this is mainly composed of the Web server, and the CGI
A program such as Java or Java and a content file such as a file described in HTML / XML or an image / sound are stored. The contents of the program and the content file differ depending on the type of service provided to the user. The flowchart in FIG. 4 illustrates a case where an information transmission command (calling command) is output from the application server 2 to the user's terminal as a part of the information service provided by the application server 2.

Two examples of calling commands will be shown below.

[0043]

[Table 1]

In the instruction example 1 of (Table 1), "M
0123456789 "is the terminal ID," Connec
t: http: // www. test. com / acc
ess. ． ． ． ． "Is a command for instructing connection from the terminal. This command is" terminal (terminal ID "M01234
56789 ”) and calls“ specified URL (http
p: // www. test. com /. ． ． ． ． Send the command "Connect to)" to the terminal. It is a calling instruction. The terminal ID is a number uniquely assigned to each terminal, and is usually recorded in the database 3 or the user information database 14 in association with personal information such as the user's ID, name, and address. . In addition, the terminal information database 13 stores, for each terminal ID, information such as the terminal type, calling interval, and communication procedure. Further, as shown in this example, an argument to be passed to the application server 2 may be added to the rear part of the URL in the command (in this example, the part of "DataID = 101"). Further, the above-mentioned command is merely an example, and various other parameters necessary for communication can be sent to the calling server 4 at the same time as this command.

Command example 2 is a command to change the setting relating to communication in the terminal. In this example, "M01234567
Regarding the terminal having the terminal ID of "89", "Variable Pe
Set the value of riod to 3600. The command is sent. The variable Period is a variable stored in the communication setting storage unit 24 in the terminal 1, and in the present embodiment, it means the interval of regular call from the terminal. Therefore, instruction 2
Means the content of "change the interval of regular call of the terminal and set it to 3600 seconds".

Although the terminal ID is a unique value for each terminal here, a plurality of codes (for example, maker code, device type code, product number) are combined to make each terminal unique. You can use multiple codes so that

(Step A2) The command output from the application server 2 is analyzed by the command interpreting unit 10 to extract the terminal ID designated by the command, other communication parameters necessary for making a call, and parameters relating to setting. The extracted information is output to the call control unit 11.

(Step A3) The call control unit 11 uses the user ID database 14 based on the terminal ID designated by the command.
Is acquired, and information such as the ID of the user who is using the terminal, the communication form, and communication destination information (IP address or domain name) is acquired.

The user information database 14 stores information about each user. Specific examples are as follows.

Personal information: user ID, name, sex, age, address, telephone number, e-mail address, personal information such as occupation, etc. Terminal information: ID of the terminal used by the user (User I
For each D) Line information: line type, communication form, communication partner information (IP
Address, domain name, etc.), authentication information, installation form, presence / absence of router (for each terminal ID) Here, the line type means the type of communication medium such as CATV or ADSL. The communication form is set to direct connection when the terminal 1 can directly communicate with the server by a fixed IP address or domain name, and is set to normal connection otherwise. The communication partner information means information necessary for specifying a communication destination in communication such as an IP address and a domain name. This is only for direct connection, and is not set in the case of a terminal to which an IP address is assigned using DHCP or the like, or in the case where a local router is using a function such as NAT in a home router.

The authentication information is used when connecting a line.
This is information set when authentication is required (when a login ID, password, key information, etc. are required). The user ID and the terminal ID are set to be unique throughout.

By this search, it is possible to obtain information on the type of line for the specified terminal ID, the connection form used, and the communication partner.

(Step A4) If the communication form retrieved from the user information database 14 is direct connection, the direct connection can be made from the calling server 4 to the terminal 1, and the process proceeds to step A11. In the case of a normal connection that is not a direct connection, the process proceeds to step A5 below.

(Step A5) The terminal ID obtained by the command analysis unit 10 and the communication command to the terminal are temporarily stored in the queue in the call control unit 11.

(Step A6) In the regular communication response unit 15,
It is determined whether the regular communication from each terminal is received.
The regular communication response unit 15 plays a role of controlling the server-side communication unit 16 and returning any response to the regular communication transmitted from the plurality of terminals 1 (data flow of (b) and (c) in the figure). ).

