JP2003288341A - Information retrieval system, information retrieval device, information retrieval method and information retrieval program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information retrieval system capable of providing a retrieval result closer to the result desired by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The user transmits an examination request from its own terminal 1a to a terminal 1b friend-registered therein when an examination that is an information retrieval is executed (S12). The terminal 1b transmits the examination result to the terminal 1a (S23), and further transfers the received examination request to a terminal 1c that is friend-registered in the terminal 1b. This transfer of examination request is repeated until it reaches a terminal 1n within the range to be examined set in the examination request. The examination result is transmitted from each received terminal 1 to the terminal 1a that is the examination requester (S23). <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 an information search system, an information search device, an information search method, and an information search program, and more particularly to an information search system and an information search that can obtain a search result closer to a result desired by a user. The present invention relates to a device, an information search method, and an information search program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of networks,
Content such as moving images, music, images, characters, and information has been enriched on the network. Several methods for searching such contents on the network have been proposed.

In one method, the server manages the content name of the music file and the location of the content. Then, by using this method, the user obtains the location of the desired content by inquiring the server instead of informing the server of the content held by the user.
Then, the method is to have the content owner directly provide the content.

In another method, like a message game, the user's terminal asks the terminal if it holds the desired content. Then, when the terminal held is found, the terminal is provided with the content.

However, the amount of contents searched by these methods is enormous, and it is very difficult to find the contents that suits one's taste from among them. In addition, recently, searching and acquiring contents in this way has become a problem because it violates the copyright of the contents.

In view of this, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-51336 discloses a method of sharing the file contents for each level by giving access rights divided into individual level, friend level, and sharing level according to the file.

[0007] Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-29908, a method of monitoring a web surfing state of a user having the same preference so as to reach a website where there is always a desired one when surfing the web. About the disclosure.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-209661 discloses a method of narrowing down a fuzzy search and a method of easily performing an effective search operation.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-333411
The publication discloses a method of smoothly switching the content being viewed by itself to the recommended content when the recommendation information about the content is distributed.

[0010]

However, when searching for information using the method disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-51336, or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-29.
When searching for information using the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 908, there is a problem that the level of users who can search and the target of information to be searched are limited, and meaningful search results may not be obtained. It was

Further, even when the information is searched using the search method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-209661, there is a problem that a result close to the desired result may not be obtained. It was

Further, when the content is acquired using the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-333411, there is a problem that the content information cannot be acquired voluntarily.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an information search system, an information search apparatus, and an information search apparatus that can obtain a search result closer to a result desired by a user.
An object is to provide an information search method and an information search program.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, an information retrieval system comprises:
A first terminal of a plurality of terminals, each of which has a storage means, communicates via a communication line and is an information retrieval system for retrieving information, which is one of the plurality of terminals. The storage means of the n-th terminal (n is a natural number of 2 or more) stores information of a group to which the (n + 1) -th terminal whose record of past communication is in the communication history belongs,
When the terminal accepts the search request, requesting means for requesting information retrieval from the (n + 1) th terminal belonging to the group, and storage means of the (n + 1) th terminal when requested to retrieve information by the nth terminal. And a search transmission unit that transmits the search result to the first terminal.

Further, it is desirable that the above-mentioned information includes at least one of the information indicating the content and the information indicating the storage location of the content.

Further, the above-mentioned requesting means restricts the transmission of the information search request together with the information search request, and the restriction is updated when the information search request is transmitted. Is desirable.

Further, the above-mentioned communication history is a communication history of electronic mail between terminals, and it is desirable that the group information includes a network address obtained based on the electronic mail address.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an information retrieval device is based on a communication means for communicating via a communication line, a first storage means for storing information, and a communication history in the communication means. A second that stores information about a group of devices with which communication is performed
Storage means, requesting means for requesting information retrieval from devices belonging to the group, search transmitting means for retrieving the first storage means when the information retrieval is requested, and transmitting the retrieval result to the group. An information search device, comprising: a storage unit for storing search results received from a device to which the device belongs, wherein the request unit transmits first request information confirming the presence of specific information to a device belonging to the group, and stores the first request information. The means stores the search result including the response to the first request information, and the search transmitting means, upon receiving the first request information, searches the first storage means for whether or not the specific information exists. And transmits the search result to the destination of the first request information, and the requesting means, when receiving the first request information, sends the request to the devices belonging to the group.
The second request information confirming the existence of the specific information is transmitted.

Further, it is desirable that the above-mentioned information includes at least one of the information indicating the content and the information indicating the storage location of the content.

Further, the above-mentioned requesting unit restricts the transmission of the second request information together with the request for information retrieval, and this restriction can be updated when the second request information is transmitted. desirable.

The above-mentioned communication history is a communication history of electronic mail, and it is desirable that the group information includes the network address of the device included in the electronic mail.

Further, the information retrieval device forms a group based on at least one of a sending address and a receiving address included in the communication history of electronic mail and an address automatically classified based on the communication history of electronic mail. It is desirable to further comprise a first group determining means for determining.

Further, the information retrieval apparatus analyzes the information contained in the body of the transmitted / received e-mail and the information contained in the header of the transmitted / received e-mail to determine the second group for determining the group. It is desirable to further include a group determination means.

Further, the information retrieval apparatus displays the retrieval result accumulated in the accumulating means, the information of the apparatus which has transmitted the retrieval result, the number of specific information included in the retrieval result, and the retrieval result. Display output limiting means for limiting the information output to the display means based on at least one of the date and time information of the specific information included and the information on the presence or absence of the specific information included in the search result is further provided. Is desirable.

