JP3649142B2 - E-mail transmission / reception system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission / reception system that communicates e-mail using a server and an e-mail communication terminal.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the spread of the Internet, e-mail communication services have become widespread, and it has become possible to perform e-mail communication even on mobile terminals such as mobile phones. By the way, the conventional one can be received at the receiving terminal that is ready to receive the e-mail when it is sent, but cannot be received when the receiving terminal is turned off. So, you can hold the e-mail on the server side for a while so that you can see it later, but if you look at it later, you can see even later information, for example, information that an interesting TV program has just started. May be confused. Also, because the e-mail address is fixedly assigned to each terminal, when the sending terminal sends an e-mail, the e-mail is received no matter where the receiving terminal is. Therefore, depending on the content of the e-mail, it could not be handled. In other words, it is not possible to deal with content that you want to meet soon if you are geographically far away. As described above, it is a problem for terminal users that there is transmission / reception of electronic mail having contents that cannot be handled temporally and spatially.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to obtain an e-mail transmission / reception system with few problems even when there is an e-mail transmission / reception having contents that cannot be handled temporally or spatially.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  Claim1In the e-mail transmission / reception system described above, the e-mail of the mobile terminal that sends and receives e-mails by designating the registered e-mail address of the other party via a server between a plurality of mobile terminals In the transmission / reception system, when the electronic mail is transmitted, the transmission area or the transmission place of the position to which the mobile terminal that transmitted the message belongs is specified, and the mobile terminal related to the specified electronic mail address belongs A designated area or designated place of a position is specified, it is determined whether or not the designated area or designated place is in a predetermined proximity relationship with the sending area or sending location. An email is sent to the mobile terminal associated with the designated email address.
[0007]
This ensures that the e-mail is sent to a nearby person for the registered e-mail address. For example, the person who responded to the person who received the e-mail actually met, You can have a meal or appreciation, and get necessary information.
[0008]
  Claim2In the e-mail transmission / reception system described above, when the e-mail is transmitted, the transmission area or transmission location of the location to which the mobile terminal that transmitted the message belongs is specified, and the time zone is specified on the server side Then, the designated area or designated location of the position to which the mobile terminal related to the designated e-mail address belongs is specified, and the designated area or designated location is a predetermined area and the designated location within the time period. It is determined whether or not there is a proximity relationship, and if the proximity relationship exists, the transmitted email is transmitted to the mobile terminal associated with the designated email address.
[0009]
As a result, an e-mail is sent to a nearby person within a predetermined time zone for a registered e-mail address, so there is no need to e-mail several times, Since it searches for a partner who can receive e-mails, for example, it is possible to actually meet and respond to a person who has responded among those who have received e-mails within a predetermined time period, and can enjoy shopping, eating and watching together. In other words, even though the e-mail is sent only once, even if the other party is not nearby at that time, the e-mail can be sent if it comes close within a predetermined time zone, so there are many opportunities to actually meet. In addition, this time zone can be set to a temporal interval specified only for reception when there is a proximity relationship.
[0010]
  Claim3In the e-mail transmission / reception system described above, when the e-mail is transmitted, a specific time zone is specified by the operation of the mobile terminal that has transmitted, and the e-mail is specified by the operation. It is determined whether or not the designated area or designated place is in a predetermined neighborhood relationship with the calling area or place within the time zone, and the predetermined neighborhood relationship is designated within the time zone designated in the operation. If so, the transmitted e-mail is transmitted to the mobile terminal associated with the designated e-mail address.
[0011]
As a result, it is possible to send an e-mail by designating the e-mail address of that person only to a person or people at a specific location within a specific time zone that is arbitrarily operated and specified. In addition to a positional filter, any temporal filter can be applied. Therefore, it is possible to say that a specific person or people can be immediately visited by sending an e-mail to a specific person or people in a special situation only at an arbitrary time. You can also specify your own time zone to wait for a chance to meet.
