JP2004248159A - Mobile terminal, distribution device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal and a distribution device which can re-transmit the untransmitted data if necessary, delete the data which becomes unnecessary and does not transmit unnecessary data. <P>SOLUTION: In a mobile terminal capable of transmitting/receiving an E-mail via a radio communication network, it is provided with a detection means for detecting whether or not the terminal is within a communication range, an untransmitted mail storage means for storing an untransmitted E-mail, a setting means for setting transmission standby term of the E-mail and a control means for re-transmitting the untransmitted E-mail when the transmission standby term of the untransmitted E-mail is not expired when the detection means detects within the communication range. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable terminal capable of transmitting and receiving short messages, e-mail data, and the like (hereinafter, referred to as e-mail).
[0002]
[Prior art]
At present, many mobile terminals including PHS terminals that can transmit and receive electronic mail data have become widespread. In addition, many short message services, which use different methods for each communication carrier company, have become widespread. However, when an attempt is made to transmit e-mail data (including a short message or the like) created by such a mobile terminal, the communication state with the wireless base station must be within the communication range. In addition, when the user owning the mobile terminal is moving, for example, repeated handoff control with the wireless base station is performed, and the electric field level becomes unstable, so transmission of the created e-mail data is performed. Processing is not performed normally.
[0003]
For this reason, in the current portable terminal, when the transmission processing is not performed normally, the unsent e-mail data is temporarily stored in an internal memory, and the portable terminal user indicates a radio wave state based on the electric field level. When the electric field level becomes stable within the communication range based on the antenna display, it is necessary to read out the untransmitted data stored in the memory and perform the retransmission operation.
[0004]
Prior arts described below can be cited as inventions that solve the above problems.
The first prior art is to determine whether the communication area is outside or within the communication range based on the electric field level, and to automatically transmit untransmitted e-mail data when the electronic mail data changes to the communication range.
In the second prior art, the mobile terminal transmits e-mail data created by the mobile terminal to a mail server, and specifies a time at which the data is transmitted from the mail server to a transmission destination by a source user. Even when the user is out of the service area or the power is off, the e-mail data is transmitted to the transmission destination at the time intended by the transmission source user.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-69544 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described conventional portable terminal, when the created e-mail data cannot be transmitted or cannot be transmitted, it is necessary for the user to read out the untransmitted data from the stored memory by a manual operation and perform a retransmission operation. Was. Further, in this case, the operation is performed while the user checks the antenna display indicating the electric field level indicated on the display unit, and the user must always pay attention to the change in the electric field level.
[0007]
The first prior art described above detects an electric field level, automatically reads out unsent data that has been stored and performs a retransmission process when a state of communication is established. In the case where the transmission process is not performed normally and becomes untransmitted data and is temporarily stored in the memory, the user enters the communication area and the untransmitted data is stored until the transmission process is performed normally. There is a great difference in the period in which untransmitted data is stored depending on the radio wave environment in which it is located. In the worst case, the e-mail data is not sent within the time required by the destination or the sending user, and the data that no longer needs to be sent is waiting for retransmission. sell. Further, in such a case, the transmission / reception of the data of the e-mail is not necessary for the transmission destination user and the transmission source user, so that a communication fee is added, and a useless communication is performed. You have to pay a fee.
In the second prior art, when transmitting e-mail data to a wireless base station, the above-described drawback is a problem in that the source user must be concerned about the communication state, and requires a user operation in retransmission processing. No improvement in terms.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and automatically resends unsent e-mail data within a deadline to be resent, and confirms the necessity of resending if the deadline is exceeded. The present invention provides a terminal device that can retransmit untransmitted data as needed, deletes unnecessary data, and does not transmit unnecessary data, and a distribution device.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a portable terminal capable of transmitting and receiving an electronic mail via a wireless communication network, a detecting means for detecting whether or not the mobile terminal is within a communication range, and an untransmitted electronic mail for storing an untransmitted electronic mail A mail storage unit, a setting unit that sets a transmission waiting period of the electronic mail, and if the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has not expired when the detecting unit detects the communication range, the unsent mail is deleted. Control means for retransmitting.
[0010]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal according to the first aspect, the control unit includes a notifying unit for notifying the user when the unsent mail is retransmitted. And
[0011]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal according to the first or second aspect, the control unit stops resending the unsent mail when a transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has expired. It is characterized by:
[0012]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal according to any one of the first to third aspects, the control unit stores the unsent mail when the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail expires. It is characterized by erasing from.