According to still another aspect of the present invention,
The information retrieving method is an information retrieving method for retrieving information in a plurality of terminals equipped with storage means that perform communication via a communication line, and is an nth terminal (nth terminal) which is one of the plurality of terminals. Is a natural number, and the storage means is the (n + 1) th
A step of deciding a terminal belonging to the group by storing information of a group to which the terminal belongs based on a communication history; a request step of the nth terminal requesting the (n + 1) th terminal to search for information; When asked to search for
A search transmission step of searching the storage means of the (n + 1) th terminal and transmitting the search result to the first terminal which is one of the plurality of terminals.

According to still another aspect of the present invention,
The information retrieval program has a first storing step of storing information, and a second storing step of storing information of a group of devices of communication destinations based on a communication history of the communication means.
A request step for requesting information retrieval from a device belonging to the group, and a retrieval and transmission step for retrieving the information stored in the first possible step when the information retrieval is requested and transmitting the retrieval result; A program for causing a computer to execute an accumulation step of accumulating search results received from a device to which the device belongs, wherein the request step causes the device belonging to the group to transmit first request information for confirming the existence of specific information, In the accumulation step, the first
Of the request information is stored, and when the first request information is received in the search / send step, in the information stored in the first storage step,
Search for whether or not specific information exists and search results first
When the first request information is received in the request step, the device belonging to the group is caused to send the second request information for confirming the existence of the specific information.

According to still another aspect of the present invention,
The recording medium is a computer-readable recording medium in which the above information search program is recorded.

[0028]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts and components are designated by the same reference numerals.
Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the information retrieval system in this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, an information search system according to the present embodiment includes terminals 1a to 1d (terminals 1a to 1d are represented as terminal 1) that communicate in a network such as a personal computer, and the information search system. And a management server 1e that manages the.

Further, the above-mentioned terminals 1a to 1d have a certain relationship with one terminal 1a (hereinafter referred to as "own terminal 1a" for convenience of description) and own terminal 1a, that is, , And a plurality of terminals 1b for direct communication. Note that, for convenience of explanation, the above-mentioned "some relationship" will be replaced with the word "friend relationship" in the following description. That is, the terminals 1a to 1d described above include the terminal 1a of itself, the terminals 1b having a friendship relationship with the terminal 1a (a terminal 1b of a friend), and the terminals 1c having a friendship with the terminal 1b of a friend. (Friend's friend's terminal 1c)
A plurality of terminals 1d having a friend relationship with a friend's friend's terminal 1c.
(Friend's friend's friend's terminal 1d).

In this information retrieval system, LAN (Local Area N) is established between the friendships of the terminals 1a to 1d.
etwork) and other communication lines and communication lines such as telephone lines. Note that this communication includes not only communication via a communication line but also wireless communication.
Further, the same communication is performed between the terminal 1a and the management server 1e.

The connection of the terminal 1 centered around its own terminal 1a will be simply referred to as a network hereinafter. In FIG. 1, the solid line shows the connection (direct communication) by such a network, and the broken line shows the distances from the terminal 1a to the terminals 1b to 1d and the management server 1e. The distance here does not mean a physical distance, but indicates how many friend terminals are separated to establish friendship. Hereafter, this distance will be referred to as "friend distance" for convenience.
Will be replaced with the word. For example, the friend distance 1 is a distance between the terminals 1 that perform direct communication, and the larger the friend distance, the more terminals 1 will be used for communication.

The management server 1e shown in FIG.
It manages the information of the address of the registered terminal 1 on the network. After that, the address on this network is I
It is called P address.

Although FIG. 1 shows an information retrieval system consisting of one network centering on its own terminal 1a, this information retrieval system includes terminals 1b-1d not shown here. It is assumed that a plurality of networks centered on is included.

In the information retrieval system of the present embodiment as described above, a search such as ranking or retrieval is performed as information retrieval to obtain desired information. Note that, hereinafter, the description will be given assuming that the viewing ranking is specifically investigated.

Next, the configuration of the terminal 1 included in this information retrieval system will be described. FIG. 2 shows the terminal 1a
It is a block diagram showing a configuration of (own terminal 1a). The configuration of the terminals 1a to 1d is similar to that of the terminal 1a shown in FIG. 2, and the terminal 1a will be described as a representative.

Referring to FIG. 2, the terminal 1a includes a device 2a capable of browsing content on the Internet with a browser or the like. Then, the device 2a includes a media player 2aa for playing media included in content such as music and a WWW (world
wide web) includes a browser 2ab which is software for browsing a home page on a server, and a mailer 2ac which is software for sending and receiving electronic mail. further,
Each terminal 1 which plays a role of a home server is a device for streaming on the Internet or MP3 (MPEG AUDIO Layer-II).
I) A media player 2b or browser 2c for viewing content 2d, etc., an Internet access monitoring unit 2e such as a proxy for monitoring access on the Internet, and a mail for monitoring transmission / reception of e-mail with the mail server 2u. A monitoring unit 2f, a viewing history classification system 2g that classifies viewing histories based on viewing information in the Internet access monitoring unit 2e, a survey target classification system 2h that sorts survey targets based on e-mail transmission / reception information, A viewing history 2n that stores the classification result in the viewing history classification system 2g, and a friend's terminal 1b or server 1e.
Connection system 2i that serves as an interface for communicating with
, An aggregating system 2j that aggregates information received via the linking system 2i, an output HTML 2p for outputting an aggregate result created by the aggregating system 2j, a distance / display number setting system 2k, a Web server ( CGI:
common gateway interface) 2l, stored content 2r that is stored content information, and viewing history 2
The survey system 2m that conducts a survey based on n and the saved content 2r, the survey result (content information) 2s that stores the survey result created by the survey system 2m, the survey target list (friend list) 2o, and the distance / It includes a setting 2q which is a setting in the display number setting system 2k and a mailer 2t.