Periodic communication from the terminal ((b) flow in the figure)
If the message is received, the process proceeds to the next step. If not, the operation of step A6 is repeated to wait for regular communication.

(Step A7) Some information is included in the regular communication received from the terminal by the regular communication response unit 15. The regular communication response unit 15 extracts information such as the terminal ID and the IP address included in the received regular communication packet and sends the information to the call control unit 11.

The calling control unit 11 searches and checks whether this terminal ID exists in the queue in the calling control unit 11. If the received terminal ID in the regular communication is not in the queue, the process proceeds to step A10, where the call control unit 11 determines the terminal 1
In response, the regular communication response unit 15 returns the information "no connection request" (flow of (C) in the figure). After replying, the process returns to step A6 again to repeat the processing.

If the received terminal ID under regular communication is in the queue, the process proceeds to step A8.

(Step A8) The calling control unit 11 outputs a command corresponding to the terminal ID in the queue during the regular communication to the regular communication response unit 15. (The flow of (c) in the figure) After the instruction is output, the content output from the queue is deleted.

(Step A9) The regular communication response unit 15 returns the command output from the call control unit 11 to the terminal as a response to the regular communication from the terminal. The reply destination is the sender in the packet received in the regular communication.

Since the communication procedure regarding the response and the message structure in the packet may differ depending on the model of the terminal 1,
In advance, the call control unit 11 uses the terminal information database 1
3 to obtain terminal-specific information such as a communication procedure suitable for the terminal and output the information to the regular communication response unit 15.

In the case of TCP / IP communication, T is included in the response information.
Specific information such as an ACK flag is added to the CP packet. Such information is also added to the response in the regular communication response unit 15.

Most of the routers and modems installed in the house prohibit unauthorized access from the outside, and thus often block most of the communication from the outside. However, in most cases, at least the response to the packet transmitted from the terminal in the house is set to pass through the router. Specifically, a packet (Estable state) in which either ACK or RST of the TCP flag in the packet is set is passed. Therefore, as in the present invention, the information from the server can be passed through the in-home router by adding the information to the response signal with the ACK flag or the like.

Further, according to this mechanism, even for terminals that receive a plurality of services, it is sufficient to perform regular communication only to the shared calling server 4 without periodically communicating with the respective servers. There is also the merit that the communication mechanism becomes simpler as the traffic of the device decreases.

In the case of the above-mentioned example 1, the operation here is "Connec" as a response to the regular communication from the terminal having the ID "M0123456789".
t: http: // www. test. com / acc
ess. ． ． ． ． Will be sent.
In the case of Example 2, Send ("M012345678
9 "," Set: Period = 3600 sec ");

(Step A11) In step A11, by searching the user information database 14 in step 4,
This is processing when it is determined that the terminal can directly communicate.

First, it is determined whether the communication partner information obtained in step A3 is an IP address or a domain name. When the communication destination is directly designated as the IP address, the server side communication unit 16 is used to directly transmit the command to the terminal (flow (a) in the figure).

When the communication destination is designated by the domain name, the domain name server 14 is inquired to retrieve the IP address from the domain name.
The domain name server connects to the Internet and periodically communicates with other domain name servers to constantly maintain a new relationship between the domain name and the IP address. Also, the domain name server 14
Can newly register the domain of the server.

After the IP address is searched by the search, the command is directly transmitted to the terminal using the server side communication section 16 (similarly, the flow of (A) in the figure).

After the operation described above is completed, step A
Returning to step 6, the process for communication from another terminal is continued. When a new command is issued from the application server 2 or a command is issued from another application server, the process returns to the start of this flowchart and the processing is performed.

Next, the operation of the terminal 1 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 3 and the flowchart of FIG. Terminal 1
It communicates with the calling server 4 on a regular basis, and by the operation of the calling server 4 described above, it analyzes the response signal from the server at the time of regular communication, extracts the communication command, and outputs it to an appropriate URL. connect. The details of the specific operation are shown below.