[0013]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in a portable terminal capable of transmitting and receiving an electronic mail via a wireless communication network, a detecting means for detecting whether or not the mobile terminal is in a communication area, and storing an untransmitted electronic mail. Unsent mail storage means, setting means for setting the transmission waiting time limit and expiration date of the electronic mail, and when the detecting means detects the communication range, if the transmission waiting time limit of the unsent mail has not expired, Control means for resending the unsent mail, wherein the control means stops the resending of the unsent mail when the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail expires, and makes the unsent mail valid. When the time limit has expired, the unsent mail is deleted from the unsent mail storage means.
[0014]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal according to the fifth aspect, when the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has expired or when the unsent mail has expired, the user is notified of the fact. And a notifying means for performing the following.
[0015]
Further, according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in a delivery device capable of transmitting and receiving an e-mail via a wireless communication network, a receiving means for receiving an e-mail and expiration date information of the e-mail from a portable terminal; Storage means for storing the obtained e-mail and expiration date information of the e-mail, time-measuring means for measuring time, and based on the time measured by the time-measuring means and the expiration date information of the e-mail stored in the storage means. Control means for deleting an expired e-mail from the storage means.
[0016]
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the delivery device according to the seventh aspect, when the control unit deletes the expired e-mail from the storage unit, the mobile terminal that transmitted the e-mail Is notified to that effect.
[0017]
The mobile terminal of the present invention is a wireless communication network interface unit for transmitting and receiving signals to and from a wireless base station of a wireless communication network, and a communication area or by monitoring an electric field level in a communication state with the wireless base station, An electric field level detection unit (detection unit) for determining whether the mobile phone is out of the communication area, a control unit (control unit) for transmitting and receiving e-mail data, and data of the generated e-mail or data received from the wireless base station And an operation input unit for performing data input according to the data content to be created and operations of the portable terminal in general.
[0018]
Also, the control unit stores the unsent data in the unsent standby mail storage unit (e.g., when an attempt to send the e-mail data fails and when the electric field level detection unit determines that the state is out of the communication range). Means for storing in the display unit that data has not been transmitted to the data transmission source user and requesting the user to determine whether or not automatic retransmission is necessary. When the necessity of retransmission is instructed by the operation input unit, there is provided a means for performing a setting for setting a transmission waiting time limit and a mail expiration time limit via the operation input unit, and the electric field level detection unit is provided with an out-of-communication range. When an event occurs due to the transition from the state to the communication area state, a means for acquiring an occurrence time and an e-mail data stored in the unsent standby mail storage unit are set. And means for comparing the signal waiting time limit, the result of the comparison, it is preferable to carry out the automatic transmission processing only with respect to data that this event occurrence time is not past the transmission standby time limit.
[0019]
Further, a server (hereinafter, referred to as a mail server) for transferring e-mail data transmitted from the terminal device to a destination mail server is transmitted to the mobile terminal via a wireless base station. It has means capable of transmission and reception, and when performing transmission processing based on transmission destination information included in this data, comparing the mail expiration date set on the mobile terminal with the transmission processing execution time, It is preferable to execute transmission (transfer) processing only for data that has not reached the mail expiration date.
[0020]
According to the above configuration, the mobile terminal that is the data transmission source of the e-mail sends information on the transmission waiting period and the mail expiration date to unsent data that is not transmitted due to the out-of-communication range state or the unstable communication connection state. Is added to the unsent standby mail storage unit, and the stored data is resent only for valid data within the transmission waiting period, triggered by the transition of the mobile terminal to the communication area state. In addition, if the e-mail is within the e-mail expiration date after the elapse of the transmission waiting period, the user will be notified of the retransmission confirmation of the untransmitted data if the device is within the communication range. Can be performed. In addition, since the untransmitted data is deleted after the transmission waiting period or the mail expiration period, the storage area is not wasted.
[0021]
Further, when the mail server transmits (transfers) the received e-mail data based on the destination information, the e-mail server refers to the information of the e-mail expiration date added to the data and sets the e-mail validity. By transmitting only valid data that is within the time limit, the source user can reliably transmit appropriate e-mail data.
[0022]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal (1) used in the present embodiment.
[0023]
The mobile terminal (1) has a wireless communication network interface unit (11) for transmitting and receiving signals to and from a wireless base station, and monitors the electric field level in a state of communication with the wireless base station to enable communication within or outside the communication range. An electric field level detecting unit (12) for determining whether or not the electronic mail data is transmitted and received; a control unit (13) for transmitting and receiving e-mail data; 1) A display unit (14) for displaying a general operation state to notify the user, and an operation input unit (1) for inputting data according to data to be created and for performing general operations of the mobile terminal (1) 15).
[0024]
Here, the control unit (13) refers to the data to be untransmitted when the transmission of the e-mail data is attempted and the transmission fails, or when the electric field level detection unit (12) determines that the state is out of the communication range. Unsent standby mail storage unit (131) for storing a mail, and transmission standby expiration date and mail expiration date data set by the user for each mail data that has not been transmitted and is stored in the unsent standby mail storage unit (131). A time data adding unit (132), an event generating unit (133) for generating an event when the electric field level detecting unit (12) shifts from the out-of-communication state to the in-communication state, and a time when the event occurs. It comprises a timer section (134) for giving, and a time comparison section (135) for comparing the time acquired at the time of occurrence of the event with the transmission waiting period for each mail.