In such a terminal 1a, the Internet access monitoring unit 2e is a device 2a capable of browsing contents on the Internet with the media player 2aa, the browser 2ab, etc. via the Internet access monitoring unit 2e. Content 2
The information of viewing d is passed to the viewing history classification system 2g.
The viewing history classification system 2g classifies the data and creates a viewing history 2n. Also, the email is sent to the email monitoring unit 2f.
Are transmitted to and received from the mail server 2u via the. Further, the mail monitoring unit 2f passes the transmission / reception information of the electronic mail to the survey target classification system 2h. The survey target classification system 2h is
It is like a message rule for mail classification in the mailer 2t. As a result, the survey target classification system 2h organizes the data and creates the survey target list 2o. In addition, the mail classification folder existing in the MailBox of the mailer 2t and the information of the emails classified therein are passed to the investigation target classification system 2h, so that the investigation target classification system 2h applies the above-mentioned rule. It is also possible to create the survey target list 2o without doing so. This terminal 1 registered in the survey target list 2o
Corresponds to the friend's terminal 1b.

Next, the connection system 2i accepts a request from the user when conducting a survey such as ranking and search, and requests the survey to the friend's terminal 1b by peer to peer. Then, the connection system 2i passes the received survey result to the totaling system 2j. The totaling system 2j totals the received survey results and creates the output HTML 2p based on the user's preference. If the user desires to save the content acquired by the Web server 21 based on the result of this investigation, the content information is saved as the saved content 2.
r is added.

The survey system 2m is used by the friend's terminal 1
When the survey request is received from b, the survey result is created based on the viewing history 2n and the stored content 2r. Then, the survey result is transmitted to the client. The distance / display number setting system 2k automatically changes the setting 2q of the friend distance to be surveyed and the display number of survey results based on the user's preference.

Further, the hardware configuration of the terminal 1a will be described. FIG. 3 shows the terminal 1a (own terminal 1
It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a).

Referring to FIG. 3, the terminal 1a has a RAM (Ra
a memory 3a configured by an ndom access memory), a non-volatile memory 3b configured by a hard disk, an input device 3d configured by a keyboard, a mouse, etc., a display device 3e configured by a display, etc. CPU (Central Processing Unit) for controlling the entire 1a
Network I / O (Input / Output) 3 serving as an interface between 3f and a friend's terminal 1b or management server 1e
g and. And these are connected by the bus 3c.

Further, the memory 3a is included as an area of software used for information retrieval of the present embodiment, an area 3h for storing the address on the network of the terminal 1 of the sender of the received investigation request and the investigation result. An area 3i for storing content information to be stored and an area 3j for storing information on content viewed or stored by the user from the survey results.

The address on the network of the terminal 1 of the sender of the survey request stored in the above-mentioned area 3h is information stored in order to prevent the same survey request from being transmitted to the terminal 1b of the same friend more than once. is there. The information on the content viewed or saved by the user from the survey result stored in the area 3j is information for automatically changing the friend distance and the display number of the survey result based on the user's preference.

The above-mentioned non-volatile memory 3b has the above-mentioned viewing history 2n, the survey target list 2o, and the output H.
The TML 2p, the setting 2q, the stored content 2r, and the survey result 2s are included.

The hardware configuration of terminals 1b to 1d other than terminal 1a is similar to that of terminal 1a described above, and therefore description thereof will not be repeated here.

Regarding the above-mentioned management server 1e,
Since it is a server constructed by a general computer or the like, detailed description of its configuration will not be given.

Next, an information search process in the information search system of the present embodiment including the terminal 1 will be described.

In this information retrieval system, a process of recognizing the terminal 1b of a friend of his own is executed.
Further information retrieval is performed. Therefore, first, the process in which the terminal 1a of the user recognizes the terminal 1b of the friend will be described.

In FIG. 4, one's own terminal 1a is a friend's terminal 1b.
It is a flowchart which shows the process which recognizes. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is performed by the CP of the terminal 1a.
U3f is realized by executing the program stored in the memory 3a or the non-volatile memory 3b.

Referring to FIG. 4, first, the investigation target classification system 2h applies a rule for classifying the transmission / reception information passed from the mail monitoring unit 2f every time an electronic mail is transmitted / received, and the electronic mail is transmitted. Classify (S1). Then, the mail address indicated by "To" in the header of the classified outgoing mail and "Fro" in the header of the received mail
The mail address indicated by "m" is recognized as the member ID of the friend's terminal 1b and added to the survey target list 2o (S
2).

This is the end of the program. In addition,
The rule for classifying the electronic mails in step S1 described above is applied when classifying the electronic mails transmitted / received via the mail monitoring unit 2f. Below, a brief description will be given regarding the classification of sent and received e-mails.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of rules for classifying electronic mail. With reference to FIG. 5, as a rule for classifying emails, transmission / reception date / time information,
Classification can be performed using information such as a signature, an e-mail destination name, the beginning of an e-mail text, a mail address, and a mailer type.

Then, the electronic mail is classified by using the rules shown in FIG. Specifically, the above-mentioned information is read from the header of the electronic mail shown in FIG. 6, and the rules shown in FIG. 5 are applied to classify the information. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of the email header. In FIG. 6, the information to be read is shown with an arrow. Then, the electronic mail is classified and stored in a designated folder for friend recognition as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of a folder in which sent and received electronic mails are classified and stored.

