JP2009010957A - Information distribution service system, and information distribution method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and an agent having an agent function allowing a comfortable information distribution to a user terminal. <P>SOLUTION: Information is obtained from an information distribution server 20 depending on a search request from a terminal 60 to be stored in a distribution information memory 105. A location management server 30 and a presence server 40 monitor location and condition of the terminal. A filter 106 filters the stored information depending on a receiving environment of the terminal 60. The filtered information is distributed to the corresponding terminal 60 as distribution information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a system for distributing various information on a network to a user via an agent, and more particularly to improvement of the agent function.

  Search engines that provide information that matches user requirements from the vast amount of information on the Internet are indispensable today. However, since the conventional search engine only extracts and provides information that matches the keyword input by the user, information unnecessary for the user or information that cannot be browsed on the user terminal is also provided. For example, it is useless because it is information on a location geographically distant from the current user position, and an application for browsing the information is not installed on the user terminal.

  Various techniques for suppressing the provision of such unnecessary information have been proposed. For example, in the multimedia data processing system disclosed in JP-A-9-134367, information (address, time, number of bytes, etc.) indicating the range of data that the user wants to acquire is generated and transmitted to the server side. The server or relay server performs data extraction according to the information, and transmits the extracted data to the user.

  In the information providing system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-207314, a terminal having a GPS receiver transmits a search condition including the position information to the server system, and the server system stores a database using the terminal position information as a key. Search and transmit information related to the location of the terminal to the terminal.

JP-A-9-134367 (paragraph numbers 0018 to 0019, 0034 to 0035, FIG. 2 and FIG. 9) JP 2000-207314 A (paragraph numbers 0021 to 0025).

  However, various information exists on the Internet, and in particular, there are many multimedia services and multimedia information that are conscious of the broadband environment recently. In addition, users tend to use not only personal computers but also information communication terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs according to the circumstances at the time. For this reason, even for the same user, there are many cases where the application for browsing the received information is different depending on the situation or the access line speed is different. In particular, in the case of multimedia information premised on a broadband environment, the data size may be too large to allow comfortable reception at the line speed of the user terminal. In other words, in order to use services and information comfortably, it is necessary to consider the reception conditions of the terminal.

  Such a situation cannot be sufficiently dealt with by the conventional system. For example, the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires a user to input a range of an image to be extracted according to conditions such as a display, and is a very complicated and inconvenient system.

  In addition, the system disclosed in Patent Document 2 can automatically acquire information related to the position of the terminal, but does not consider the hardware and software of the terminal, the current terminal status, etc. And information cannot be used comfortably.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a system having an agent function capable of comfortable information distribution to a user terminal, an agent thereof, and an information distribution method by the agent.

  An information distribution service system according to the present invention is a system that distributes information received from a server to a terminal in response to a request from a terminal, a monitoring unit that monitors a reception environment of the terminal, and a search request from the terminal Distribution information storage means for acquiring and storing information from the server, and filter means for filtering information stored in the distribution information storage means in accordance with the reception environment of the terminal, from the filter means The output information is distributed to the terminal as distribution information. Preferably, the monitoring means includes position management means for managing the position of the terminal and state management means for managing the current state of the terminal.

  The reception environment of the terminal includes at least one information selected from an on / off state of the terminal, a position of the terminal, a reception interface of the terminal, and an application usable in the terminal. .

  If the terminal reception condition is included in the search request from the terminal, the information acquired from the server is further filtered according to the reception condition. The reception condition is preferably a data size.

  According to the present invention, only information that satisfies both the user's desire and the reception condition of the terminal is distributed to the terminal, so that the user can comfortably acquire the desired information. In particular, even when the user uses a different terminal depending on the environment, it is possible to receive an information distribution service that matches the terminal capabilities and available applications.

  In addition, after information is transmitted from the information distribution server to the agent, the information is filtered and distributed to the terminal. Therefore, the reception environment such as the line speed changes due to movement or change of the terminal during that time. However, there is no load on the server or network. Therefore, it is possible to perform appropriate information distribution without degradation of service quality.