[0025]
The portable terminal (1) includes a portable terminal called a portable telephone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants). In the case of a PDA, a communication means may be built in or a communication means may be externally connected.
[0026]
The detailed configuration of the mail server will be described (see FIG. 6).
The mail server (4) is roughly divided into a communication line interface (401) for sending and receiving mail data, a memory (402) for storing mail data, a timer (403) for measuring time, and monitoring of the expiration date of mail. And a CPU (control means) (404) for performing various processing such as performing In the present embodiment, the mail server receives the mail data and the expiration date of the mail data via the communication line interface (401) and stores them in the memory (402). Then, the CPU (404) compares the time acquired from the timer (403) with the expiration date, and controls to delete the expired mail. Further, the portable terminal is notified of the deletion via the communication line interface (401).
[0027]
Next, the operation of the above-described portable terminal (1) will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
[0028]
It is assumed that a source user (2) of e-mail data creates and transmits an e-mail on a mobile terminal (1). In this case, the transmission source user (2) inputs data through the operation input unit (15) while watching the display unit (14) (S1), and sends the e-mail data (100) to the transmission destination (3). Transmit (S2). At this time, if the antenna display indicating the electric field level indicated on the display unit (14) indicates "out of service area", a message such as "cannot transmit" or the like, and a speaker for outputting sound are provided. An error sound is issued to notify the user (2) that transmission is not possible. Accordingly, the control unit (13) in the portable terminal (1) stores the unsent e-mail data (100) in the unsent standby mail storage unit (131).
[0029]
Then, a message is displayed via the display unit (14) to the transmission source user (2) as to whether or not automatic retransmission is necessary (S3). Here, when the source user (2) is notified that there is no necessity, the e-mail data (100) that has not been transmitted by the manual operation of the source user (2) is stored in the non-transmission standby mail storage unit (131). ) Is stored or deleted (S4). On the other hand, when the transmission source user (2) is notified that there is a need for automatic retransmission at the time of transition to the communication area state, the transmission source user (2) relates to the untransmitted e-mail data (100) via the display unit (14). The user is notified to set the transmission waiting period (200) and the mail expiration period (201), and receives the setting input (S5).
[0030]
Here, it is assumed that the time during which the electronic mail (100) could not be transmitted is “November 1: AM 9:00” (202). It is also assumed that the transmission waiting period (200) set by the transmission source user (2) is "November 1: PM 5:00" and the mail expiration period (201) is "November 2: AM 0:00" ( S6). In this case, the time data adding unit (132) sets the “sending standby time: November 1st: PM 5:00” (200) for the email data (100) stored in the unsent standby mail storage unit (131). ), Information of “Email expiration date: November 2nd: AM 0:00” (201) is added (S7).
[0031]
When the transmission source user (2) carries the mobile terminal (1) and moves to the “communication state” by moving, the control is performed by a signal notification from the electric field level detection unit (12). The event generation unit (133) in the unit (13) generates an event (S8), and at the same time, acquires the current time from the timer unit (134) (S9). Due to the occurrence of this event, the stored e-mail data (100) is read, and “transmission waiting period: November 1st: PM 5:00” (200) associated with the read e-mail data (100) (200) ) Are also read at the same time (S10).
[0032]
Therefore, the time comparing unit (135) compares the read “transmission standby time limit: November 1st: PM 5:00” (200) with the current time acquired from the timer unit (134) (S11). Now, consider the case where the acquired time is “November 1: PM 1:00” (203). In this case, since the current time has not passed the transmission waiting time limit (200), retransmission processing is performed (S12). Email expiration date (201) added by the sender user (2) to the e-mail data to be retransmitted, in this case, information of "mail expiration date: November 2nd: AM 0:00" (201) is added. The transmitted data is transmitted.
[0033]
The mobile terminal (1) receives the notification that the transmission processing has been normally performed with the wireless base station, and then stores the electronic mail data (100) stored in the unsent standby mail storage unit (131) and The data of “transmission waiting period: November 1st: PM 5:00” (200) and the data of “mail expiration date: November 2nd: 0:00” (201) are deleted.
Further, if the transition event to the communication area state does not occur until the “transmission waiting time limit: November 1st: PM 5:00” (200) associated with the e-mail data (100), retransmission is stopped. (S13a), the electronic mail data (100) notifies the transmission source user (2) via the display unit (14) that the non-transmission period has reached the transmission standby period (200) (S13). ), Confirm the deletion processing of the e-mail data (100), and execute the deletion processing with the consent of the transmission source user (2) (S14).