In step S1 described above, the rule as shown in FIG.
Determine b. That is, by designating the above-mentioned folder, the terminal 1 that has transmitted / received the electronic mail stored in the designated folder is determined as the friend's terminal 1b.

In this way, the rule as shown in FIG. 5 is applied to the transmission / reception date / time information contained in the header of the electronic mail shown in FIG.
By deciding, it is possible to recognize only the terminal 1 with which communication has been made for a predetermined period (for example, recently) as the friend's terminal 1b, and to search for information shown below. Therefore, it is possible to acquire information closer to the tendency such as one's taste.

Further, the above rule is applied to the destination name or address included in the header of the electronic mail of which a concrete example is shown in FIG. 6, the signature of the electronic mail body not shown, or the beginning (destination) of the electronic mail body. By classifying the terminal 1b of the friend by using the information, it is possible to acquire information closer to the tendency such as one's preference.

Further, by using the information of the type of mailer used, which is included in the header of the electronic mail whose concrete example is shown in FIG. 6, that is, information such as whether or not the mailer is an amusement mailer. Also, by classifying the terminal 1b of the friend by using, it is possible to acquire information closer to the tendency such as one's taste.

Note that the relationship called "friend" in the present embodiment is not limited to the actual "friend" relationship, and it is sufficient to have "some" relationship. Therefore, in the folder shown in FIG. 7, the sending and receiving parties of the e-mail stored in the "friend folder" are not limited to the friend's terminal 1b, but the e-mail stored in any folder can be used. It is possible for the other party to send and receive to be the friend's terminal 1b.

Further, here, an example of using the rule applied when classifying the emails to be transmitted and received in order to determine the friend's terminal 1b is described, but the friend's terminal 1b is determined by other methods. You can also Specifically, a friend's terminal 1b can be determined by analyzing the transmission (or incoming) history of the mobile phone. Figure 8
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of incoming call history information of a mobile phone.
In this case, in step S1 described above, the telephone numbers that have recently made a call are classified based on a predetermined rule. That is, the information of the incoming call history of the mobile phone, a specific example of which is shown in FIG. 8, can be classified by using the transmission / reception date / time information and the information such as the group in which the friend is registered in the mobile phone. Then, in step S2, the owner of the telephone number can be recognized as a friend, and the information of the friend can be added to the survey target list 2o.

As another specific example, the friend's terminal 1b can be determined by analyzing the chat history. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of the chat history. In this case, in step S1 described above, the other party who has recently interacted (a predetermined period) is classified based on a predetermined rule. That is, it is possible to classify the chat history information, a specific example of which is shown in FIG. 9, by using the information of the date and time of the chat, the group of friends registered in the terminal 1a, and the like. it can. Then, in step S2, the owner of the ID such as the nickname on the chat can be recognized as a friend, and the information of the friend can be added to the survey target list 2o.

In the following description, the rule applied when classifying the sent and received e-mails is used to determine the friend's terminal 1b, but the friend's terminal 1b is used by another method. The same applies to the case of determining.

When the terminal 1a of the friend recognizes the terminal 1b of the friend in this way, next, the IP address of the terminal 1b of the friend is acquired from the server 1e.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process for acquiring the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG.
CPU 3f of a and C of server 1e (not shown)
It is realized by the PU executing the programs stored in the storage units of its own terminal 1a and server 1e.

Referring to FIG. 10, first, my terminal 1a
In the management server 1e is the member ID which is the ID of the terminal 1a of itself, the IP address of the terminal 1a, and friend information registered in the friend (existing in the survey target list 2o) (member ID of the friend's terminal 1b). ) Is transmitted via the connection system 2i, and a friend registration request is made to the management server 1e (S3).

The management server 1 that has received the above registration request
At e, the received information is registered as a friend in the terminal 1a (S
5). Then, the management server 1e, with respect to the terminal 1a,
The terminal 1a transmits the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b that is the friend's terminal 1b who has requested the registration to the management server 1e and is currently registered in the management server 1e (S6).

Upon receipt of the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b from the management server 1e, the terminal 1a of its own receives the IP address of the received friend's terminal 1b as the survey target list 2
It is added to o (S4).

With this, the program ends, and the terminal 1a of itself registers the friend's terminal 1b in the management server 1e as a friend and acquires its IP address.

The information of the terminal 1 registered in the management server 1e will be concretely shown. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a specific example of information of the terminal 1 registered in the management server 1e.

With reference to FIG. 11, the management server 1e stores, for each terminal 1, a member ID, an IP address, and a member ID of a friend's terminal 1 with which the terminal 1 is registered as a friend.

When the request for friend registration is received from the terminal 1a in step S5, the information on the terminal 1 of the friend is added to the information on the terminal 1a stored in step S6.

The terminal 1a is the IP of the friend's terminal 1b.
The method of acquiring the address is not limited to the above method.
That is, the friend's terminal 1b without using the management server 1e.
It is also possible to obtain the IP address of

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the second process for acquiring the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 is realized by the CPU 3f of the own terminal 1a and the CPU of the other terminal 1 executing the programs stored in the storage units of the own terminal 1a and the other terminal 1. It

Referring to FIG. 12, first, the terminal 1a of the user's own terminal
Broadcasts (or unicasts) a request for confirming the existence of the friend's terminal 1b to the network in which the friend's terminal 1b exists (S7).
In this way, performing broadcast transmission to the network in which the friend's terminal 1b is present is the same as the friend's terminal 1b.
This is effective when the IP address of is not fixed or when the number of friend terminals 1b existing on the same network is large. Further, the unicast transmission to the friend's terminal 1b is effective when the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b is fixed.

