JP2005222403A - Data transmission apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique that presents data to a user in the form based on the intent of a service provider for providing data. <P>SOLUTION: Lists of data representing a list of services provided to the user are stored in a data transmission apparatus 50. The service provider for providing the services makes the data transmission apparatus 50 acquire optional data, which are optionally presented to the user, and specify presentation conditions to be followed when presenting the optional data to the user. Then, the data transmission apparatus 50 is made to generate presentation data to be presented to the user according to the presentation conditions by using the list of data and optional data, and to transmit the presentation data to a terminal device 30 utilized by the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for providing data customized for each user when providing data to the user.

  In recent years, various data are provided via the Internet. As an example of such data, there is advertisement data for advertising a service or product provided by a service provider to a user. A user browses advertisement data provided by each service provider using a terminal device such as a mobile phone having a browser function, and thereby selects a service or product that suits his / her preference.

  However, since the number of advertisement data provided via the Internet is enormous, it is impossible to browse all of them. Therefore, there is a need for users to browse only advertisement data for services and products that suit their preferences from among these enormous numbers of advertisement data. As a technique for meeting such user needs, there is a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a user connects to a website and receives an edit page or a search result list, a search topic specified by the user or a browser used by the user Advertising data that matches customization parameters such as software version data is extracted. Then, the web page into which the advertisement data extracted in this way is inserted is provided to the user. Since such a customization parameter reflects the user's preference, advertisement data that matches the user's preference is provided.

JP 2000-78195 A

  By the way, when providing advertisement data, a service provider is generally required to bear some cost. For example, in order to place advertisement data on the homepage of a certain portal site, the service provider needs to pay a predetermined fee to the communication carrier that operates the portal site. For this reason, there is a need for the service provider to want the advertisement data to be presented in a manner based on its own intention in order to reliably obtain the advertising effect corresponding to the cost borne.

  However, even if the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, the above-mentioned needs of service providers cannot be met. The reason is that by using the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to present specific advertisement data only when the customization parameter has a specific value. This is because it is not related to the intention of the service provider.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for presenting data to a user in an aspect based on the intention of a service provider that provides the data.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a list data storage unit that stores, for each user, list data indicating a list of services provided to each user, and a service provider that provides the service to the user. Arbitrary data acquisition means for arbitrarily acquiring arbitrary data presented to the user, specifying means for specifying a presentation condition to be followed when presenting the arbitrary data to the user, and according to the presentation condition specified by the specifying means, Generating means for generating presentation data to be presented to the user using the list data stored in the list data storage means and the arbitrary data acquired by the arbitrary data acquiring means, and the presentation generated by the generating means There is provided a data transmission device having transmission means for transmitting data to a terminal device used by the user.

  According to such a data transmission device, presentation data for causing the terminal device to present arbitrary data is generated in accordance with the presentation conditions defined by the service provider that provides the arbitrary data for each arbitrary data and the communication carrier. And transmitted to the terminal device.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that data is presented to the user in a manner reflecting the intention of the service provider.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[A. Constitution]
(1: Configuration of communication system)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of a communication system having a data transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this communication system includes content servers 20A, 20B, and 20C connected to the Internet 10, a mobile packet communication network 40 that accommodates the terminal device 30, and a mobile packet communication network 40. The data transmission device 50 is connected. In FIG. 1, only one terminal device is illustrated, but actually there are a plurality of terminal devices. Also, in FIG. 1, three content servers are illustrated, but there are actually many content servers.

  Each of the content servers 20A, 20B, and 20C is a computer device that is operated by a unique service provider, and stores content provided by the service provider. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the content server 20A is operated by the service provider A and stores the content A provided by the service provider A. The content server 20B is operated by the service provider B, and stores the content B provided by the service provider B. Further, it is assumed that the content server 20C is operated by the service provider C and stores content C provided by the service provider C. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish each of these three content servers, they are referred to as “content server 20”. Further, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the service providers A, B, and C, they are simply referred to as “service providers”, and it is not necessary to distinguish between the contents A, B, and C. Is simply written as “content”.