[0012]
  Claim4In the e-mail transmission / reception system described above, when the e-mail is transmitted, the range of the predetermined neighborhood relationship is specified by the operation of the mobile terminal that has transmitted, and the specified area or It is determined whether or not the designated location is in the predetermined neighborhood relationship by determining whether or not the designated location is within the range that is the predetermined neighborhood relationship designated by the operation with the transmission area or the transmission location. When there is a predetermined proximity relationship, the transmitted electronic mail is transmitted to the mobile terminal associated with the designated electronic mail address.
[0013]
This makes it possible to send e-mails by designating the e-mail address of only those persons or people who are arbitrarily manipulated and specified, and any positional filter for the e-mails sent. Can be applied. Therefore, by sending e-mail to a specific person or people in a special situation that is only within the specified range, it is possible to come to the spot taking into account the circumstances of the other party or your own circumstances become.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(First embodiment)
The mobile terminal referred to in the present invention is a mobile phone that can specify position information by GPS, a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that can specify position information by GPS, or a base station ID (number) in a base station apparatus. Alternatively, it may be a mobile phone or PHS (Personal Handyphone System) that can identify position information from received radio waves of a plurality of base stations, but in the following embodiment of the e-mail transmission / reception system according to the present invention, a terminal An example will be described in which is a mobile phone having an electronic mail communication function.
[0015]
First, the mobile phone will be described functionally. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a mobile phone serving as a transmission side terminal, which includes a message transmission unit 2, a position detection unit 3, and a message creation unit 4. The general function is the same for the receiving terminal 10. The message transmission means 4 transfers the message created on the mobile phone 1 to the server 6 in FIG. Here, the message indicates information of an electronic mail input from the terminal, and the server 6 controls, forwards, and stores these messages.
[0016]
The position detection means 3 detects the current location of the mobile phone 1, which is a GPS (Global Positioning System) that is a navigation system using a satellite operated by the US Department of Defense, for example. ). In the GPS system, by receiving signals from three satellites, it is possible to calculate accurate position information including the latitude and longitude where the mobile terminal is located. Further, when the mobile terminal is not composed of a device that uses a service using a GPS system, the position detecting means 3 detects its own position information based on information from a base station called a base station in the base station device 13. To get.
[0017]
That is, since the position where this base station is installed is known, this base station analyzes the identification information stored in each base station, and thereby the position information where the terminal comprising the mobile phone 1 exists, The time information when it exists at that position can be recognized. Note that the base station apparatus in this case includes a base station that first receives radio waves from a terminal and a ground station above it. The message creation means 4 is means for the user to create a message.
[0018]
In this embodiment, the following description will be made assuming that the mobile phone 1 on the transmission side has the position detecting means 3 having the GPS receiver 8 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the base station device 13 or the server 6 obtains accurate location information on the transmission side from the information from the location detection means 3. In the following description, it is assumed that the mobile phone 10 on the receiving side does not have a GPS receiver, and the second server 11 obtains the position information on the receiving side from the identification information of the base station. The base station also knows time information including the time when the mail is transmitted.
[0019]
Next, an electrical configuration common to the cellular phones 1 and 10 will be described in terms of functional blocks with reference to FIG. The CPU 100 in the cellular phones 1 and 10 is mainly composed of a microcomputer. The CPU 100 includes a telephone communication unit 101, a voice processing unit 102, a key operation unit 12, a display unit 13 including a liquid crystal display (LCD), Also connected to the memory 103 and the like. The telephone communication unit 101 performs telephone communication processing according to a communication method built in the telephone and connection processing for establishing a connection with the servers 6 and 11.
[0020]
The voice processing unit 102 performs voice processing on the transmitted voice input from the microphone 15 and the received voice output from the receiver 16. The key operation unit 12 includes a call start key for starting a call, a call end key for ending the call, a number key for inputting numbers 0 to 9, and a function key for canceling setting of various functions. Etc. A memory 103 inside the telephone stores various information such as memory dial information.
[0021]
Then, for example, “aaaaaa@xxx.xxx.xx.xx (where x is an alphanumeric character that is permitted to be used)”, for example, according to a contract with a telecommunications carrier that provides a telephone call service. The registered e-mail address is given. In addition, a message including the electronic mail address, mail content, position information, and time information is transmitted from the terminal 1 on the transmission side to the server 6 on the transmission side.