  Furthermore, in the case of a service that charges for each packet, the user can avoid paying a fee for useless data.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the information distribution system according to the present embodiment, the agent 10, the information distribution server 20, the location management server 30 and the presence server 40 are connected to a network, and the user terminal 60 is an arbitrary one of a plurality of access points (AP) 50. Can be connected to the network.

  The agent 10 may be a computer connected to a network, or may be implemented by software on the server or another server. In any case, the agent 10 has a function of filtering the distribution information from the information distribution server 20 according to the user's desire and the reception environment of the terminal 60 and transmitting only appropriate information to the terminal 60. The reception environment of the terminal 60 is monitored by the location management server 30 and the presence server 40, and includes reception conditions from the terminal as necessary.

  The information distribution server 20 has a database that holds information such as video information and shopping information so as to be searchable. As will be described later, the information distribution server 20 can search for information matching a keyword and provide it to the user.

  The location management server 30 has a location database that stores location information of a plurality of terminals, and constantly manages the current location of each terminal. The location information includes the longitude and latitude at which each terminal is located, the access point number to which each terminal is connected, and an address (for example, “xx city yy ward”) corresponding thereto. Each terminal is identified by a unique identifier (for example, a telephone number or an IP address). Therefore, the current position of the terminal can be searched using the terminal identifier as a key.

  The presence server 40 is a state management server that holds and manages information indicating the current state (ON / OFF state, used access means, etc.) of each terminal. Similar to the location management server 30, the current state of the terminal can be searched using the terminal identifier as a key.

  The user terminal 60 is a personal computer, a portable information terminal such as a PDA, or a mobile phone. As is well known, the terminal 60 is provided with an input device such as a keypad, a display device such as an LCD, a processor, a memory, and the like, and other necessary software is installed. The user terminal 60 may be provided with means for specifying its own position (for example, a GPS receiver). In the terminal 60 using GPS, it is possible to specify the position more accurately than the position specification based on the access point.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the agent according to the present invention. Here, the agent 10 is realized by a computer connected to a network. The agent 10 includes a transceiver 101 for connecting to a network, a communication control unit 102, an agent control unit 103, a search key information memory 104, a distribution information memory 105, and a filter 106. The agent control unit 103 controls the search key information memory 104, the distribution information memory 105, and the filter 106, and executes an agent function described later.

  The search key information memory 104 stores the search key information received from the terminal 60. The distribution information memory 105 stores information such as video information and shopping information received from the information distribution server 20. The filter 106 uses the terminal location information received from the location management server 30, the presence information received from the presence server 40, and the reception conditions input from the search key information memory 104, to appropriately apply the information stored in the distribution information memory 105. Only the information is passed and the information to be distributed to the terminal 60 is output. The filter 106 can be realized by software.

  System Operation FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the overall operation of the information distribution system according to this embodiment. If the terminal 60 is provided with position specifying means, position information such as longitude and latitude is transmitted to the position management server 30 together with the terminal identifier and registered (S1). When the location is specified using the access point to which the terminal 60 is currently connected, the access point number is transmitted to the location management server 30 and registered together with the terminal identifier as location information.

  Further, the terminal 60 generates presence information composed of the interface type currently in use and application information usable in the terminal 60, and this presence information is transmitted to the presence server 40 and registered together with the terminal identifier (S2).

  When the user inputs a search key and necessary reception conditions using the keypad or the like of the terminal 60, these information and input time information are transmitted to the agent 10 as search key information (S3). The agent 10 transmits a search key for searching for distribution information among the search key information to the information distribution server 20 (S4).

  The information distribution server 20 searches the database using the received search key (S5), and returns to the agent 10 as a search result that the information hit or not hit (S6). After storing the distribution information received from the information distribution server 20, the agent 10 transmits information request signals including the identifier of the terminal 60 to the location management server 3 and the presence server 40, respectively (S7, S8). The location management server 3 searches the location database using the terminal identifier as a key, and returns the location information of the terminal to the agent (S9). The presence server 40 searches the database using the terminal identifier as a key, and returns the presence information of the terminal to the agent 10 (S10).