The presence confirmation request transmitted in step S7 is received by the terminal 1 on the network (S9).

The terminal 1 that has received the request only exists when the terminal 1a that has transmitted the existence confirmation request is a terminal 1 that is in a friendship relationship with the terminal 1 that has received the request, that is, the survey target list 2o of the terminal 1 that has received the request. Exists in (S1
The response of the existence information is returned only to 0 (YES) (S
11).

When the terminal 1a receives the response of the existence information transmitted in step S11, the IP of the terminal 1a is received.
The address is added to the survey target list 2o (S8).

This is the end of the program. In addition,
FIG. 13: is a figure which shows the outline of the 2nd process which acquires the IP address of the terminal 1b of a friend. With reference to FIG. 13, the presence confirmation broadcast or unicast from the own terminal 1a in step S7 described above is confirmed by the terminal 1a.
Only when the terminal 1b of the friend receives the response of the existence information to the terminal 1a in step S11.

The terminal 1a can also obtain the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b by executing the above program.

As described above, since the mail address is information unique to each user, it is effective to use it for friend recognition. Further, it is possible to group (classify) the objects (survey objects) for which information is to be searched using the mail address. Then, the terminals 1 having some relation with each other can search for and provide the information and can share the information.

Next, in the information retrieval system of the present embodiment, the viewing ranking is investigated using the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b acquired in the above process.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing a process of conducting a viewing ranking survey as an information search. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG.
CPU 3f of memory 3a or non-volatile memory 3b
It is realized by executing the program stored in.
The survey shown in FIG. 14 aims to retrieve information (content viewing information) via the friend's terminal 1 up to the terminal 1 with the friend distance N, which is the subject of the survey set (2q) in the survey. Is executed as. It should be noted that the friend distance N that is the target of this survey is an arbitrary value, and this value N
By setting, the scale of the survey is determined. The value N can also be changed automatically. The method will be described later.

Referring to FIG. 14, first, the terminal 1a of the survey requester, which is the terminal of the survey requester, transmits the survey request to the friend's terminal 1b via the connection system 2i (S12).

The survey request sent in step S12 is
The terminal 1 received via the connection system 2i is (S1
8) Whether or not the sender of the survey request is the terminal 1 with the friend distance of 1 is searched by searching the survey target list 2o of the terminal 1 for the terminal 1 as the sender. Check (S19).

When the sender of the survey request is the terminal 1 having the friend distance of 1 (YES in S19), the terminal of the friend distance N which is the subject of the survey set in the survey request (2q) is used. It is checked that the friend distance i between 1 and the terminal 1a is smaller. That is, it is checked whether or not the current friend distance i to the requester's terminal 1a is within the friend distance N that is the subject of the survey set in the survey request. A method of comparing the survey friend distance N and the current friend distance i will be described later.

Then, when the sender of the survey request is the terminal 1 having the friend distance of 1 and the terminal 1 is within the friend distance N of the survey included in the setting 2q of the survey request ( (YES in S19 and YES in S20), first, the survey request is transferred to the terminal 1 of the friend of the terminal 1 via the connection system 2i (S21). The transfer destination terminal 1 in step S21 is not limited to one terminal and may be a plurality of terminals. In addition, in order to prevent the survey request from being received again when the transfer is performed, the information about the survey such as the IP address of the client terminal 1a of the requester is stored in the area 3h included in the memory 3a of the terminal 1. To do. Alternatively, the memory 3a of the terminal 1 of the transmission source
Information such as the IP address of the terminal 1 and information such as the IP address of the terminal 1 that has transmitted the survey request may be stored in the area 3h included in the. Also, when you transfer
In some cases, the terminal 1 of the friend who is the transfer partner cannot communicate because the power is cut off. In that case, the survey request may be automatically transferred to another terminal 1.

Further, based on the survey request, the terminal 1 concerned
The viewing history 2n and the stored content 2r are investigated, and as the result of the investigation, content information 3i regarding the viewed content is created (S22). Then, step S22
By transmitting the survey result created in step 1 to the requester's terminal 1a (S23), the survey requester is provided with information regarding the viewed content.

If the survey request received at the terminal 1 is not transmitted from the terminal 1 whose friend distance from the terminal 1 is 1 (NO at S19), the steps S20 to S23 are performed. This program is terminated without executing the processing. If the terminal 1 is not within the friend distance N set in the survey request setting 2q, that is, if the terminal 1 does not need to send the survey request to the friend's terminal 1 (NO in S20). ), Step S
Without transferring the survey request shown in step 21,
22 and only the survey result shown in step S23 is transmitted.

The terminal 1a that requested the survey is the terminal 1 of a friend.
b or a friend's friend's terminal 1c or a friend's friend's terminal 1
The survey result thus created in d or the like is received via the connection system 2i (S13), and information regarding the viewed content is acquired. Note that step S1
In 3, the survey results not received within the predetermined time are
A process regarded as an invalid investigation result may be executed. The survey result received in step S13 is passed to the tallying system 2j.

In the tallying system 2j, the same contents included in the survey results are put together, and the obtained contents are arranged in descending order of the number included (S1).
4). Further, according to the preference of the user, the output HTML 2p, which is an output screen for displaying the number of display of the survey result set in the setting 2q, is created (S15).

The output HTML 2p is an HTML for outputting information such as the storage location of the content obtained from the terminal 1 and the URL of the home page. The user can view or save the content based on the output information. The output HTML2p will be described later with a specific example.