[0022]
Next, FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of an e-mail communication system including the mobile phones 1 and 10 serving as the mobile terminals. The mobile phone 1 on the sending side and the mobile phone 10 on the receiving side are shown in FIG. It shows how the Internet 20 is connected wirelessly or by wire. The base station devices 13 and 21 always monitor the mobile phones 1 and 10 existing in a cell that is a predetermined zone that the base station devices 13 and 21 receive, and the mobile phones 1 and 10 obtained by this monitoring and other mobile phones ID information unique to the terminal is stored.
[0023]
The base station devices 13 and 21 analyze the base station identification information stored in each of the base station devices 13 and 21 because the positions where the base stations in the base station devices 13 and 21 are installed are known. Thus, the position where the terminal including the mobile phones 1 and 10 exists is recognized. Of course, if the position calculated from the GPS receiver 8 is more accurate, the position of the terminal 1 is adopted. Then, when the terminals 1 and 10 communicate with other terminals via the base station apparatuses 13 and 21, the base station apparatuses 13 and 21 transmit position information indicating these positions to the terminals 1 and 10, respectively. The terminals 1 and 10 obtain position information through such a process. The base station devices 13 and 21 perform location registration and call control management of the mobile telephones 1 and 10.
[0024]
The packet switching networks 25 and 26 process packet format data. The circuit switching networks 27 and 28 process voice data. The servers 6 and 11 are provided with e-mail servers 30 and 31 for managing e-mail, authentication positioning servers 32 and 33, and the like. Reference numerals 34 and 35 denote gateways. Note that the mobile phone 10 on the receiving side is also connected to the Internet 20 via the second base station device 21, the packet switching network 26, the gateway 35, and the server 11.
[0025]
Next, the servers 6 and 11 will be described functionally with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an electronic mail server that receives a message transmitted from a terminal and transfers it to a specified destination. 41 is a message transfer means for transferring a message sent from the terminal to a corresponding destination, 42 is a destination for interpreting the destination described in the message sent from the terminal and converting it to an Internet e-mail destination. Script interpreting means 43 indicates an area information managing means for recognizing an area from position information.
[0026]
The servers 6 and 11 have functions such as HyperText Transfer Protocol (hereinafter referred to as HTTP) that is a protocol for transferring a file described in HyperText Markup Language (hereinafter referred to as HTML). The e-mail servers 30 and 31 are functions for realizing an application on the Internet 20 and an application with the mobile terminals 1 and 10, for example, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (hereinafter referred to as SMTP), which is a simple e-mail transfer protocol, and electronic. It has functions such as Post Office Protocol (hereinafter referred to as POP) and Internet Message Access Protocol (hereinafter referred to as IMAP), which are protocols for retrieving electronic mail from the mail servers 30 and 31.
[0027]
The authentication positioning servers 32 and 33 perform authentication processing for the mobile terminals 1 and 10. The servers 6 and 11 have a proxy server and a database (not shown) in addition to the electronic mail server and the authentication positioning server. The proxy server includes a log processing unit for leaving a history of processing performed by the mobile terminal connected to the proxy server application. In addition, the database includes a provision information storage unit that stores information related to CMs used for advertisement of merchandise, accident information, and the like, and an attribute information storage unit that stores user attribute information.
[0028]
The authentication positioning servers 32 and 33 and the e-mail servers 30 and 31 include a log processing unit (not shown) for leaving a history processed by the mobile terminal connected to various applications of the authentication positioning server and the e-mail server. ing. The authentication positioning servers 32 and 33, the proxy server, and the e-mail servers 30 and 31 acquire log information stored in these log processing units and store them in the database. Note that the various servers in the server can be configured with the same server model.
[0029]
When the authentication positioning servers 32 and 33 are connected to the mobile terminals 1 and 10, the authentication positioning servers 32 and 33 acquire location information of the mobile terminals 1 and 10 and time information including the time when the e-mail is transmitted. That is, when the mobile terminals 1, 10 are connected to the authentication positioning servers 32, 33, the mobile terminal 1, 10 receives the call setting in telephone communication and the out-band signal used during communication for responding to the call setting. The location information and time information attached to the location information are added and transmitted to the authentication positioning servers 32 and 33. The authentication positioning servers 32 and 33 acquire the location information and time information of the mobile terminals 1 and 10 by receiving this out-band signal.