  The agent 10 filters the stored distribution information using terminal location information received from the location management server 30, presence information received from the presence server 40, and reception environment information including necessary reception conditions (S11). Only appropriate information is distributed to the terminal 60 (S12). Thus, since the terminal 60 does not directly receive the information searched by the information distribution server 20 but receives only the information that matches the keyword and the condition via the agent 10, the user can comfortably receive information through the terminal 60. Can be viewed. Hereinafter, the operation of the terminal 60 and the operation of the agent 10 will be described in more detail.

  Terminal Operation FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the user terminal in the information distribution system according to the present embodiment.

  The user inputs keywords such as the user's hobbies and preferences using the keypad of the terminal 60 (step S401). For example, if the hobby is fishing, “fishing” is input as a keyword, and if a trailer video of a movie you want to watch is desired, the title name of this movie is input as a keyword.

  Subsequently, the user inputs reception conditions for information to be searched and distributed (step S402). The reception conditions include a user reception location and a reception interface. In the input of the receiving location, for example, address information such as “xx city” is input. At the input of the receiving interface, for example, the terminal 60 from various interfaces such as an analog modem, ISDN, CATV access, 1.5 Mbps ADSL access, 8 Mbps ADSL access, 2G mobile phone access, 3G mobile phone access, PHS access, Wireless LAN access, etc. Select the appropriate interface for If necessary, the data size to be acquired can be added as a reception condition.

  When the keyword and the reception condition are input, these pieces of information are registered in the time table, and search key information including the keyword, the reception condition, and the input date / time is generated (step S403). “Fishing / xx city / WirelessLAN access / yyyy year / month / day” is an example of search key information. The keyword input date and time “yyyy year mm month dd day” is used as search time limit information, as will be described later.

  Further, the terminal 60 generates position information including the longitude and latitude, or the access point number to which the terminal 60 is currently connected (step S404). The position information is generated when the power is turned on, when the position of the terminal 60 changes beyond a certain distance, or when the access point changes due to movement.

  Further, the terminal 60 generates presence information indicating the currently used interface type and currently usable application information (step S405). Examples of the interface type include various interfaces such as an analog modem, ISDN, CATV access, 1.5 Mbps ADSL access, 8 Mbps ADSL access, 2G mobile phone access, 3G mobile phone access, PHS access, and wireless LAN access. The application information can use a file extension when executing each application, for example, “.txt”, “.doc”, “.mpg”, “.rm”, and the like. Presence information is always generated when the terminal 60 is turned on, turned off, when the interface type to be used is changed, or when application information is changed.

  The generated search key information is transmitted to the agent 10 together with the identifier of the terminal 60 (step S406), the position information is transmitted to the position management server 30 together with the identifier of the terminal 60 (step S407), and the presence information is combined with the identifier of the terminal 60. It is transmitted to the presence server 40 (step S408).

  When these pieces of information are transmitted, the terminal 60 waits for information to be sent from the agent 10 (S409). When the information is received from the agent 10, it is displayed on a display or reproduced by a speaker for viewing by the user (step S410).

  Agent Function FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an agent control operation in the information distribution system according to this embodiment. When the agent 10 receives the search key information from the terminal 60 (YES in step S501), the agent control unit 103 registers the received search key information in the search key information memory 104 (step S502). Subsequently, a search key for information search is read out from the search key information and transmitted to the information distribution server 20 to make a search request (step S503).

  When receiving a search request from the agent 10, the information distribution server 20 searches the database using the search key and returns an information file matching the search key to the agent 10. If an information file matching the search key is not found, a message “No corresponding data” is returned to the agent 10.

  When the search result is received from the information distribution server 20 (YES in step S504), the agent control unit 103 determines whether or not the received search result is “no corresponding data” (step S505).

