JP2007159150A - Portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable, in a portable terminal having a plurality of communication functions, selection from a among large number of contents, even when the user is going out, to reduce the concern on the part of the user, by displaying the time and cost to acquire a content when the selection is to be made, and furthermore, to select a more advantageous communication route by utilizing the position information of the portable terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The portable terminal displays a selection screen which includes not only the contents held by the terminal, but also the contents held by a content server capable of communicating in relation to networks, and from which the terminal user can select one from among the contents. The selection screen also shows the size of the content and information on the stored area of the content, and in addition, information on the communication route, such as the communication speed and communication enabled area, and the approximate time and the cost necessary for acquiring the content. Furthermore, when a higher-speed and less expensive communication path is available to the user by moving with the portable terminal, the display presenting acquisition of the content through the communication route to the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable terminal capable of acquiring content such as music, video, and programs from a plurality of communication paths, and in particular, a method for selecting a content that a user wants to play or execute, and a communication path used for content acquisition. On how to do.

  Mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs are widespread and have many additional functions such as voice calls, emails, web access, photo shooting, music playback, video playback, and program execution. It has evolved into an information terminal. As mobile terminals become more sophisticated, the size of content that can be used on them has increased. When such a large content is taken into a portable terminal, there are problems that (1) it takes a long time to acquire, (2) the cost of communication is high, and it is not clear. In the future, if new communication methods such as wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and infrared are adopted in mobile terminals, it will be difficult for users to understand communication costs.

  One technique for dealing with these problems is Patent Document 1. This makes use of broadband and inexpensive wired communication that is now widely used in homes, and once the content is loaded into the content server installed at home, the content is stored in the mobile device using the charging time of the mobile device when the user returns home. Capture. This reduces communication costs and shortens the time required for acquisition.

  In Patent Document 2, a moving image distribution server is provided with a function of selecting an optimum route from a plurality of communication routes, thereby realizing a reduction in communication costs and a bandwidth guarantee. In addition, the priority of communication cost and communication speed is registered in advance for each subscriber, and it is possible to specify which of communication cost reduction and bandwidth guarantee should be given priority when selecting a route according to the preference of the subscriber. Yes.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, in order to cope with the problem (2), a new billing information is downloaded from the outside to the mobile terminal following the change in the billing status of the billing, and the accurate billing is displayed using this. Has proposed. In particular, a method for calculating an accurate communication cost when a discount is applied according to a communication time zone is described.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-18317 JP 2002-369174 A JP 2002-135464 A

When the mobile terminal becomes multifunctional and has a plurality of communication paths as at present, it is necessary to select an appropriate communication path according to the situation. Some communication paths can be used only in a specific area such as a store, office, or home such as a wireless LAN, and other communication paths can be used only at home such as communication via a charger in Patent Document 1.
However, in patent document 1, since the data in a home content server cannot be acquired when going out, the content which can be used from a portable terminal has been restricted. A method of acquiring data by accessing the home content server via the public line when going out is also conceivable, but the user cannot know how much communication cost and communication time will be required at that time, so acquisition via the public line It is difficult for the user to select whether or not to obtain via a charger after returning home.

Further, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 do not take into account locally available communication paths, and the user can use an inexpensive or high-speed communication path by moving with a portable terminal. Not offer.
Furthermore, in these methods, the user cannot determine the communication path at the time of content acquisition. In Patent Document 2, it is assumed that the route according to the preference is selected according to the priority for each individual registered in the subscriber database. However, in this method, it is difficult to cope with the change in the preference of the user, and the user can select the content. There is a problem that it is difficult to understand the communication cost when using it.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 accurately notifies the user of the cost of communication, but this method displays the correct communication cost after communication, and does not display the estimated communication cost before communication. For this reason, there exists a subject that a user cannot select a communication path before communication.

The problems described above are summarized in the following two points.
(1) For a user of a mobile terminal provided with a plurality of communication paths, costs such as time and cost required for content acquisition are unclear.
(2) It is difficult for a user of a mobile terminal having a plurality of communication paths to select a communication path that can acquire content more advantageously.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention has a function of viewing or executing content, and a mobile terminal having a plurality of communication functions such as wireless and wired, and the location of the content that the user may select, A list that includes the approximate value of communication cost and communication time for content acquisition from the current mobile terminal location, the approximate value of communication cost for content location and content acquisition, and the approximate time for content acquisition Provide a content selection method to be presented to content users. In addition, the mobile terminal is provided with a function for suggesting movement to the user when the user travels with the mobile terminal and can use a communication path with less communication time and communication cost.