[0030]
A proxy server (not shown) obtains log information about the date and time when the mobile terminal used SMTP, POP, or IMAP, and in the case of WWW, about which WWW site and what application was executed. In the case of an e-mail reception notification, log information about the position information when the reception notification is received is acquired. In addition, the e-mail servers 30 and 31 acquire log information regarding when and how many e-mails are received from where, and when and where e-mails are transmitted to where.
[0031]
Here, a specific method for analyzing position information will be described. First, as a premise, the whole of Japan is divided into square areas of a certain size (hereinafter referred to as areas). The authentication positioning server 32 acquires position information that is a transmission place of latitude and longitude where the current mobile terminal 1 exists, from the position information transmitted when the mobile terminal 1 connects to the server 6. The authentication positioning server 32 recognizes the start place or the transmission area to which the region where the latitude and longitude are known belongs from this position information. Further, the authentication positioning server 32 recognizes the date and time when the mobile terminal existed in an area from the time information transmitted together with the position information.
[0032]
The operations of the servers 6 and 11 configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The message created by the message creation means 4 in the terminal is sent to the electronic device in the second server 11 via the base station device 13, the packet switching network 25, the gateway 34, the server 6, and the network part of the Internet 20. It is transmitted to the mail server 31.
[0033]
When it is determined in step S51 that the mail has been transmitted, the message transfer unit 41 in FIG. 4 once receives the message, extracts the destination in the message, and transfers it to the destination script interpretation unit 42. In step S53, the destination script interpreting means 42 determines whether or not the message is a message to be transmitted only when it is in the vicinity, and the electronic mail sent without this message is sent to the electronic mail regardless of where the receiving terminal is. If it is the content to deliver the message to the mail address, the e-mail address is returned to the message transfer means 41 as it is and the e-mail is transmitted to the receiving terminal 10 as in step S52.
[0034]
Since transmission is not possible when the receiving terminal 10 is powered off, transmission is retried repeatedly during a fixed first time period determined in the server 11. If that is not possible, discard the email. If there is a message indicating that an e-mail is to be sent only when in the vicinity, as in step S54, the area information management means 43 in FIG. Information about the location and the designated area or designated location of the receiving terminal 10 to which the e-mail is delivered is obtained.
[0035]
Then, in step S55, the area information management means 43 determines whether or not the designated area or designated place is in the vicinity of the sending area or place. This determination is performed in the authentication positioning server 33 in the second server 11. In other words, whether or not the designated area or designated location of the location to which the mobile phone 10 having the received e-mail address belongs exists in the vicinity of the originating area or location of the location to which the originating mobile phone 1 belongs is here. Confirm with. If it is determined by the information from the area information management means 43 that there is a proximity relationship, the e-mail address is returned to the message transfer means 41 and the e-mail is transmitted to the receiving terminal 10 in step S56.
[0036]
If there is no proximity relationship, in step S57, after repeatedly confirming at predetermined intervals whether there is no proximity relationship only within the second time set in the server 11, if still not in the proximity relationship, an e-mail is sent. The message is discarded and a message to that effect is delivered to the terminal 1 on the transmission side.
[0037]
This will be described in more detail. In the mobile telephone 1 on the calling side, the CPU 100 in FIG. 2 creates an e-mail according to the operation of the key operation unit 12 by the user. The user presses a key for sending an e-mail. E-mail information having “aaaaaa@xxx.xx.xx.xx”, which is the e-mail address of the mobile phone 1, as a recipient address is transmitted from the mobile phone 1 on the transmission side to the base station apparatus 13 wirelessly.
[0038]
The base station device 13 knows where the calling mobile telephone 1 is, that is, in the area. Further, the e-mail information reaches the Internet 20 through a packet switching network 25, a gateway 34, and an e-mail server 30 (not shown). The second e-mail server 31 monitors reception of e-mail from the Internet 20, and uses “aaaaaa@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx”, which is the e-mail address of the mobile telephone 10, as the receiving address. When reception of the e-mail is detected, the reception is notified to the gateway 35.