The user's preference is based on his / her own terminal 1a.
From, the distance of the friend to the terminal 1 from which the user has acquired the content information so far is included. Step S1 described above
In 5, the tabulation system 2j can also determine which content to display based on such a user's preference and change the output HTML2p. It should be noted that this display determination can be made by specifically limiting the display based on the content date / time information of the survey result and determining the display of new content. In addition, the display of the popular content can be determined by limiting the display based on the information indicating whether or not the content of the survey result is stored. In addition,
The process of determining the number of displays and the display screen will be described in detail later with reference to flowcharts and specific examples.

Further, as described above, the user can view or save the contents based on the display of the output HTML2p by using the Web server 2l. When the user views the content, the content information is further added to the viewing history 2n.

Furthermore, it is selected whether or not to save the content displayed in the output HTML2p (S1).
6). When saving the content (YES in S16),
The content information is added to the saved content 2r (S17).

This is the end of this program. In addition,
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an outline of the information search processing in the above information search system. Referring to FIG. 15, when executing a survey, which is an information search, the user transmits a survey request from his terminal 1a to his friend's terminal 1b in step S12 described above. The terminal 1b receiving the survey request transmits the survey result to the terminal 1a in step S23, and further, in step S21, the terminal 1b.
The received survey request is transferred to the terminal 1c of the friend whose friend distance to b is 1. This transfer of the survey request is repeated until the friend distance N set as the survey request setting 2q, which is the subject of the survey, is reached. Then, the received terminal 1 transmits the survey result to the terminal 1a that requested the survey.

Further, FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a specific example of the survey target list (friend list) 2o of the terminal 1a. Figure 1
6, the target list 2o includes one's own terminal 1
The terminal 1 as a member ID of a (own member ID)
a's IP address and the terminal 1 of a friend who has registered as a friend
The IP address of the friend's terminal 1b is described as the member ID of b (friend's member ID). The above-mentioned survey target list 2o is stored in the non-volatile memory 3b shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a specific example of the survey request setting 2q. With reference to FIG. 17, the survey request setting 2q is a friend distance N to be surveyed, a display count L for displaying the survey result, and a folder used for determining the friend's terminal 1b (friend recognition). Specified folder) and. Such setting 2q shown in FIG.
Is stored in the non-volatile memory 3b of the terminal 1a which makes the survey request, and when the survey request is transmitted, the setting 2
q is set.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a specific example of the survey request. The survey request shown in FIG. 18 is transmitted from the own terminal 1a in step S12 described above. In step S21, the received terminal 1 is transferred to the terminal at the friend distance 1.

Referring to FIG. 18, the survey request includes a friend distance N that is the subject of the survey according to the setting 2q whose specific example is shown in FIG. 17, and a friend distance i from the terminal 1a of the survey requester at the present time. And the address (return address) of the terminal 1a, which is the destination of the survey result, and the survey content. In step S19 described above, the friend distance N is compared with the current friend distance i from the terminal 1a based on the received survey request. As a comparison method, the terminal 1 that received the survey request
There is a method of checking the magnitude relation between N and i by executing the process of i = i + 1 on the information of i included in the survey request when the survey request is transferred to the friend's terminal 1. . In addition, when the terminal 1 receiving the survey request transfers the survey request to the friend's terminal 1, the processing of N = N-1 is performed on the N information set (2q) in the survey request. , N and i
It may be a method of checking the magnitude relationship with. By performing such a comparison, it is possible to determine whether or not the terminal 1 that has received the survey request is within the friend distance N that is the subject of the survey set (2q) in the survey request.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a specific example of the survey result. The survey result shown in FIG. 19 is transmitted from the terminal 1 that has received the survey request to the terminal 1a that has requested the survey in step S23 described above.

Referring to FIG. 19, the survey result includes the friend distance i from the terminal 1a at the present time, the survey content, and the content information which is the survey result. The content information includes information on the location where the content is stored, and the UR of the homepage introducing or selling the content.
Information such as L is included. Content information is shown in FIG.
In step S15 of 4, since the display is performed according to the predetermined display restriction, the date and time information and the information indicating the presence / absence of storage are also included corresponding to the predetermined display restriction.

The tallying system 2j of the terminal 1a, which has requested the survey in step S14 described above, tallies the content information contained in the survey results shown in FIG. Then, in step S15 described above, the output HTML2p is created, and the survey result is displayed.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for displaying the results of the viewing ranking survey.

The user changes the display screen shown in FIG.
It is possible to browse using the browsers 2c and 2ab and obtain information on the viewing ranking. Furthermore, the user can view or save the content from the display screen shown in FIG. Specifically, information on the storage location of the content may be displayed by clicking the title or the like of the content listed in the viewing ranking. Further, it may be linked to a homepage or the like that introduces the content. The content information viewed using the display screen shown in FIG. 20 is added to the viewing history 2n because it is viewed via the Internet access monitoring unit 2e as described above. Also,
The content information saved using the display screen shown in FIG. 20 is also added to the saved content 2r using the Web server 21 as described above.

As described above, the information retrieval system of the present embodiment conducts information retrieval such as the viewing ranking survey via the terminal 1 which is registered as a friend in advance, so that the retrieval result closer to the result desired by the user is obtained. The result can be obtained.
That is, since the terminal 1 having some relationship is registered as a friend, the owner of the terminal 1 that is registered as a friend is likely to have a common tendency such as a preference according to the relationship. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a search result closer to the result desired by the user. In addition, the information can be shared with the owner of the terminal 1 registered as a friend. In addition, it is possible to prevent information leakage to other terminals that are not registered as friends.

Further, using the information search system of this embodiment, the terminal 1 which is registered as a friend is used to execute the processing shown in FIG.
Since it is possible to obtain the information as shown in, it is possible to effectively protect the copyright of the information supplied from other terminals.

