JP2005011192A - Information distribution device, its program and information distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that user's labor for collecting information from a maker's web site is required when information is disclosed on the web site as a method for distributing information to users or the information is distributed to each user's e-mail address and it is confused that the distributed information is distributed to which apparatus when a user owns a plurality of pieces of apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The information distribution device is provided with: a database in which electronic apparatus is made correspond to an address owned by the electronic apparatus; and a maintenance information transmission means. Since the information is distributed to the address owned by the electronic apparatus in the case of information distribution, the distributed information is guaranteed as the information related to the electronic apparatus itself and user's misunderstanding can be prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information distribution system for distributing device maintenance information to a plurality of pieces of hardware via a transmission path (network).
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the development of the Internet and the like, it has become common to obtain or publish various information via a transmission line (network). At the same time, electronic devices that can be connected to the network are diversifying, and it is becoming possible to connect to networks such as PCs, TVs and mobile phones as well as home appliances such as refrigerators. Broadband communication lines and wireless LAN (Local Area) Network) and the like, an environment in which a large number of electronic devices are always connected to a network is being prepared.
[0003]
With these backgrounds, each manufacturer, when distributing information to the user, publishes all maintenance information for each item on the manufacturer's website (Web server) (see Non-Patent Document 1), or a plurality of electronic Select the relevant contact information from the device information and distribute the information. (See Patent Document 1) Usually, an e-mail address that a user usually uses is often used as a contact address.
[0004]
Here, maintenance information refers to information and updates on the latest version of software, information on and updates on the latest version of firmware that controls hardware using a microcomputer, etc., information on how to use and operate the device (operation manual), new functions and It means all useful information about equipment, such as information on new products, and important information about equipment failures.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-163202 A [Non-Patent Document 1]
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. homepage, Internet ( _{http://national.jp/product/house_hold/wash/attention/index.html, http://panasonic.jp/support/video/decker/html/decker/html} )
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when publishing maintenance information on each manufacturer's website, it is necessary for the user himself / herself to access each manufacturer's website and find out information on the models owned by the manufacturer from the vast amount of information published by the manufacturer. In addition, since it is very troublesome for the user to always obtain the latest maintenance information that is updated daily, it may be easy to neglect the collection of maintenance information. For this reason, it is easy to fall into a situation where important maintenance information related to device failure cannot be distributed.
[0007]
In addition, when selecting users who should distribute information from a large number of e-mail addresses of each user and automatically distributing necessary maintenance information, from the standpoint of the user, multiple manufacturers or one manufacturer Because maintenance information on multiple electronic devices is all delivered to the same e-mail address, there is a possibility of confusion as to which electronic device the delivered maintenance information relates to .
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises maintenance information transmitting means for transmitting maintenance information of an electronic device to the electronic device,
The maintenance information transmission means has a database that associates the electronic device information with the destination of the electronic device itself,
The information distribution apparatus is characterized in that the maintenance information is transmitted to the destination associated with the electronic device corresponding to a specific condition of the electronic device information. Since such information distribution apparatus distributes maintenance information to a destination of the electronic device itself, it is guaranteed that the information is related to the electronic device to which the information is distributed, and the distributed user does not misunderstand. Also, it is possible to reliably distribute important maintenance information without requiring the user himself / herself to access the website.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for distributing maintenance information by an information distribution apparatus according to the present application.
[0010]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a maintenance information transmitting means, which is normally configured by software, but may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit). Reference numeral 102 denotes a database that associates electronic device information with the destinations of the electronic device itself, and is usually composed of a storage medium such as a hard disk and software for searching recorded data. Circuit). Reference numeral 100 denotes an information distribution apparatus according to the present invention, which is composed of a maintenance information transmission unit 101 and a database 102 that associates electronic device information with a destination of the electronic device itself, and is usually realized by a computer such as a server. Reference numeral 103 denotes a public network, and reference numerals 104 to 108 denote electronic devices.
[0011]
In this embodiment, as an example, the information distribution apparatus 100 is a computer, the public network 103 is the entire network up to the Internet and a mobile phone, each electronic device 104 to 108 is a mobile phone, and the mobile phones 104 to 108 are installed inside. A means for processing a communication protocol such as a microcomputer is provided, which can be connected to the Internet via a mobile phone company gateway and has a mobile mail receiving function. Further, the database 102 associates electronic device information with a destination held by the electronic device itself. In this embodiment, the database 102 associates model information as electronic device information and a mobile mail address as a destination held by the electronic device itself. And Furthermore, it is assumed that the maintenance information transmission unit 101 and the database 102 in which the electronic device information is associated with the destination of the electronic device itself are realized by software and a recording medium in the information distribution apparatus.
[0012]
FIG. 2 shows the contents of the database 102 in this embodiment. The electronic device information need not be only model information, but may be a software version, an electronic device number, or the like. There may be a plurality of pieces of electronic device information.
[0013]
As a specific example of distribution of maintenance information, the operation in the case where important information related to device failure is distributed regardless of the version of the model A mobile phone will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0014]
Assume that an important device failure has been detected, for example, when the button A, button B, and button C are simultaneously pressed with respect to the model A of the mobile phone, the registered phone number data is deleted. Mobile phone manufacturers must distribute device failure information to users who use mobile phones of model A among mobile phones already sold.