[0039]
When the reception of the e-mail is notified, the gateway 35 calls the receiving-side mobile telephone 10 that is the e-mail receiving side via the base station device 21 by the control channel. The receiving-side mobile telephone 10 called from the gateway 35 requests the electronic mail server 31 to distribute electronic mail via the base station device 21, the packet switching network 26, and the gateway 35.
[0040]
At this time, the location information of the mobile phone 10 on the receiving side is transmitted to the electronic mail server 31. As a result, the e-mail server 31 is ready to deliver the corresponding e-mail to the receiving-side mobile phone 10 via the gateway 35, the packet switching network 26, and the base station device 21. That is, in this way, the receiving-side mobile telephone 10 can receive an e-mail from the Internet that has an e-mail address “aaaaaa@xxx.xxx.xx.xx” assigned to itself as a receiving address. Ready to do it.
[0041]
Here, unconditionally, e-mails with “aaaaaa@xxx.xx.xx.xx” as the recipient address can be received when the following conditions are met instead of being able to receive from the Internet. These points are the improved parts, which will be described. The location or area where the calling-side mobile telephone 1 is located is known in the second e-mail server 31 via the Internet 20, the first e-mail server 30, and the first base station device 13. . Then, the location or area where the receiving-side mobile telephone 10 is located is known by the second base station apparatus 21 through position registration.
[0042]
The location information for both transmission and reception is collected in the authentication positioning server 33 in the second server 11. Therefore, the authentication positioning server 33 can specify the transmission area or the transmission location related to the mobile terminal 1 that has transmitted, and the mobile terminal 10 on the receiving side related to the designated e-mail address registers the location. It is also possible to specify a designated area or designated location within the network. And this authentication positioning server 33 determines whether it exists in a predetermined | prescribed neighborhood relationship by step S55 of FIG. If there is a predetermined proximity relationship, the transmitted e-mail is transmitted to the receiving-side mobile terminal 10 associated with the specified e-mail address in step S56.
[0043]
Note that when the partner is outside the desired area without the predetermined proximity relationship, the e-mail is not transmitted. However, the server 11 manages the sending time of the sent e-mail, and determines whether or not the predetermined proximity relationship exists only within the second time zone set from this sending time in step S57. As described above, if a predetermined proximity relationship is repeated, the transmitted e-mail is transmitted to the mobile terminal 10 on the receiving side related to the specified e-mail address. And if the 2nd time slot | zone passes from transmission time, the transmitted email will be discarded, without transmitting. Whether or not there is a proximity relationship is determined only when the transmission area and the reception area are the same area or an adjacent area.
[0044]
(Second Embodiment)
In the above embodiment, a fixed time zone is automatically designated in the server 11, and the determination is repeated as shown in step S57 in FIG. 5 within this predetermined time zone. The mode is to change the display appearing on the display unit 13 of the terminal 1 when the e-mail transmission mode is selected in the terminal 1 by operating the key operation unit 12, thereby allowing a specific time zone to be set by the operation of the mobile terminal 1 that has transmitted. It can be specified arbitrarily. In other words, in this embodiment, the registered e-mail address and time zone of the other party are designated between the receiving side and the sending side mobile terminals belonging to the network and registered in the area in the network. Sends e-mail.
[0045]
After that, as in the previous embodiment, the mobile terminal related to the automatically specified e-mail address is registered at a predetermined time interval until a predetermined time corresponding to the specified time period elapses. The designated area in the network is identified, and then it is determined whether or not the designated area is in a predetermined neighborhood relationship with the originating area. When the designated area is in a predetermined neighborhood relationship with the calling area, the sent email is sent to the mobile terminal associated with the specified email address. If the designated area is not in the predetermined neighborhood relationship with the sending area until the end, and the other party is outside the desired area, the e-mail is not sent.