  The terminal device 30 is a general mobile phone having a browser function, and communicates with the content server 20 and the data transmission device 50 via the mobile packet communication network 40 and the Internet 10 according to HTTP (Hyper Text Transport Protocol). Has the ability to do. Further, the terminal device 30 stores a unique communication address (for example, a telephone number) assigned by a telecommunications carrier operating the mobile packet communication network 40. In the present embodiment, the case where the communication address is stored in the terminal device 30 will be described. However, the terminal device 30 can be equipped with an information storage module such as a UIM (User Identity Module). Of course, the communication address may be stored in the module.

  The mobile packet communication network 40 includes a base station 41 and a gateway device (hereinafter referred to as “GW”) 42. The base station 41 is for forming a wireless cell of a certain size and wirelessly communicating with the terminal device 30 residing in the wireless cell. The GW 42 is for connecting the mobile packet communication network 40 and the Internet 10, and has a function of mutually converting the communication protocol in the mobile packet communication network 40 and the communication protocol in the Internet 10.

  The data transmission device 50 is a computer device operated by the above-described communication carrier, and is for providing a portal site service to the user of the terminal device 30. The data transmission device 50 stores a list data table shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the list data table is a list showing a list of service providers that provide services to the user in association with a user identifier that uniquely identifies the user of the terminal device 30. Data is stored. This list data includes an identifier (for example, the URL of the content server 20: hereinafter referred to as “server identifier”) that uniquely identifies the content server 20 operated by the service provider that provides the service to the user. Yes. In the present embodiment, a case where the communication address of the terminal device 30 used by the user is used as the user identifier will be described. . For example, FIG. 2 shows that services are provided by service providers A, B, and C to users who use the terminal device 30.

  Further, the data transmission device 50 includes, for example, arbitrary data provided to the user of the terminal device 30 by the service providers A, B, and C as in the advertisement data described above, and a presentation condition table shown in FIG. Is remembered. This presentation condition table stores a server identifier, an arbitrary data identifier, and presentation condition data in association with each other. The arbitrary data identifier is an identifier for uniquely specifying the arbitrary data provided by the service provider identified by the server identifier associated with the arbitrary data identifier. For example, the arbitrary data identifier is the name of the arbitrary data. . The presentation condition data is data indicating a presentation condition defined between the service provider providing the arbitrary data and the communication carrier as a condition to be followed when presenting the arbitrary data. As an example of such presentation condition data, there is data based on the content of a contract concluded between a service provider and a communication carrier regarding the presentation mode of arbitrary data. The reason for using such data as presentation condition data is that the intention of the service provider is reflected in the contents of the contract between the service provider and the telecommunications carrier. This is because it can be reflected in the presentation mode of arbitrary data. In this embodiment, a contract is signed between the service provider and the telecommunications carrier to increase the area for displaying arbitrary data as the amount of the fee paid by the service provider to the telecommunications carrier is higher. It is assumed that the amount of fee paid by the service provider to the communication carrier is used as the presentation condition data.

  When the data transmission device 50 is requested by the terminal device 30 to transmit data to be presented to the user, the data transmission device 50 identifies list data to be presented to the user, arbitrary data, and a presentation condition for the arbitrary data. To do. Then, the data transmission device 50 generates presentation data to be presented to the user using the list data and the arbitrary data according to the presentation conditions, and transmits the presentation data to the terminal device 30. In the present embodiment, the case where the data transmission device 50 is connected to the mobile packet communication network 40 will be described, but it is needless to say that the data transmission device 50 may be connected to the Internet 10. In such a case, it goes without saying that a personal computer device connected to the Internet 10 may be used as a terminal device that communicates with the data transmission device 50.

(2: Configuration of the data transmission device 50)
Next, the hardware configuration of the data transmission device 50 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the data transmission device 50 includes a control unit 410, a communication unit 420, a storage unit 430, and a bus 440 that mediates data exchange between these components.