Furthermore, by automatically changing the range to be surveyed, that is, the friend distance N, it is possible to obtain a search result closer to the result desired by the user. That is, when the above-mentioned viewing ranking survey is repeatedly performed, a more meaningful result may be obtained by automatically conducting the survey while expanding the range, rather than conducting the survey in the same range (friend distance) each time. is there.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing a process of automatically changing the friend distance N to be investigated. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 21 is executed by the distance / display number setting system 2k. Then, the updated setting is stored in the setting 2q.

With reference to FIG. 21, first, from the area 3j of the memory 3a shown in FIG. 3, the distribution of the number of people according to the friend distance of the contents stored in the previous survey is checked (S24). Then, the maximum friend distance is set to the maximum value of the friend distances in the distribution plus a preset number i (S25). In the flowchart shown in FIG. 21, 2 is given as a specific example of the predetermined number i.

Thus, the processing for changing the friend distance N, which is the subject of the survey, is completed. By executing the process shown in FIG. 21 described above, it is possible to automatically perform a wider (narrower) range investigation. In this way, by changing the range of the survey target, naturally, a result different from the result of the previous survey will be obtained. That is, the display screen for displaying the results of the viewing ranking survey shown in FIG. 20 is changed. Here, a specific example will be given of the changed display screen. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a first specific example of the display screen displaying the survey result of the changed viewing ranking. With reference to FIG. 22, by performing the processing shown in FIG. 21 described above, when the survey in the same range as the previous survey is conducted, the friend distance is 3, but the next survey Then, the survey range is automatically changed, and the survey results in a friend distance of 5. That is, in FIG. 20, the survey result up to the range where the friend distance is 3 is displayed, but in FIG. 22, the survey result up to the range where the friend distance is 5 is displayed.

In the information search system of the present embodiment, the above-described investigation range (search range) changing process is executed, so that the search can be repeated without any special changing process by the user. The search range can be automatically made wider (narrower) than the previous search range. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a meaningful search result that is closer to the result desired by the user.

Further, as described above, not only the search range is changed, but also the display number (range) is automatically changed,
It is also possible to obtain more meaningful search results.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the processing for automatically changing the number of displays. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 23 is executed by the distance / display number setting system 2k. Then, the updated setting is stored in the setting 2q.

Referring to FIG. 23, first, the display order of the contents stored in the previous investigation is checked from the area 3j of the memory 3a shown in FIG. 3 (S2).
6). Then, the maximum display order is set to the maximum display order of the stored contents, plus a preset number i (S27). In the flowchart shown in FIG. 23, 5 is given as a specific example of the predetermined number i.

With the above, the processing for automatically changing the number of displays is completed. By executing the processing shown in FIG. 23 described above, it is possible to automatically obtain a display screen on which a larger number of pieces of information (content information) are displayed. In this way, by expanding the display range, it is naturally possible to obtain a display of a result different from the result of the previous survey. That is, the display screen for displaying the results of the viewing ranking survey shown in FIG. 20 is changed. Here, a specific example will be given of the changed display screen. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a second specific example of the display screen displaying the survey result of the changed viewing ranking. Referring to FIG. 24, FIG.
As a result of the processing shown in FIG. 20 being executed, the results of the survey in which the maximum display rank is up to 10th are displayed in FIG. 20, but the maximum display rank is up to 15th in FIG. The survey result of is displayed.

By executing the above-mentioned processing for changing the display range of the survey result (search result) in the information search system according to the present embodiment, the search is repeated without the user performing any special change processing. In this case, the display range of the search result can be automatically made wider (narrower) than the previous display range. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a meaningful search result that is closer to the result desired by the user.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the viewing ranking is surveyed has been described as a specific example of the information retrieval, but the content of the information retrieval is not limited to the above-mentioned example and other It is possible to search for various information. For example, it is possible to search for the presence or absence of content. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a specific example of a search result display screen.

Then, the user can change the friend recognition group according to the information to be searched,
Search range (friend distance) and display range (display count)
Can be set or changed.

In the above description, the case where the information retrieval system uses the communication history of the electronic mail when recognizing the friend has been described. The friend recognition method uses the communication history of the electronic mail. It is not limited to the method, but terminals that communicate on the network, such as chat participants and viewers of specific homepages, that is,
It is possible to perform a search for necessary information by grouping terminals located close to their own terminal 1a in distance.

Further, the method of recognizing a friend, the method of providing information, and the method of acquiring information in the above-described information retrieval system can be provided as a program. Such a program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, a ROM, a RAM, and a memory card attached to a computer, and can be provided as a program product. Alternatively, the program may be provided by being recorded in a recording medium such as a hard disk built in the computer. Further, the program can be provided by downloading via the network.

The provided program product is installed and executed in a program storage unit such as a hard disk.

The program product includes the program itself and a recording medium in which the program is recorded.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and is intended to include meanings equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an information search system in the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal 1a (own terminal 1a).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a terminal 1a (own terminal 1a).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process in which one's terminal 1a recognizes a friend's terminal 1b.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of rules for classifying electronic mail.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of an email header.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of a folder in which sent and received electronic mails are classified and stored.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of incoming call history information of a mobile phone.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of a chat history.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process of acquiring an IP address of a friend's terminal 1b.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a specific example of information of the terminal 1 registered in the management server 1e.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a second process of acquiring the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an outline of a second process of acquiring the IP address of the friend's terminal 1b.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a process of investigating a viewing ranking as an information search.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an outline of information search processing in the above information search system.