[0046]
In FIG. 6, reference numeral 60 denotes a display screen that appears on the display unit 13 when the designation mode for designating a time zone after the terminal transmits an e-mail is selected. In this case, the time within 30 minutes after the call is within the time zone specified by the operation, and within this time zone, the designated area or designated place is in a predetermined neighborhood relationship with the calling area or place. It is determined whether or not there is, and when it is in the predetermined proximity relationship within the time zone specified by the operation, the transmitted email is transmitted to the terminal associated with the specified email address To do. Therefore, even if a desired partner arrives at a place where it is determined to be in the vicinity after 30 minutes, the e-mail is no longer transmitted and is discarded.
[0047]
The operation of the server configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The message created by the message creation means 4 in the terminal of FIG. 1 is sent to the second server 11 via the base station device 13, the packet switching network 25, the gateway 34, the server 6, and the network part of the Internet 20. It is transmitted to the e-mail server 31 inside. When it is determined in step S71 that the mail has been transmitted, the message transfer means 41 in FIG. 4 once receives the message, extracts the destination in the message, and transfers it to the destination script interpretation means 42. The destination script interpreter 42 designates near-time transmission for sending an e-mail only when the receiving-side terminal 10 is in the vicinity of the sending-side terminal 1 in the header portion of the sent e-mail, or any designation of e-mail In step S72, it is determined whether or not there is a time zone designation message for sending an e-mail only in the time zone.
[0048]
If neither is specified and NO is determined, the process proceeds to step S73, where the receiving terminal 10 is considered to be the contents of delivering a message to the e-mail address, regardless of where and when the e-mail is sent to the message transfer means 41. The address is returned and an e-mail is transmitted to the receiving terminal 10. Since transmission is not possible when the receiving terminal 10 is powered off, transmission is retried repeatedly for the first time period defined in the server 11. If that is not possible, discard the email.
[0049]
If it is determined in step S72 that the near time designation or the time zone designation is designated from the calling terminal 1, the process proceeds to step S74 to determine whether there is a near time designation message. If not, the process proceeds to step S75, where the e-mail address is returned to the message transfer means 41, and the e-mail is transmitted to the receiving side terminal 10 within the second time zone specified on the calling side. Since transmission is not possible when the receiving terminal 10 is turned off, transmission is retried repeatedly during the designated second time zone. If the transmission is still impossible and the specified second time period is not reached, the e-mail is discarded.
[0050]
If there is a nearby message, as in step S76, the sending area or sending location to which the location of the terminal 1 sent by the area information management means 43 belongs and the receiving side e-mail to which the e-mail is delivered Information on the designated area or designated location of the terminal 10 having the address is obtained. Then, in step S77, it is determined whether or not the designated area or designated place of the receiving terminal 10 is in the vicinity of the sending area or place to which the position of the terminal 1 that made the call belongs. This determination is performed in the authentication positioning server 33 in the second server 11.
[0051]
If it is determined by the information from the area information management means 43 that there is a proximity relationship, the e-mail address is returned to the message transfer means 41 and the e-mail is transmitted to the receiving terminal 10 in step S78. If there is no proximity relationship, in step S79, after repeatedly confirming whether there is no proximity relationship only for the third time zone at a predetermined interval, if there is still no proximity relationship, the mail is discarded and the terminal 1 on the transmission side Will receive a message to that effect. Note that the third time zone in step S79 is the third time zone when a time zone designation message is sent from the originating terminal 1, so that the designated time zone is the third time zone. The time zone 3 coincides temporally with the second time zone described above.
[0052]
When a time zone designation message has not been sent, a fixed time zone predetermined in the server is set as the third time zone. The time zone at this time is a time zone set on the assumption that an e-mail is delivered only when there is a proximity relationship. As a result, when an e-mail is sent by designating only the time zone, the e-mail is sent only during the designated second time zone, so it does not matter where the receiving party is, Even if you are far away, you can send information that is limited to a certain time, such as an interesting nationwide TV program at a certain time.