  The control unit 410 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and controls each unit of the data transmission device 50 by executing software stored in the storage unit 430.

  The communication unit 420 is connected to the mobile packet communication network 40 and communicates with the terminal device 30 via the mobile packet communication network 40. The communication unit 420 receives data transmitted from the terminal device 30, delivers the received data to the control unit 410, and sends the data delivered from the control unit 410 to the mobile packet communication network 40.

  The storage unit 430 includes a volatile storage unit 431 and a nonvolatile storage unit 432. The volatile storage unit 431 is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory), and is used as a work area by the control unit 410 executing software. On the other hand, the non-volatile storage unit 432 is, for example, a hard disk, and stores the above-described list data table (see FIG. 2), presentation condition table (see FIG. 3), and arbitrary data provided by each service provider. . Further, the non-volatile storage unit 432 stores the OS software for causing the control unit 410 to implement an operating system (hereinafter referred to as “OS”) and the presentation data transmission process shown in FIG. The presentation data transmission software for performing is stored. Hereinafter, functions provided to the control unit 410 by executing these software will be described.

  When the power (not shown) of the data transmission device 50 is turned on, the control unit 410 first reads the OS software from the nonvolatile storage unit 432 and executes it. The control unit 410 executing the OS software is provided with a function for controlling each unit of the data transmission device 50, a function for executing other software, and the like. Then, the control unit 410 that completes the execution of the OS software and implements the OS reads the presentation data transmission software from the nonvolatile storage unit 432 and executes it. When the terminal device 30 is requested to transmit the list data, the control unit 410 that is executing the presentation data transmission software is a service provider that provides a service to a user who uses the terminal device 30. Presentation data that causes the terminal device 30 to present the arbitrary data to be provided to the terminal apparatus 30 is generated and transmitted in a manner indicated by the presentation condition data associated with the arbitrary data. In the present embodiment, the control unit 410 generates and transmits presentation data for causing the terminal device 30 to display list data and arbitrary data on the screen layout shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen layout of a portal screen displayed on the terminal device 30. An area 600 is an area for displaying list data. An area 610 in FIG. 6 is an area for displaying arbitrary data.

  As described above, the data transmission device 50 has the same configuration as a general computer device. Then, the control unit 410 of the data transmission device 50 executes the presentation data transmission software stored in the non-volatile storage unit 432 under the control of the OS, thereby performing functions specific to the data transmission device according to the present invention. Realize.

[B. Operation]
Next, of the operations performed by the data transmission device 50 in the communication system shown in FIG. 1, only the operations that significantly show the characteristics of the data transmission device according to the present invention will be described. As a premise of this operation, it is assumed that the data transmission device 50 stores the list data table shown in FIG. 2 and the presentation condition table shown in FIG. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the control unit 410 of the data transmission device 50 is already executing the above-described software.

  When an operation unit (not shown) of the terminal device 30 is operated by the user and an instruction to acquire list data is input, the terminal device 30 transmits an instruction code requesting transmission of the list data and its own device. An HTTP request including the communication address (hereinafter referred to as “presentation data transmission request”) is generated, and this presentation data transmission request is transmitted to the data transmission device 50 via the mobile packet communication network 40.

  As described above, the control unit 410 of the data transmission device 50 is executing the presentation data transmission software described above, and executes the presentation data transmission process according to the flowchart shown in FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 5, when the control unit 410 receives the presentation data transmission request via the communication unit 420 (step SA1), first, the control unit 410 identifies the user of the terminal device 30 that has transmitted the presentation data transmission request. (Step SA2). In the present embodiment, the control unit 410 acquires the communication address included in the presentation data transmission request received in step SA1, and specifies the terminal device 30 that has transmitted the presentation data transmission request. The user who uses the terminal device 30 is specified.