FIG. 16: Survey target list (friend list) of terminal 1a
It is a figure which shows the specific example of 2o.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a specific example of a survey request setting 2q.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a specific example of a survey request.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a specific example of a survey result.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for displaying a result of a viewing ranking survey.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a process of automatically changing the friend distance N, which is the subject of the survey.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a first specific example of a display screen for displaying a survey result of changed viewing rankings.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a process for automatically changing the number of displays.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a second specific example of the display screen displaying the survey result of the changed viewing ranking.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a specific example of a search result display screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 terminal, 1a own terminal, 1b friend's terminal, 1c
Friend's friend's terminal, 1d friend's friend's terminal,
1e Management server, 2a Device capable of browsing contents on the Internet, 2aa, 2b media player, 2ab, 2c browser, 2ac, 2t
Mailer, 2d content, 2e Internet access monitoring unit, 2f mail monitoring unit, 2g viewing history classification system, 2h survey target classification system, 2i connection system, 2j aggregation system, 2k distance / display number setting system, 2l Web server, 2m survey system,
2n viewing history, 2o survey target list, 2p output H
TML, 2q setting, 2r saved content, 2s survey result, 2u mail server, 3a memory, 3b non-volatile memory, 3c bus, 3d input device, 3e display device, 3f CPU, 3g network I / O, 3h,
3i, 3j areas.

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An information search system for performing a search for information by a first terminal of a plurality of terminals, each of which has a storage means, that performs communication via a communication line. The storage means of the n-th terminal (n is a natural number of 2 or more), which is the first terminal, stores the information of the group to which the (n + 1) -th terminal whose record of past communication is in the communication history belongs, When the n-th terminal receives the search request, a requesting means for requesting the information search to the (n + 1) -th terminal belonging to the group; and the (n + 1) -th request when the n-th terminal requests the information search. An information search system, comprising: a search means for searching the storage means of the terminal and sending the search result to the first terminal. 2. The information search system according to claim 1, wherein the information includes at least one of information indicating a content content and information indicating a storage location of the content. 3. The requesting unit restricts transmission of the request for searching the information together with the request for searching for the information, and the restriction is updated when the request for searching for the information is transmitted. The information search system according to claim 1. 4. The communication history is an email communication history between the terminals, and the group information includes a network address of a terminal included in the email. Information retrieval system described. 5. A communication means for performing communication via a communication line, a first storage means for storing information, and information on a group of a communication destination device based on a communication history in the communication means. Second storage means, requesting means for requesting a device in the group to search for information, and search transmission for sending the search result to the first storage means when requested to search for the information An information retrieval device comprising means and an accumulating means for accumulating the search results received from the devices belonging to the group, wherein the requesting means confirms presence of specific information in the devices belonging to the group. No. 1 request information is transmitted, the storage unit stores the search result including a response to the first request information, and the search transmission unit receives the first request information, the first request information is transmitted. The storage unit searches the storage unit for the specific information and transmits the search result to the destination of the first request information. When the request unit receives the first request information, the group An information retrieval device that transmits second request information for confirming the existence of the specific information to the device belonging to. 6. The information search device according to claim 5, wherein the information includes at least one of information indicating a content content and information indicating a storage location of the content. 7. The requesting unit restricts the transmission of the second request information together with the request for the search of the information, and the restriction is updated when the second request information is transmitted. The information search device according to claim 5. 8. The information according to claim 5, wherein the communication history is an electronic mail communication history, and the group information includes a network address obtained based on an electronic mail address. Search device. 9. The group is determined based on at least one of a transmission address and a reception address included in the communication history of the electronic mail and an address automatically classified based on the communication history of the electronic mail. First
The information search device according to claim 8, further comprising: 10. A second group deciding means for deciding the group by analyzing at least one of the information contained in the body of the transmitted and received e-mail and the information contained in the header of the transmitted and received e-mail. The information search device according to claim 8, further comprising: 11. Display means for displaying the search result accumulated in the accumulating means, information on a device which has transmitted the search result, the number of the specific information included in the search result, and the search result. At least one of date and time information of the specific information included in the search result and information about presence or absence of the specific information included in the search result
The information search device according to any one of claims 5 to 10, further comprising: a display output limiting unit that limits information output to the display unit based on one of the above. 12. An information retrieval method for retrieving information in a plurality of terminals equipped with storage means for communicating via a communication line, the n-th terminal being one of the plurality of terminals ( (n is a natural number) storing unit stores information of a group to which the (n + 1) th terminal belongs, based on the communication history, so as to determine a terminal belonging to the group; (N + 1) requesting a terminal to search for information, and when requested to search for the information, the storage means of the (n + 1) th terminal is searched, and the search result is returned to one of the plurality of terminals. And a transmitting step for transmitting the information to the first terminal which is the terminal. 13. A first storage step of storing information, a second storage step of storing information of a group of devices of a communication destination based on a communication history in the communication means, and a device belonging to the group. A request step for requesting a search for information, a search and send step for searching the information stored in the first possible step and sending a search result when the search for the information is requested, and a device belonging to the group A program for causing a computer to execute a storage step of storing the search result received from the device, wherein the request step causes a device belonging to the group to transmit first request information for confirming the existence of specific information. In the accumulating step, the search result including a response to the first request information is accumulated, and in the search transmitting step, Then, when the first request information is received, the information stored in the first storing step is searched for the specific information, and a search result is obtained as the first request information. And an information search program that, when the first request information is received in the request step, causes the device belonging to the group to send the second request information for confirming the existence of the specific information. . 14. A computer-readable recording medium in which the information retrieval program according to claim 13 is recorded.