  If “no applicable data” (YES in step S505), the agent control unit 103 reads the input date “yyyy year mm month dd day” of the search key information corresponding to the search result, and a predetermined time has elapsed. It is determined whether or not (step S506). If the predetermined time has not elapsed (within the deadline), a search request is made to the information distribution server 20 using the same search key (step S503). If “no corresponding data”, steps S503 to S505 are repeated until the predetermined time elapses. This is to avoid a situation where a search request is made indefinitely when there is no data. In addition to determining whether the predetermined time has elapsed, the count determination may be performed so that the search request (step S503) does not exceed a predetermined number of times. This is because many search requests increase the load on the network. If the time limit has passed in step S506, a “expired” message is transmitted to the terminal 60 as distribution information (step S511).

  If there is relevant data (NO in step S505), the agent control unit 103 reads the reception condition of the corresponding search key information (step S507), and further requests the location information of the terminal 60 from the location management server 30. To obtain presence information of the terminal 60 from the presence server 40 (step S508).

  Subsequently, the agent control unit 103 performs filtering on the distribution information of the terminal 60 stored in the distribution information memory 105 using the position information and presence information of the terminal 60 and the reception condition of the terminal 60 (step S509). For example, when the location information of the terminal 60 indicates “xx city” and the presence information indicates “2G mobile phone access”, information related to “xx city” among the distribution information stored in the distribution information memory 105. In “2G mobile phone access”, only data that can be comfortably received is selected and output as distribution information. Furthermore, if the data size is registered in the reception condition of the terminal 60, only information smaller than the data size is selected.

  The data size selection function may be provided in the information distribution server 20. In this case, the agent 10 transmits a reception condition indicating the data size to the information distribution server 20 when making a search request (step S503). The information distribution server 20 searches according to the search key, and returns only information that is equal to or less than the specified data size to the agent 10.

  As a result of filtering, if there is information that can be distributed at the present time (YES in step S510), the information is distributed to the terminal 60 (step S511). If there is no distributable information (NO in step S510), the agent control unit 103 reads the input date and time “yyyy year mm month dd day” of the corresponding search key information, and whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed. Is determined (step S512). If the predetermined time has not elapsed (within the deadline), steps S508 to S510 are repeated until the predetermined time has elapsed. This is to avoid the situation where the information request / acquisition step (S508) is performed indefinitely when there is no data. In addition to the determination of the passage of the predetermined time, the count determination may be performed so that the information request / acquisition step (S508) does not exceed a predetermined number of times. This is because multiple information requests / acquisitions increase the load on the network. If the time limit has passed in step 512, an “expired” message is transmitted to the terminal 60 as distribution information (step S511).

  Information distribution to the terminal 60 (step S511) is performed using the access line specified by the reception condition. When the access line is not specified in the receiving condition, the information is distributed using the access line of presence information. Also, in the case of “expired” or “no distribution data”, distribution is performed using the access line used by the terminal 60 at that time.

  As already described, the agent 10 may be a computer connected to a network, or may be implemented by software on the server or another server.

  FIG. 6A is a system configuration diagram illustrating a second example of the present embodiment, and FIG. 6B is a system configuration diagram illustrating a third example of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6A, the agent 10 can be realized by executing a program as shown in FIG. 5 on a computer connected to a network.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6B, by executing, for example, the location management server program, the presence server program, and the agent program on the server 70 connected to the network, the location management server 30, the presence described above. The server 40 and the agent 10 can also be realized.