  Next, the control unit 410 specifies a service provider that provides a service to the user specified in step SA2 (step SA3). In the present embodiment, the control unit 410 identifies the service provider by acquiring list data stored in the list data table (see FIG. 2) in association with the communication address acquired in step SA2. . Specifically, service providers A, B, and C are specified as service providers that provide services to the user specified in step SA2.

  Next, based on the server identifier included in the list data acquired in step SA3 and the stored content of the presentation condition table (see FIG. 3), the control unit 410 transmits arbitrary data to the terminal device 30 and its data The presentation condition data indicating the presentation condition is specified (step SA4).

  Next, the control unit 410 generates presentation data for causing the terminal device 30 to present the arbitrary data identified in step SA4 based on the presentation condition data identified in step SA4 (step SA5). . In the present embodiment, the control unit 410 displays arbitrary data provided by the service providers A, B, and C in the area 610 in an area proportional to the fee paid by each service provider to the communication carrier. Generate presentation data. Specifically, the control unit 410 generates presentation data for causing the terminal device 30 to display the portal screen shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the arbitrary data provided by the service providers A, B, and C are displayed at a ratio of 3: 2: 1.

  Then, control unit 410 transmits an HTML response including the presentation data generated in step SA5 (hereinafter referred to as “presentation data transmission response”) to terminal device 30 via communication unit 420 (step SA6). End the data transmission process.

  The terminal device 30 that has received the presentation data transmission response interprets the presentation data included in the presentation data transmission response using a browser function, and displays a portal screen (see FIG. 7) corresponding to the interpretation result. (Not shown).

[C. Modified example]
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea. In addition, as a modification, the following can be considered, for example.

  (Modification 1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where arbitrary data provided by each service provider is stored in advance in the data transmission device 50 has been described. However, the data transmitting device 50 stores data indicating the location of arbitrary data provided by each service provider (for example, the URL of the arbitrary data), and this data is received each time a presentation data transmission request is received. Of course, the data transmission device 50 may acquire arbitrary data. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the presentation condition data indicating the presentation condition of the arbitrary data is stored in advance in the data transmission device 50 has been described. However, the data transmitting device 50 stores data indicating the location of the presentation condition data (for example, the URL of the computer device storing the presentation condition data), and each time a presentation data transmission request is received, Of course, the presentation condition data may be acquired by the data transmission device 50 based on this data.

  (Modification 2) In the above-described embodiment, arbitrary data provided by each service provider is displayed in the area 610 of the portal screen in an area proportional to the amount of the fee paid by the service provider to the communication carrier. The case where it does is demonstrated (refer FIG. 7). However, the display mode of arbitrary data is not limited to such a mode. For example, the arbitrary data provided by each service provider may be displayed one by one in the area 610 of the portal screen, and the display time of each arbitrary data may be increased in proportion to the amount of money. Alternatively, the arbitrary data may be displayed on the pop-up screen, and the display time of the pop-up screen may be increased in proportion to the above amount.

  (Modification 3) In the above-described embodiment, there is a contract between the service provider and the telecommunications carrier to display arbitrary data in a wider area as the fee paid by the service provider to the telecommunications carrier is higher. The case where it was tied was explained. However, the aspect of the contract concluded between the service provider and the communication carrier is not limited to such an aspect. For example, a mode in which the size of characters when displaying arbitrary data is increased as the fee paid by the service provider to the communication carrier is higher may be used.

  (Modification 4) In the above-described embodiment, there is a contract between the service provider and the telecommunications carrier to display arbitrary data in a wider area as the fee paid by the service provider to the telecommunications carrier is higher. The case where it was tied was explained. However, the aspect of the contract concluded between the service provider and the communication carrier is not limited to such an aspect. For example, if there is a contract to display arbitrary data in a wider area as the number of users using the service provided by the service provider increases, the service provided by each service provider is used. The number of existing users may be used as the presentation condition data. In addition, when a contract is made to display arbitrary data in a wider area as the priority assigned by the service provider is higher, the priority assigned to the arbitrary data by the service provider is indicated by the presentation condition data. It may be used as.