(Step B1) The regular communication section 23 controls the terminal side communication section 22 to communicate with the calling server 4 via the router / modem 21. Specifically, the terminal ID is transmitted to the calling server 4 according to the address to the calling server 4 stored in the communication setting storage unit 24 and the communication procedure.

Generally, in the communication using TCP / IP, the communication address information (IP address etc.) of the source and the destination is added to the communication packet. In this regular communication, the IP address of the terminal is changed to the terminal. It may be transmitted to the calling server together with the ID. The communication setting storage unit 24 stores various information relating to communication such as a communication procedure in a regular communication, a time interval, a timeout time for obtaining a response, an IP address or domain name of the calling server 4, a terminal ID of the terminal itself. Remembered

(Step B2) The regular communication section 23 determines whether or not a response from the calling server 4 has been received for the transmitted regular communication.

When the response cannot be received, step B6
If it is received, the process proceeds to step B3.

(Step B3) The response analysis unit 25 analyzes the response from the calling server 4 received by the regular communication unit 23. The response signal includes a setting change command regarding communication to be executed by the terminal, and information such as the URL or IP address of the connection destination.

(Step B4) The content analyzed by the response analysis section 25 is output to the terminal side communication section 22 and executed. For example, in the case of the above-described example 1, the response analysis unit 22 sets “Con
nect: http: // www. test. com /
access. ． ． ． ． The command on the terminal side is analyzed by the terminal side communication unit 22 to be “http: // www. test. co
m / access. ． ． ． ． "Get the information by accessing the URL".

When the content analyzed by the response analysis unit 25 is a setting change command related to communication such as communication procedure and communication parameters as in Example 2, the response analysis unit 25
Accesses the communication setting storage unit 24 and rewrites the communication procedure information and parameters according to the instruction. For example, in the case of example 2, "Set: Period = 3600s
The command "ec" is executed to perform an operation of changing the value of the variable Period stored in the communication setting storage unit 24 to 3600 sec. In the present embodiment, the variable period is set.
Means a regular call interval. Therefore, by executing this command, the regular call interval of the terminal is changed.
It will be 600 seconds.

(Step B5) The information (HTML / XML file, image / sound information, etc.) obtained by the communication in the above step is displayed to the user by the user interface section 26. User interface unit 26
Includes a display device (CRT, liquid crystal, etc.) and an input device (keyboard, touch panel, etc.).

The acquired HTML file also includes link information and the like, and by using the interface section 26, the user can perform an operation of interactively accessing the content in the server.

(Step B6) The regular communication unit 23 measures the elapsed time from the previous regular communication. The time interval of regular communication is stored in the communication storage setting unit 24. The regular communication unit 23 compares this time interval with the elapsed time from the previous regular communication to the present. If the elapsed time has not reached the time interval of the regular communication, the process returns to step B2 and waits for the next response reception or the timing of the next regular communication. When the elapsed time is greater than or equal to the time interval of regular communication, the process returns to step B1 to start regular communication.

By performing the operations described above, the information transmitted to the terminal arrives at the terminal and is displayed / outputted by the instruction of the application server 2.

By periodically calling from the terminal side and obtaining calling information as a response, it is possible to solve the problem that the router / modem installed in the home cannot connect from the outside due to NAT or security settings. Further, the calling server 4 is shared by a plurality of application servers, and it is not necessary to have a calling mechanism for each application server, which is advantageous in terms of cost. Furthermore, the program in each application server 2 has an advantage that information can be easily transmitted from the server side to the terminal without considering the communication procedure with the terminal and the environment and settings in the home.

In this embodiment, the communication is periodically performed from the terminal 1 to the calling server 4, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other information is used irregularly. Alternatively, the communication may be performed before or after the occurrence of a predetermined event. Therefore, the communication unit described in the regular communication unit may not be the regular communication unit. Similarly, the regular communication response unit has been described, but a communication response unit that is not a regular communication may be used.