It is a schematic block diagram of the information delivery system by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the agent by this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the whole operation | movement of the information delivery system by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control operation of the user terminal in the information delivery system by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control operation of the agent in the information delivery system by this embodiment. (A) is a system configuration diagram showing a second example of the present embodiment, and (B) is a system configuration diagram showing a third example of the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Agent 20 Information Distribution Server 30 Location Management Server 40 Presence Server 50 Access Point 60 Terminal 101 Transceiver 102 Communication Control Unit 103 Agent Control Unit 104 Search Key Information Memory 105 Distribution Information Memory 106 Filter

Claims (9)

A system for delivering information received from a server to the terminal in response to a request from the terminal,
A monitoring means for acquiring a reception environment when the position of the terminal changes more than a certain distance or when an access point changes, and storing it in association with a terminal identifier capable of identifying the terminal;
Distribution information storage means for acquiring and storing information from the server in response to a search request from the terminal transmitted together with the terminal identifier;
Filter means for filtering information stored in the distribution information storage means according to the reception environment of the terminal;
After storing the information acquired from the server in the distribution information storage means, the reception environment of the terminal associated with the terminal identifier stored in the monitor means is acquired, and the acquired reception environment In response to the filtering by the filtering means, the control means for distributing the information output from the filtering means to the terminal as distribution information;
An information delivery service system comprising at least The monitoring means includes
Position management means for managing the position of the terminal;
Status management means for managing the current status of the terminal;
The information distribution service system according to claim 1, further comprising: The reception environment of the terminal includes at least one information selected from an on / off state of the terminal, a position of the terminal, a reception interface of the terminal, and an application usable in the terminal. The information distribution service system according to claim 1. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when a search request from the terminal includes a reception condition of the terminal, the filtering unit further filters information acquired from the server according to the reception condition. Information distribution service system described in Crab. 5. The information distribution service system according to claim 4, wherein the reception condition is a data size. An agent device connected to a network having a plurality of access points and delivering information received from a server in response to a search request from a terminal connected through an arbitrary access point to the terminal,
A monitoring means for acquiring a reception environment when the position of the terminal changes more than a certain distance or when an access point changes, and storing it in association with a terminal identifier capable of identifying the terminal;
Distribution information storage means for acquiring and storing information from the server in response to a search request from the terminal transmitted together with the terminal identifier;
Filter means for filtering information stored in the distribution information storage means according to the reception environment of the terminal;
After storing the information acquired from the server in the distribution information storage means, the reception environment of the terminal associated with the terminal identifier stored in the monitor means is acquired, and the acquired reception environment In response to the filtering by the filtering means, the control means for distributing the information output from the filtering means to the terminal as distribution information;
An agent device comprising: The monitoring means includes
7. The agent apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a reception environment of the terminal is acquired by accessing a position management server that manages a position of the terminal and a state management server that manages a current state of the terminal. In accordance with a request from a terminal, a method for controlling an information distribution system that distributes information received from a server to the terminal,
A monitoring step of acquiring a reception environment when the position of the terminal changes more than a certain distance or when an access point changes, and storing it in association with a terminal identifier capable of identifying the terminal;
A distribution information storing step of acquiring and storing information from the server in response to a search request from the terminal transmitted together with the terminal identifier;
A filtering step for filtering the information stored in the distribution information storing step according to the reception environment of the terminal;
After storing the information acquired from the server in the distribution information storage step, the reception environment of the terminal associated with the terminal identifier stored in the monitoring step is acquired, and in the acquired reception environment And a control step of performing filtering according to the filter step and distributing the information output from the filter step to the terminal as distribution information;
Control method for information distribution system including at least A program that causes a computer to function as an agent device that is connected to a network having a plurality of access points and distributes information received from a server in response to a search request from a terminal connected through an arbitrary access point to the terminal. The
A monitoring means for acquiring a reception environment when the position of the terminal changes more than a certain distance or when an access point changes, and storing it in association with a terminal identifier capable of identifying the terminal;
Distribution information storage means for acquiring and storing information from the server in response to a search request from the terminal transmitted together with the terminal identifier;
Filter means for filtering information stored in the distribution information storage means according to the reception environment of the terminal;
After storing the information acquired from the server in the distribution information storage means, the reception environment of the terminal associated with the terminal identifier stored in the monitor means is acquired, and the acquired reception environment And a control means for performing filtering by the filter means in response to delivering the information output from the filter means to the terminal as delivery information;
Program to function as.

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