  (Modification 5) In the above-described embodiment, the case where one presentation condition is defined for one arbitrary data has been described. Of course, a plurality of presentation conditions may be defined for one arbitrary data. good. For example, different priorities may be associated with one arbitrary data for each attribute (for example, age, gender, etc.) of the user who is presented with the arbitrary data. A plurality of periods with different priorities may be determined for one arbitrary data. If it does in this way, it will become possible to change the presentation mode of arbitrary data finely based on a user's attribute, a period, etc., and there will be an effect that an advertising effect improves.

  (Modification 6) In the above-described embodiment, the case where only the intention of the service provider is reflected in the presentation mode of the arbitrary data has been described. However, in addition to the intention of the service provider, the intention of the user may be reflected in the presentation mode of arbitrary data. This is because the priority set by the user for each service provider is stored in the data transmitting apparatus 50, and the setting is made by the user when the presentation conditions set by the service provider are the same. This is realized by determining the presentation mode according to the priority order. In this way, it is possible to finely change the presentation mode of arbitrary data based on both the service provider's intention and the user's intention, presenting data that meets the user's needs and advertising effect That is, there is an effect that it becomes possible to harmonize the interests of the service provider with the interests of the user.

  (Modification 7) In the above-described embodiment, the case where software (presentation data transmission software) that realizes the function of the data transmission device according to the present invention is stored in the data transmission device 50 in advance has been described. However, for example, the presentation data transmission software is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read only Memory), and a general portal site service is provided using the recording medium. Of course, the same function as that of the data transmission apparatus according to the present invention may be given to the computer apparatus.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the communication system which has the data transmitter 50 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the list data table memorize | stored in the same data transmitter. It is a figure which shows an example of the presentation condition table memorize | stored in the same data transmitter. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the data transmission device 50. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the presentation data transmission operation | movement which the data transmission apparatus 50 performs. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen layout of the portal screen which the terminal device 30 displays based on the presentation data transmitted from the same data transmitter. It is a figure which shows an example of the portal screen displayed on the display part of the terminal device.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Internet, 20, 20A, 20B, 20C ... Content server, 30 ... Terminal device, 40 ... Mobile packet communication network, 41 ... Base station, 42 ... GW, 50 ... Data transmission device, 410 ... Control part, 420 ... Communication Parts, 430 ... storage part, 431 ... volatile storage part, 432 ... non-volatile storage part, 440 ... bus.

Claims (4)

List data storage means for storing, for each user, list data indicating a list of services provided to each user;
Arbitrary data acquisition means for acquiring arbitrary data arbitrarily presented to the user from a service provider that provides the service;
A specifying means for specifying a presentation condition defined between the service provider and a communication carrier that manages a communication network that accommodates a terminal device used by the user;
Generate presentation data to be presented to the user using the list data stored in the list data storage unit and the arbitrary data acquired by the arbitrary data acquisition unit according to the presentation condition specified by the specifying unit Generating means for
A data transmission apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting the presentation data generated by the generation means to a terminal device used by the user. A user attribute specifying means for specifying an attribute of the user receiving the service;
Different presentation conditions are determined by the service provider for each attribute of the user who receives the presentation of the arbitrary data, and the specifying unit is configured to select the arbitrary data based on the user attribute specified by the user attribute specifying unit. The data transmission device according to claim 1, wherein a presentation condition to be followed when presenting to the user is specified. It further includes a timing means,
The presentation condition to be followed when presenting the arbitrary data to the user includes a period in which the presentation condition is to be applied, and the specifying unit includes a period of time measured by the time measuring unit. The data transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the corresponding presentation condition is specified as a presentation condition to be followed when the arbitrary data is presented to the user. For each user, a priority order of services provided to the user is set, and user order storage means for storing the priority order set by the user is further provided.
The generation means includes list data stored in the list data storage means and the arbitrary data acquisition means according to the presentation condition specified by the specification means and the priority order stored in the user rank storage means. The data transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein presentation data to be presented to the user is generated using the acquired arbitrary data.

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