Next, FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the terminal when the terminal 1 has a fixed domain name. 6 is different from the configuration of FIG. 3 in that a domain name regular setting unit 30 is provided instead of the regular communication unit 23. The user interface unit 26 and the response analysis unit 25 have the same configurations as those in FIG.

When the router / modem 21 does not use a mechanism such as NAT and allows access from the outside, it is possible to directly connect the server to the terminal by the domain name. The domain name itself may be acquired by the user or may be given by the information center side.

On the calling server 4 side, the user information database 12 stores the IP address and domain name corresponding to the terminal ID of the terminal 1. In this case, the communication mode is direct communication. Therefore, the calling server 4 transmits information to the terminal side in step A11.

The terminal 1 has a domain name regular setting unit 30.
By using the domain name server 14 of the calling server
Then, the domain name of the terminal 1 and the IP address given to the terminal 1 by the DHCP function of the provider are registered in the domain name server 14 (flow (d) in the figure).

In step A11, the calling server 4 accesses the domain name server 14 and acquires the actual IP address corresponding to the domain name obtained from the user information database 12. After that, the call control unit 11 controls the server-side communication unit 16 to transmit information to the acquired IP address (flow of (a) in the figure). The transmitted information is received by the terminal side communication unit 22 in the terminal 1, and the content is analyzed and executed by the response analysis unit 25. In the case of the information as in the above-described example 1, a predetermined URL is accessed and the obtained information is used by the user interface unit 26.
To display.

By performing such an operation, even a terminal having a domain name can utilize the calling server 4,
Information from the application server can be sent to the terminal.

In this embodiment, the domain name regular setting unit 30 is used to periodically communicate with the domain name server 14 of the calling server, and the domain name of the terminal 1 and the DHCP function of the provider are used to establish the terminal. Although the IP address assigned to No. 1 is to be registered in the domain name server 14, the present invention is not limited to this, and communication is performed non-periodically using other information, or before or after the occurrence of a predetermined event. You may go. Therefore, the domain name setting unit explained in the domain name setting unit may be a domain name setting unit which is not a regular communication.

If it is essentially the same as the present invention, it may be implemented in a different form from this embodiment.

For example, in FIG. 1, the information center is composed of an application server, a database, and a calling server, but a part of these may exist in different places and connected by a communication network. . Similarly, the application server, which is another information center, and the database may exist in different places and are connected by a communication network.

Further, in FIG. 2, the calling server includes a line interface section, a data flow section, a regular communication response section,
It is composed of a command interpreting unit, a call control unit, a user information database, a terminal information database, and a domain name database, but a part of these may exist in another place and connected by a communication network. .

In FIG. 3, the terminal is composed of a terminal communication section, a regular communication section, a communication setting storage section, a response analysis section, and a user interface section. An electrically connected form may be used.

Similarly, in FIG. 6, the terminal is composed of a terminal communication section, a domain name periodic setting section, a response analysis section, and a user interface section. It is also possible to use a form in which they are physically connected.

[0098]

As described above, the following effects can be exhibited by using the present invention.

(1) The information transmission function from the application server to the terminal is an independent device as a calling server and can be shared by a plurality of application servers, which is advantageous in terms of cost as a whole. Further, with the above-described configuration, the calling function can be concentrated on the calling server, and it is not necessary for each application server to have a complicated calling mechanism in which the situation is different for each terminal.

(2) Information can be transmitted from the application server to the terminal even when the terminal does not have a fixed IP address or when access from the outside is prohibited by a security function such as a router.

(3) Even in an environment in which terminals having fixed IP addresses or domain names and terminals not having such IP addresses coexist, the calling server manages the information for each terminal in the database, and the server manages the terminals. You can send information to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a calling server device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a terminal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the calling server in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a terminal using DNS according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a conventional client server system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Terminal 2 Application Server 3 Database 4 Calling Server 10 Command Interpretation Section 11 Calling Control Section 12 User Information Database 13 Terminal Information Database 14 Domain Name Server 15 Periodic Communication Response Section (Communication Response Section) 16 Server Side Communication Section 17 Data Flow Control unit 18 Line interface unit 19 Log storage unit 21 Router / modem 22 Terminal side communication unit 23 Periodic communication unit (communication unit) 24 Communication setting storage unit 25 Response analysis unit 26 User interface unit 30 Domain name regular setting unit (domain name setting) Part)