[0015]
In this case, information distribution is performed in the following steps.
[0016]
(Step S <b> 201) The maintenance information transmission unit 101 of the information distribution apparatus 100 inputs the electronic device information “model A” to the database 102 and inquires the associated destination data.
[0017]
(Step S202) The database 102 that associates the electronic device information with the destination of the electronic device itself searches for and returns the destination data that matches the conditions of the input electronic device information.
[0018]
(Step S203) The maintenance information transmitting unit 101 distributes the maintenance information to the reply destination.
[0019]
That is, the device failure information is distributed only to the mobile phones of the electronic device 1 104 and the electronic device 4 107.
[0020]
The important thing here is that the destination you send is not a user, but an electronic device.
[0021]
FIG. 4 shows a database example in which conventional electronic device information and destinations are associated with each other. In this case, since the electronic mail address of the user A is set in the destinations of the electronic devices 1 and 2, both the maintenance information of the model A and the maintenance information of the model B are distributed to the same email address. Become. That is, for user A, it is necessary for user A to carefully determine whether the maintenance information delivered to the e-mail address that he or she normally uses is for electronic device 1 or electronic device 2, and there is a possibility of confusion. It's over there. The same applies to the electronic devices 4 and 5.
[0022]
However, in the database 102 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2, since the destination information is a destination that the electronic device itself has, even if the same user owns a plurality of electronic devices, the distributed information to which electronic device It's clear what it is.
[0023]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, since maintenance information is distributed to the destination of the electronic device itself, it is guaranteed that the information is related to the electronic device itself to which the information has been distributed. The user is not misled. In addition, since it is not necessary for the user to access the website, important maintenance information can be reliably distributed.
[0024]
In addition, although the case where there were five electronic devices 104-108 was taken as an example, it is the same also in many more.
[0025]
In addition, although the embodiment has been described with the mobile mail address, the present invention can be realized by any device as long as the device and the maintenance information transmission destination are uniquely associated with each other, and are excluded from the scope of the present invention. It is not a thing.
[0026]
Further, although a mobile phone has been described as an example of an electronic device, any device may be used as long as it has a destination of each electronic device and has a function of receiving information via a network.
[0027]
Further, when selecting an associated destination, a destination satisfying conditions for a plurality of pieces of electronic device information such as model A and version V1.60b or later may be selected.
[0028]
Further, in the embodiment of the present application, the line used for information distribution is the entire network up to the Internet and the mobile phone. The network is not excluded from the scope of the present invention. That is, the network connecting the information distribution apparatus and the electronic device may be any network even if it is a dedicated network of a mobile phone company.
[0029]
In the embodiment of the present application, device information is simply distributed. However, information distribution such as software upgrade may be performed, and the user determines whether or not to upgrade the software. The version may be upgraded only when necessary. Further, in the case of version upgrade, not all data may be distributed, but differential data may be distributed.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present embodiment, since maintenance information is distributed to the destination of the electronic device itself, it is guaranteed that the information is related to the electronic device itself to which the information has been distributed. The user is not misled. In addition, since it is not necessary for the user to access the website, important maintenance information can be reliably distributed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for distributing maintenance information in Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a database in which electronic device information in Embodiment 1 is associated with a destination held by the electronic device itself. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information distribution apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a database in which conventional electronic device information is associated with a user destination.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information delivery apparatus 101 Maintenance information transmission means 102 Database 103 with which electronic device information and the destination which electronic device itself has were linked | related Public network (Internet + network to mobile phone)
104 Electronic equipment 1
105 Electronic equipment 2
106 Electronic equipment 3
107 Electronic equipment 4
108 Electronic equipment 5

Claims (8)

Maintenance information transmission means for transmitting maintenance information of the electronic device to the electronic device,
The maintenance information transmission means has a database that associates the electronic device information with the destination of the electronic device itself,
An information distribution apparatus, wherein the maintenance information is transmitted to the destination associated with the electronic device corresponding to a specific condition of the electronic device information. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance information is transmitted to a plurality of the electronic devices. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device information is model information of the electronic device. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device information is hardware information of the electronic device. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the destination is an e-mail address. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device information and the destination correspond one-to-one. Computer
A maintenance information transmission step of transmitting maintenance information of the electronic device to the electronic device;
The maintenance information transmission step uses a database that associates the electronic device information with the destination of the electronic device itself,
A program for transmitting the maintenance information to the destination associated with the electronic device corresponding to a specific condition of the electronic device information. Maintenance information transmission means for transmitting maintenance information of the electronic device to the electronic device,
The maintenance information transmission means has a database that associates the electronic device information with the destination of the electronic device itself,
The information distribution device, the electronic device having the electronic device's own destination, and the electronic device having the destination of the electronic device, wherein the maintenance information is transmitted to the destination associated with the electronic device corresponding to the condition of the specific electronic device information An information distribution system configured by a network connecting an information distribution apparatus and an electronic device.

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