The following effects can be obtained by the mobile terminal and the content distribution method according to the present invention.
(1) When content is acquired using a portable terminal having a plurality of communication functions such as wireless and wired, the content acquisition time and content acquisition cost can be clearly presented, and selection of content can be determined without concern.
(2) A more advantageous communication path can be easily selected by utilizing position information of the portable terminal.
Through the above effects, the user can select and view the content more freely.

A first embodiment for realizing the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a system for realizing the present invention.
This system includes a content server 101 and a mobile terminal 121 connected by a plurality of networks such as the Internet, a wide area wireless network, a local wireless network, and a local wired network. The content server 101 and the mobile terminal 121 need not always be connected, and are connected using one of communication paths when communication is required, depending on the position of the mobile terminal.

  An example of a wide area wireless network is a wireless communication network currently used by mobile phones, PHS, and the like. An example of a local wireless network is a wireless LAN installed in each home or store. In general, a local wireless network can communicate at a higher speed than a wide area wireless network, but has a feature that a region where communication is possible is limited. As an example of communication by a local wired network, communication via a charger described in Patent Document 1 can be cited. This eliminates the trouble of connecting to a wired connection by connecting the mobile terminal to a charger for charging and simultaneously connecting to a communication line. As another example of the local wired network, an implementation method in which a user manually connects a cable such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and performs wired communication is also conceivable. These wired communications require a cable connection for communication, but generally have a feature that the communication speed is faster than wireless communications.

The content server 101 is a device that stores a large amount of content such as music data and moving image data supplied to the user. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which a content server owned by an individual is installed at the home of each individual.
The content server 101 includes a central processing unit 102, a main storage device 103, a secondary storage device 104, a wired communication device 105, a local wireless communication device 106, a local wired communication device 107, and the like.
The content server communicates with the external content server 141, the portable terminal 121, and the like via the above-described network by communication devices such as the wired communication device 105, the local wireless communication device 106, and the local wired communication device 107.
The central processing unit 102 drives a program arranged on the main storage device 103, and realizes processing such as collecting content from the outside or transmitting content to the mobile terminal 121 or the like.

In the main storage device 103, a content collection program 108, a content transmission program 109, and the like are arranged. The content collection program 108 is connected to the external content server 141 through the wired communication device 105, and acquires the content designated by the user in advance or the content according to the user's preference. In the secondary storage device 104, a large-capacity content database 110 is arranged and the collected content is stored. The contents of the content database 110 will be described later with reference to FIG.
The content transmission program 108 accepts a content request from the mobile terminal 121, retrieves the content from the content database 110, and transmits it to the mobile terminal 121. The portable terminal 121 includes a wide area wireless communication device 122, a local wireless communication device 123, a local wired communication device 124, a main storage device 125, a secondary storage device 126, a screen display device 127, an input device 128, a position measurement device 129, a center The processing unit 130 and the like.

The wide area wireless communication device 122, the local wireless communication device 123, and the local wired communication device 124 are devices for communicating via the networks described above. Although the present invention can be applied to a portable terminal having two or more communication devices, this embodiment describes a portable terminal having the above three communication devices.
In the main storage device 125, a content selection program 131, a communication path selection program 132, a content acquisition program 133, and the like are arranged. The content to be acquired is determined by these programs, and the content is acquired from the content server 101.

On the secondary storage device 126, data such as a content file 134, a content list 135, and a communication path information list 136 are stored. The content file 134 is a data area for storing the substance of content acquired by the mobile terminal 121, such as music data, video data, and program binaries. In general, the secondary storage area mounted on the mobile terminal is content that is not carried. The capacity is smaller than the server. Therefore, the content file 134 cannot store as much content as the content database 110.
The content list 135 and the communication path information list 136 are used when acquiring content according to the present invention. The content list 135 is data that holds information about the content of the content server 101 and the mobile terminal 121, not the content substance, and when the content server 101 is wired or when the mobile terminal 121 acquires the content It is updated at times. Details will be described later with reference to FIG. The communication path information list 136 holds information related to a communication path using the communication device of the mobile terminal 121. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

The screen display device 127 and the input device 128 are used not only for selection and determination of acquired content by the user but also for content reproduction such as moving images.
The position measuring device 129 is a device that recognizes the current position of the mobile terminal. Examples of one measuring device 129 include a device that acquires latitude and longitude by GPS, a device that detects a position from an ID of a base station, and a device that detects whether a charger is connected.
The central processing unit 130 drives the programs 131 to 133 on the main storage device 125, and acquires content using the above-described devices. Moreover, you may use in order to implement | achieve other functions which the portable terminal 121 has, such as a voice call function and a content reproduction function.