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A communication response unit for returning a response to communication from a terminal, and command interpretation for receiving a call command from at least one or more application servers that provide information communication service to the terminal and analyzing the content. And a call control unit for adding a communication instruction command to the terminal to the response generated by the communication response unit according to the content of the call command obtained by the command interpretation unit. Call server device. 2. A communication unit that transmits information to a calling server device and receives a response, and a response analysis unit that analyzes a communication command included in the response from the calling server device obtained by the communication unit. And a communication unit that performs communication according to the analysis result of the communication command obtained by the response analysis unit. 3. The terminal ID and user I transmitted from the terminal
A communication response unit that receives ID information such as D and communication destination information such as an IP address of a terminal and sends back a response thereto, and a call from at least one or more application servers that provide information communication service to the terminal A command interpretation unit that receives a command and extracts ID information such as a user ID and a terminal ID and connection command information such as a connection destination URL, and the received ID information and the command interpretation unit when communication is received by the communication response unit. And a call control unit that returns the connection command information corresponding to the ID information as a response to the terminal using the received IP address when the ID information obtained in step 1 is compared with each other. Calling server device that does. 4. A communication unit that transmits ID information such as a user ID and a terminal ID and communication destination information such as an IP address to a calling server device to obtain a response, and a response obtained by the communication unit. A response analysis unit that analyzes the included connection command information and a communication unit that starts a connection to the connection destination URL when the information obtained by the response analysis unit includes the connection destination URL. Characteristic terminal device. 5. The terminal ID and user I transmitted from the terminal
A communication response unit that receives ID information such as D and communication destination information such as the IP address of the terminal, and returns a response to the communication response unit, and an instruction from at least one or more application servers that provide information communication service to the terminal. A command interpreting unit that receives and extracts ID information such as a user ID and a terminal ID and a command to change the communication interval and communication procedure of the terminal, and the received ID information and the command interpretation when the communication is received by the communication responding unit. It is characterized by further comprising: a call control unit for comparing the ID information obtained by the units and returning the setting change command corresponding to the ID information as a response to the terminal of the receiving communication destination when they are equal. Calling server device. 6. A communication unit which communicates with a calling server device to obtain a response, a communication setting storage unit which stores a time interval of communication performed by the communication unit and a communication procedure, and a communication unit which is obtained by the communication unit. A response analysis unit that analyzes information included in the response, and the communication setting storage when the information obtained by the response analysis unit includes a change command for at least one of the communication time interval and the communication procedure information. Rewrite part and connect to UR
A terminal device comprising a communication unit for starting a connection to the connection destination URL when L is included. 7. An information communication service is provided to a terminal by connecting to a user information database that stores information related to the user such as communication partner information such as user ID, terminal ID, domain name, etc., and communication form. A command interpreter that receives a call command from at least one application server, extracts ID information such as a user ID or terminal ID, and connection command information such as a connection destination URL, and a relationship between a domain name and an IP address. It connects to a domain name server that stores information, accesses the Internet and updates related information, searches the user information database from the user ID and terminal ID obtained by the command interpreting unit, and directly communicates with them. When communication is possible, if the corresponding communication partner information is an IP address,
The connection command information is transmitted to the IP address, and if the corresponding communication partner information is a domain name, it is converted to an IP address using the domain name server and the connection command information is transmitted to the IP address. A calling server device comprising a calling control unit. 8. A domain name setting unit that communicates with a domain name server and registers / updates the correspondence between an IP address assigned to a terminal and a domain name, and information such as a connection destination URL from a calling server. A terminal device comprising a communication unit that, when received, connects to a specified connection URL and starts information communication. 9. A log storage unit for storing the operation status and communication status of at least one of the command interpretation unit, the call control unit, and the communication response unit for each date and time and each application server. , 3, 5, 7, the calling server device. 10. A program for causing a computer to realize all or a part of the functions according to any one of claims 1 to 9.