[0053]
The area where the mobile phone 1 on the calling side is located is connected to the second via the Internet 20, the first e-mail server 6, the gateway 34, the packet switching network 25, and the first base station apparatus 13. It is grasped in the e-mail server 11. Then, the area where the receiving-side mobile telephone 10 is located is known by the second base station apparatus 21 through position registration. The information on the area grasped by both of these base station apparatuses 13 and 21 and the information on the time zone designated by the transmitting terminal 1 are collected in the authentication positioning server 33 in the second server 11.
[0054]
Therefore, the authentication positioning server 33 can identify the calling area, which is the area in the network where the mobile terminal 1 that sent the call is registered, and the receiving side related to the designated e-mail address. The designated area in the network where the mobile terminal 10 is registered can also be specified. And this authentication positioning server 33 performs determination of step S72, step S74, and step S77. When both the near time designation and the time designation are specified, if there is a predetermined neighborhood relationship, the transmitted e-mail is transmitted to the receiving mobile terminal 10 related to the specified e-mail address. .
[0055]
Note that if the designated area is not in the predetermined neighborhood relationship with the transmission area and the other party is outside the desired area, the electronic mail is not transmitted. Further, the server 11 manages the transmission time of the transmitted e-mail, and determines whether or not the designated area is in a predetermined neighborhood relationship with the transmission area only within the time zone designated from this transmission time. It repeats at a predetermined time interval, and when there is a predetermined proximity relationship, the transmitted e-mail is transmitted to the receiving-side mobile terminal 10 related to the specified e-mail address.
[0056]
When the designated time zone elapses from the transmission time, the transmitted electronic mail is discarded without being transmitted. Whether or not there is a proximity relationship is determined only when the transmission area and the reception area are the same area or adjacent areas. The designation of the time zone may be designated as an arbitrary time zone after the e-mail transmission, such as from what hour to what hour to what minute, not just how many minutes.
[0057]
(Third embodiment)
In each of the above-described embodiments, the criteria for determining the proximity relationship on the server side are set in the server itself, and it is recognized that the location of the reception side terminal is predetermined from the location of the transmission side terminal. Within the distance, within the range of the cell to which the originating terminal belongs, or within the range of the cell adjacent to the cell to which the originating terminal belongs, and the definition of the neighborhood relationship at the originating user However, in the following embodiment, the proximity relationship can be specified in the terminal 1 on the transmission side.
[0058]
With reference to FIG. 2, there is a specific area information storage unit in the memory 103, which is configured in this embodiment to be able to register area information centered on the position of the originating mobile telephone 1. This area information includes information on the radius within the area from the central point for specifying the area. The latitude and longitude of the central point are set based on the GPS information in the position detecting means 3 provided in the mobile phone 1 of FIG. Alternatively, depending on the model of the mobile telephone, it may be set based on the latitude and longitude information of the transmitting terminal 1 obtained by calculation from the intensity of received radio waves from a plurality of base stations. Or it is good also considering the center of the cell centering on the base station to which the transmission side terminal 1 belongs as a center position. Alternatively, in a digital mobile phone having a map display function, a method of selecting the “specific area information registration menu” by operating the operation key unit and directly inputting the latitude and longitude of the calling terminal by the user's hand. You may take it.
[0059]
In either case, the radius in the area is directly input using the operation key unit by selecting the “specific area information registration menu”. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, before sending an e-mail, registration is facilitated by selecting the “specific area information registration menu” of the digital mobile telephone and entering the radius in the area in accordance with the instructions of the function menu. Can be realized. Reference numeral 80 in FIG. 8 indicates that the area information is within an area within a radius of 500 m centered on the position (latitude Ax, longitude Ay) of the base station that has received the PHS radio wave serving as the transmitting terminal. It is a display screen set to be regarded as.
[0060]
In any of the above-described embodiments, no transmission is made when the receiving mobile terminal is turned off, but transmission is made when the power is turned on. If the receiving mobile terminal does not receive the message for some reason even if it is transmitted, the transmitted data is discarded after a certain period of time. That is, since this e-mail is an e-mail for a limited time, it can be discarded on the network side when a specified time period has passed. In addition, the designation of an area in the present invention can be arbitrarily set in units of a calling area of a base station apparatus, a cell unit, a GPS resolution unit, or the like.