  FIG. 2 shows a content selection screen in the present embodiment. The screen display device 127 displays a list as shown in FIG. 2, and the user of the portable terminal 121 selects contents to view or execute by viewing the list. The location of the content is displayed along with the content name and content type. In this figure, the location display of the content stored on the mobile terminal 121 is “mobile phone”, and the location display of the content stored on the content server 101 is “home”. Also, the time taken to acquire the content and the approximate value of the communication cost are displayed together. The time and communication cost required to acquire the content already acquired on the mobile terminal 121 are displayed as zero, and the content stored on the content server 101 displays a certain amount of time and communication cost. . Since the available communication path changes depending on the position of the mobile terminal 121, these values of time and communication cost are displayed in different values depending on the position of the mobile terminal 121.

By selecting the content to be acquired from the table as described above, the user can easily select content that is not stored in the mobile terminal 121, and also understand in advance the time and communication cost required to acquire such content. You can get the content above.
Although the table format is used in this embodiment, other formats such as a tree display may be used as long as the user can browse the same information.

  FIG. 3 shows the contents of the content database 110 held on the content server 101. For each content, information such as data format, size, actual data, number of reproductions, and the like is held. The content transmission program 109 searches the content database 110 for the content requested from the portable terminal 121 and transmits it.

  FIG. 4 shows the contents of the content list 135 held on the mobile terminal 121. The content list 135 has a data structure similar to that of the content database 110, except that it does not hold actual content data but holds the location of the content. The content list 135 holds not only information related to actual data held in the content file 134 on the portable terminal 121 but also information related to content held in the content database 110 on the content server 101. The content “AAA” in FIG. 4 is data held by both the mobile terminal 121 and the content server 101, but “BBB” and “YYY” do not exist in the mobile terminal 121, and the content server 101 holds them. ing. Conversely, “ZZZ” is data that does not exist in the content server 101 but is held by the mobile terminal 121.

  When new content is written to the content file 134 having a small capacity, the capacity may be insufficient. The number-of-plays information included in the content database 110 and the content list 135 is used to secure a storage area by selecting and deleting unnecessary content from the content file 134. For content such as “ZZZ” that does not exist in the content server 101, the content file 134 can be used without losing the content by copying it to the content server 101 using any communication path and then deleting it.

  FIG. 5 shows the contents of the communication path information list 135 held on the mobile terminal 121. In this list, information on communication paths corresponding to the communication devices 122, 123, and 124 included in the mobile terminal 121 is held. The No. 1 communication path indicates information on the communication path by the wide area wireless communication device 122. It specifies the communication method through many base stations used for mobile phones, etc. There are basically no restrictions on the communication location and range, and the charging method is also fixed. No. 2 to No. 10 indicate information on communication paths by the local wireless communication device 123. Since communication is performed in the vicinity of a locally arranged base station, the base station changes depending on the position of the mobile terminal 121, and the charging method changes. Here, No. 2 shows a communication path provided for a fee, and No. 10 shows a free communication path installed at home. No. 11 is information regarding a communication path through the local wired communication device 124. Here, the wired communication path via the charger is specified. Compared to other communication paths, the communication speed is large and free, but communication is possible only when connected to a charger.

FIG. 6 shows the overall flow of processing in this embodiment.
Process 601:
The user of the portable terminal 121 activates the content selection program 131 and selects content. The content selection program 131 displays the content list shown in FIG. 2, and the user selects content from this list. Details of the processing procedure will be described later with reference to FIG.
Process 602:
The portable terminal 121 obtains the content selected in the process 601 for reproduction or execution. If there is no selected content in the content file 134, the content is acquired from the content server 101. Details of the processing procedure will be described later with reference to FIG.
Process 603:
The portable terminal 121 reproduces or executes the acquired content.