[0034]
Further, the mail server (4) extracts “mail expiration date: November 2nd: AM 0:00” (201) added to the e-mail data (100) received via the wireless base station. At the same time, the current time is acquired and compared (S15). If the current time has not passed the mail expiration date (201), the transmission processing to the transmission destination (3) included in the e-mail data (100) is performed. Is performed (S16). This process is performed in all cases when the transmission process is performed, including the case where the retransmission process is performed, due to the influence of the communication connection state with the transmission destination (3). At this time, the transmitted e-mail data (100) is only the e-mail data (100) excluding the information of the added e-mail expiration date (201). If the mail expiration date (201) has passed, it is discarded in the mail server (4) (S17). In this case, processing such as notifying the transmission source user (2) of the discard is performed (S18).
In the above, when the current time has passed the mail expiration date (201), the mail server (4) discards the e-mail data (100). Alternatively, the electronic mail data (100) may be discarded when the current time has passed the mail expiration date (201).
Note that the CDMA terminal may determine the inside / out of service area based on the pilot strength (Ec / Io) in addition to the electric field level. In that case, the mobile terminal 1 includes a pilot strength detection unit (not shown).
Further, when the unsent mail is transmitted, the mobile terminal 1 notifies the user of the fact.
Further, the “transmission waiting period” and the “expiration date” may be set before the e-mail transmission operation.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As described in detail above, according to the present invention, appropriate short message and e-mail data such as e-mail can be reliably transmitted without worrying about whether the user is in a communication area state. . Also, even if the transmission has failed, the retransmission process is automatically performed, so that the user is not bothered.
In addition, by setting the transmission waiting period, the transmission source user does not need to transmit the data of the e-mail which is no longer required to be transmitted. As a result, extra communication charges are reduced.
Further, by setting the mail expiration date, it is not necessary to transmit e-mail data which is considered unnecessary for the transmission destination, and the e-mail can be automatically deleted. As a result, troublesome operations such as data deletion by the transmission source and the transmission destination can be omitted, and the communication fee that is burdensome when receiving e-mail data can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a portable information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a control flowchart of the mobile terminal in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the mobile terminal in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the mobile terminal in the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a mail server control in the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a mail server in the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Mobile terminal 100 Email data 11 Wireless communication network interface unit 12 Electric field level detection unit 13 Control unit 131 Unsent standby mail storage unit 132 Time data addition unit 133 Event generation unit 134 Timer unit 135 Time comparison unit 14 Display unit 15 Operation input Part 2 Source user 200 of e-mail data (100) Transmission waiting period 201 associated with e-mail data (100) E-mail expiration date 202 associated with e-mail data (100) Start of transmission of e-mail data (100) Time (first time)
203 Event occurrence time 3 Transmission destination user of electronic mail data (100) 4 Mail server 401 Communication line interface 402 Memory 403 Timer 404 CPU

Claims (8)

In a mobile terminal capable of sending and receiving e-mail via a wireless communication network,
Detecting means for detecting whether or not the mobile phone is within a communication range;
Unsent mail storage means for storing unsent e-mails,
Setting means for setting an e-mail transmission waiting period,
A control unit for retransmitting the unsent mail if the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has not expired when the detecting unit detects the communication area. 2. The portable terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a notifying unit for notifying the user of a confirmation when the control unit retransmits the unsent mail. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stops resending the unsent mail when the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has expired. 4. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit deletes the unsent mail from the unsent mail storage unit when the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has expired. In a mobile terminal capable of sending and receiving e-mail via a wireless communication network,
Detecting means for detecting whether or not the mobile phone is within a communication range;
Unsent mail storage means for storing unsent e-mails,
Setting means for setting the transmission waiting period and the expiration date of the e-mail,
When the detection unit detects the communication range, if the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has not expired, the control unit retransmits the unsent mail, and
The control means stops resending of the unsent mail when the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has expired. A portable terminal characterized by being deleted from storage means. 6. The mobile terminal according to claim 5, further comprising a notification unit that notifies a user when the transmission waiting period of the unsent mail has expired or the expiration date of the unsent mail has expired. In a delivery device capable of sending and receiving e-mail via a wireless communication network,
Receiving means for receiving an e-mail and expiration date information of the e-mail from the mobile terminal,
Storage means for storing the received e-mail and expiration date information of the e-mail,
A timing means for measuring time;
Control means for deleting expired e-mails from the storage means based on the time measured by the time measurement means and the expiration information of the e-mails stored in the storage means. Distribution device. 8. The distribution apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the control unit deletes the expired e-mail from the storage unit, the control unit notifies the portable terminal that transmitted the e-mail of the deletion.

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