[0061]
Further, when the mobile terminal on the transmission side is a PHS or a mobile phone, the position detection means for detecting the current location of this terminal may not have a GPS receiver. In this case, a base station apparatus that has received a radio wave from a PHS that transmits an electronic mail or a mobile phone transmits the base station apparatus ID to the electronic mail server as position information. Alternatively, a plurality of base stations may receive the radio waves of the transmitting terminal, obtain the terminal location information by calculation, and transmit the information to the e-mail server.
[0062]
And the area information management means 43 in the server of FIG. 4 recognizes a transmission area or a transmission place from this position information. If the sent e-mail message is to send an e-mail only to a partner at a nearby location, the receiving terminal registers the location for the sending area or place. It is determined whether or not the receiving area or the receiving location is in a close relationship.
[0063]
Whether the base station that receives the PHS radio wave on the transmitting side and the base station that receives the PHS radio wave on the receiving side are both the same base station or whether these base stations are, for example, They may be adjacent to each other, or may have a proximity relationship when the distance between these base stations is within a predetermined distance. In addition, since the terminal 10 having the receiving e-mail address as the e-mail delivery destination sends the position information to be periodically registered to the server 11, the receiving terminal 10 has received the position registration. The area or receiving location is known.
[0064]
This will help you if you want to contact only someone in a certain place, or if you are in a certain place and want to join a friend who is close to you, or if you want to share limited time information An e-mail system that can be used in response to such requests can be obtained, and if you want to do something immediately, you can contact it, or if you open an e-mail late, you can cope with the request to cut information transmission.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating functions of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the mobile phone of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of the system of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the server in FIG. 3;
5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the system of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a display example in a specific mode of a calling terminal in another embodiment of the system of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart showing an operation in another embodiment of the system of the present invention using a terminal capable of displaying the display example of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a display example in a specific mode of a calling terminal in still another embodiment of the system of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
6, 11 server
1 Mobile terminal that made the call
2 Specified receiving side mobile terminal
60 Display example of the time zone specified in the key operation unit
80 Display example for designating a range with a predetermined neighborhood relationship

Claims (4)

In the transmission / reception system of an e-mail of a mobile terminal that transmits and receives an e-mail by designating a registered e-mail address of a partner via a server between a plurality of mobile terminals, the e-mail transmission If there is, specify the sending area or sending location of the location to which the mobile terminal that sent the call belongs, specify the designated area or specified location of the location to which the mobile terminal related to the specified e-mail address, It is determined whether or not the designated area or designated place is in a predetermined neighborhood relationship with the calling area or place, and if the designated area or designated location is in the neighborhood relation, the sent email is related to the designated email address. An e-mail transmission / reception system that transmits to the mobile terminal. When the e-mail is sent, the sending area or sending location of the location to which the mobile terminal that sent the call belongs is specified, the time zone is specified on the server side, and the specified e-mail address is involved. Specifying a designated area or designated location of a position to which the mobile terminal belongs, determining whether the designated area or designated location is in a predetermined neighborhood relationship with the calling area or sending location within the time period; and 2. The system for sending and receiving e-mails according to claim 1, wherein the sent e-mail is transmitted to the mobile terminal associated with the designated e-mail address when there is a proximity relationship. When the e-mail has been sent, a specific time zone is designated by the operation of the mobile terminal that sent the email, and the designated area or designated location is designated within the time zone designated by the operation. Is determined to be in a predetermined proximity relationship with the transmission area or location, and if the predetermined proximity relationship is within the time zone specified by the operation, the transmitted e-mail is The transmission / reception system for electronic mail according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail is transmitted to the mobile terminal associated with the designated electronic mail address. When the e-mail is sent, the range of the predetermined neighborhood relationship is specified by the operation of the mobile terminal that sent the e-mail, and the designated area or designated place is the sending area or the sending place. It is determined whether or not the predetermined neighborhood relationship is within the range that is the predetermined neighborhood relationship specified by the operation. 4. The transmission / reception system for an electronic mail according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail transmitted is transmitted to the mobile terminal associated with the designated electronic mail address.

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