FIG. 7 shows details of the procedure of the content selection process 601.
Process 701:
The position measurement device 129 is used to acquire the current position of the mobile terminal.
Process 702:
One content to be processed is acquired from the content list 135.
Process 703:
The communication path selection program 132 is given the current position of the mobile terminal acquired in process 701 and the position information of the content acquired in process 702 to select a communication path. First, a currently usable communication path is selected from the communication path information list 136. When there are a plurality of communication paths that can be used, the path with the lowest communication cost and the highest communication speed is selected from among them. When there are a plurality of routes that outperform one of the communication cost and the communication speed, the user is preliminarily input a route to be used, and the communication route is determined using this information.

Process 704:
Estimate the communication time required for acquisition from the communication speed of the selected route and the size of the selected content. For example, there is a method of obtaining the communication time by dividing the content size by the communication speed. In addition, the communication cost for acquisition is estimated from the charging method of the selected route and the size of the selected content. For example, there is a method of obtaining the communication cost by dividing the content size by the communication cost per information amount.
Process 705:
Along with information such as the content name and location included in the content list 135, the expected acquisition time and expected acquisition cost obtained by the processing 704 are displayed on the screen and presented to the user.
Process 706:
If processing of all the contents included in the content list 135 has been completed, the processing proceeds to processing 707. If there is content that has not yet been processed, the processing returns to processing 703.

Process 707:
The system enters a state of waiting for input of content selection from the user, and ends the process. Processing 602 in FIG. 6 is started by the user's selection.
With the above processing, the data shown in FIG. 2 can be presented to the user. Since not only the mobile terminal 121 but also content stored in the content server 101 is displayed, the user can select more content. Further, since the content can be selected in view of the information displayed by the processing 705, the user can make a determination without worrying about the time required for acquisition and the communication cost.

FIG. 8 shows the detailed procedure of the content acquisition process 602.
Process 801:
In response to information input from the user at the end of the content selection process 602, the content selected by the user is identified.
Process 802:
The communication path selection program 132 is used, and the communication path information list 136 and the position measuring device 129 are used to search for a communication path having a communicable range in the vicinity of the current position, for example, within a circle within a radius of 50 m.
Process 803:
If a communication path that is faster or cheaper than the communication path selected in process 702 is found in process 802, the process proceeds to process 806. If not found, the process proceeds to process 804.

Process 804:
The content server 101 is accessed through the communication path selected in the process 702, and the actual data of the selected content is acquired and stored in the content file 134.
At the same time, the contents of the content list 135 are changed. At this time, if the capacity for storing the content is insufficient, data with a small number of reproductions is deleted from the content file. When deleting data that does not exist in the content server 101, it may be deleted after being transmitted to the content server to create a backup.
Process 805:
The content acquired in process 804 is played or executed.

Process 806:
The user is informed that there is an area where communication is possible at a higher speed or at a lower cost, and the user is advised to move to the area using the mobile terminal 121. For example, a button labeled “YES” or “NO” is displayed together with a message such as “There is a high-speed access point at a distance of 3 minutes on foot (acquisition cost: 20 yen, acquisition time: 10 seconds). By pressing any button, the user selects whether to accept the proposal.
Process 807:
When the user adopts the movement proposal presented in process 806, the process ends without acquiring the content. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user reselects the content after movement. Alternatively, the mobile terminal 121 may detect the movement completion and acquire the content using the communication path found by the processing 802. If the movement proposal presented by the user is not adopted, the process proceeds to process 804.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when there is an area that can be advantageously communicated in the vicinity of the current position, a process of presenting it to the user is realized. For example, when you are near a store that provides a local wireless communication service, you can propose to drop in to the store, or when you are close to your home, you can suggest wired communication after returning home. For this reason, the user can utilize a more advantageous communication path utilizing the communication function of the mobile terminal 121.
In this way, it is possible to propose short-distance movement after selecting the content, but it is also possible to present a communication path involving short-distance movement in advance with other communication paths. FIG. 12 shows an example of a screen that presents such a communication path. The content “BBB” can be acquired through three acquisition channels via telephone communication, wireless LAN, and charger. In addition to the acquisition time and acquisition communication cost, the movement time is also displayed when movement is required. The user can select the content acquisition route together with the content from this table in consideration of the time and cost required for acquisition and the time required for movement.

In this embodiment, according to the present invention, the user can select more content, can select content without concern about the content acquisition time and acquisition communication cost, and more advantageous communication utilizing the location information of the mobile terminal It was shown that the route can be selected.
A second embodiment for realizing the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a case where the content server 101 is installed in a content distribution company will be described.

FIG. 9 shows the overall configuration of the system in the second embodiment as in the first embodiment. Although the configuration is almost the same as that in FIG. 1, the form of the network connecting the content server 101 and the portable terminal 121 is different. However, the point that the portable terminal 121 communicates with the content server 101 through a plurality of communication devices is the same.
Unlike the first embodiment, the content server 101 has a customer database 901 in the secondary storage device. In the customer database 901, preferences of the user of the mobile terminal 121 are registered in advance. A content list 135 specialized for each user is generated from the customer database 901 and the content database 110 and transmitted to the mobile terminal 121.

  FIG. 10 shows a content selection screen in the present embodiment. As in the first embodiment, the user can select the content held by the content server 101 that is not held by the mobile terminal 121, and the location, acquisition time, and acquisition of the content along with the content name and content type. It can be determined whether or not to acquire by looking at the communication cost. However, in this embodiment, a content fee and information on presence / absence of commercial (CM) in the content are also provided. Thus, the user can determine the cost for content acquisition by combining the communication fee and the content fee. Further, it is possible to select acquisition of content with a low fee by selecting content including commercials. In this way, the user can determine content purchase by considering not only communication costs but also costs for acquiring more detailed content.

FIG. 11 shows the contents of the content list 135 in this embodiment. Also in the present embodiment, not only the content held by the mobile terminal 121 but also the content held by the content server 101 is included in the list. However, the contents of the content server 101 are not included in the list, but are limited to the data preferred by the customer from the customer database 901, thereby satisfying the user's needs while suppressing the data amount. Further, in order to display the information shown in FIG. 10, it has information on whether or not a content fee and CM are included in the content.
The processing flow for selecting, acquiring, reproducing, or executing content in this system is shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 as in the first embodiment.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, by applying the present invention to a system that acquires content from the content server 101 installed in the content distribution company, the user can select more content, and the content acquisition time and acquisition It was shown that the content can be selected without concern about the cost, and that a more advantageous communication path can be selected by using the location information of the mobile terminal.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure in a 1st Example. It is a figure which shows the example of a content selection screen in a 1st Example. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of a content database 110. It is a figure which shows the content of the content list 135 in a 1st Example. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of a communication path information list 136. FIG. It is a figure which shows the whole process sequence in the Example which implement | achieves this invention. 6 is a diagram showing details of a content selection procedure 601. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing details of a content acquisition procedure 602. FIG. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure in a 2nd Example. It is a figure which shows the content selection screen in a 2nd Example. It is a figure which shows the content of the content list 135 in a 2nd Example. It is a figure which shows another example of a content selection screen in a 1st Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Content server, 102 ... Central processing unit, 103 ... Main storage device, 104 ... Secondary storage device, 105 ... Wired communication device, 106 ... Local wireless communication device, 107 ... Local wired communication device, 108 ... Content collection program 109 ... Content transmission program, 110 ... Content database, 121 ... Mobile terminal, 122 ... Wide area wireless communication device, 123 ... Local wireless communication device, 124 ... Local wired communication device, 125 ... Main storage device, 126 ... Secondary storage Device: 127 ... Screen display device, 128 ... Input device, 129 ... Position measuring device, 130 ... Central processing unit, 131 ... Content selection program, 132 ... Communication path selection program, 133 ... Content acquisition program, 134 ... Content file, 135 ... Content list, 136 ... Communication path information list

Claims (5)

  A portable device that can play or execute digital content such as music, video, programs, etc., when the user selects the content from the content list, plays it, or starts it up. A portable terminal that displays an estimated value of time, an estimated cost of acquisition, and the like on a screen display device.   The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein an estimated value of time required to acquire each content displayed in the content list, an estimated cost of acquisition, and the like are determined based on the position of the content and the current position of the mobile terminal. A mobile terminal characterized by calculating from the above.   3. The portable terminal according to claim 2, wherein the communication time is estimated by including a communication path that enables communication when the user moves the portable terminal at a short distance, and a communication path having good conditions by the short distance movement. A mobile terminal characterized in that it is determined whether or not it can be secured and proposes movement to the user.   3. The mobile terminal according to claim 2, wherein an acquisition time, an estimated value of an acquisition cost, and the like when the user uses each communication path to select a communication path used for content acquisition are displayed on the screen display device. A portable terminal characterized by including a communication path that can be used by short-distance movement as an option.   An information device that records digital content such as music, video, and programs, and distributes the content to the mobile terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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