JP3732153B2 - Application program for mobile communication terminals - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an application program for displaying an advertisement screen on a mobile communication terminal.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A portable communication terminal is known which can execute an application program downloaded via a mobile communication network.
[0003]
In this type of application program for mobile communication terminals, advertisements are widely used to collect consideration related to the development. A banner advertisement is known as a typical method for displaying an advertisement.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the banner advertisement, an advertisement image is incorporated in the original display screen of the application. For this reason, the area that can be used for the application in the display screen becomes small, and the design of the screen configuration becomes difficult. In addition, since the area that can be secured for the banner advertisement is limited, the advertisement effect cannot be effectively exhibited. In particular, in the case of a mobile communication terminal, since the screen size of the display device itself is very small, the above problem is extremely large.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an application program capable of effectively advertising to an application user in a mobile communication terminal. It is in.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention performs communication via a mobile communication network. A portable communication terminal including a display capable of displaying an arbitrary screen and a storage means capable of storing arbitrary information is provided. A control computer acquires advertisement data via the mobile communication network, and stores the advertisement data in the storage means. In addition, the computer controls the display to display an advertisement screen based on advertisement data stored in the storage means during a predetermined advertisement period determined in association with a predetermined event in a predetermined application process, and the advertisement During the period, screen display on the display device by the application processing is suppressed. Furthermore, the present invention executes the application process when the advertisement data cannot be acquired or when the communication with a predetermined partner for acquiring the advertisement data has not been successful for a predetermined period of time. It was banned.
[0007]
By taking such means, the screen display on the display by application processing is temporarily interrupted, and the display of the advertisement screen based on the advertisement data acquired via the mobile communication network is performed on the display. . Then, after the display of the advertisement screen is finished, the screen display on the display by the application process is resumed. Therefore, while displaying the advertisement screen in association with the application process, an advertisement screen completely different from the display screen for the application process can be displayed. And when the state which cannot acquire advertisement data continues, execution of application processing can be restricted.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the system according to the present embodiment.
[0010]
As shown in FIG. 1, this system includes a mobile communication terminal 1, and an application includes a distribution server 2, an advertisement distribution server 3, a mobile communication network 4, and the Internet 5.
[0011]
This system provides an environment in which a mobile communication terminal 1 can download and use an arbitrary application program. Specifically, an application program is downloaded from the application distribution server 2 in response to a request from the mobile communication terminal 1. In this embodiment, a computer program called an “applet” written in the Java (registered trademark) programming language will be described as an example of an application program. However, the application program is not limited to this, and can be exchanged on a network. If the data is correct, it is included in the concept of this application program.
[0012]
The mobile communication terminal 1 is connected to the mobile communication network 4 via a wireless line. The mobile communication terminal 1 can communicate with any other party via the mobile communication network 4. The mobile communication network 4 supports packet communication, and the mobile communication terminal 1 can access any site via the Internet 5 using packet communication.
[0013]
The application distribution server 2 distributes applets for realizing various applications to the mobile communication terminal 1 via the Internet 5 and the mobile communication network 4. The application distribution server 2 also distributes advertisement data to the mobile communication terminal 1 via the Internet 5 and the mobile communication network 4. The application distribution server 2 acquires the advertisement data from the advertisement distribution server 3 via the Internet 5.
[0014]
The advertisement distribution server 3 has advertisement data indicating various advertisement screens. The advertisement distribution server 3 distributes the advertisement data to the mobile communication terminal 1 via the application distribution server 2.
[0015]
By the way, the portable communication terminal 1 has a function of downloading and executing a Java applet. As this type of portable communication terminal, for example, a PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) terminal corresponding to an i-appli provided by NTT DoCoMo, Inc. is known.
[0016]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the hardware configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal 1 includes a CPU 10, ROM 11, RAM 12, SRAM (Static RAM) 13, data input / output unit 14, wireless processing unit 15, antenna 16, audio processing unit 17, speaker 18, and microphone 19. The keypad 20 and the LCD 21 are connected.
[0018]
Various control programs and the like are stored in the ROM 11, and the CPU 10 executes various control processes based on the control programs. At that time, the RAM 12 is used as a work area of the CPU 10 or the like. The control program in the ROM 11 includes a browser and various applications described later in addition to firmware that supports the basic operation of the mobile communication terminal 1. The SRAM 13 caches a web page acquired via the Internet 5. The SRAM 13 stores an application downloaded via the Internet 5.
[0019]
The wireless processing unit 15 includes a frequency synthesizer, an amplifier, a modulation / demodulation circuit, and the like (not shown), and performs well-known wireless processing such as frame synchronization / separation and error detection / correction processing on signals transmitted / received via the antenna 16. To do. Thereby, the wireless processing unit 15 realizes wireless communication with a base station (not shown) included in the mobile communication network 4. The wireless processing unit 15 can perform processing corresponding to a signal transmitted by circuit switching and a signal transmitted by packet switching. Data processed by the wireless processing unit 15 is input / output to / from the CPU 10 via the data input / output unit 14.
[0020]
The audio processing unit 17 is connected to a speaker 18 and a microphone 19. The audio processing unit 17 performs predetermined processing on the audio signal. The keypad 20 is an input interface for the user to perform various operations. The LCD 21 is a display interface for displaying various information.
[0021]
Next, the process configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the lowest layer of the process configuration includes a key interface unit 101 related to hardware control of the mobile communication terminal 1, a screen interface unit 102, a data communication driver 103, a speaker / microphone control unit 104, and a memory interface. The unit 105 is configured.
[0022]
The upper layer is configured by the firmware 111. The firmware 111 supports basic processing of the mobile communication terminal 1.
[0023]
Further, the upper layer includes a Java virtual machine 121, a browser 122, a telephone function unit 123, and a setting unit 124.
[0024]
On the upper layer of the Java virtual machine 121, a Java applet 131 is configured. A Java applet is an application program written in Java. The Java applet is downloaded to the mobile communication terminal 1 from the application distribution server 2 or the like, and is executed on the Java virtual machine 121.
[0025]
In the system shown in FIG. 1, various applications such as games are distributed from the application distribution server 2 to the mobile communication terminal 1. However, the Java applet that is actually distributed by the application distribution server 2 is configured by combining the main program and the advertising program for realizing the above-described application.
[0026]
The advertisement program causes the CPU 10 of the mobile communication terminal 1 to perform processing for performing advertisement to the user of the application realized based on the main program. This advertisement program causes the CPU 10 to function as an acquisition unit, a storage control unit, an advertisement display unit, a display suppression unit, an end suppression unit, a request unit, a notification unit, and a prohibition unit.
[0027]
The acquisition unit acquires the advertisement data distributed from the advertisement distribution server 3 via the application distribution server 2.
[0028]
The storage control unit stores the advertisement data acquired by the acquisition unit in the SRAM 13. The advertisement data includes an advertisement code, an expiration date, a URL, and screen data. The storage control unit adds information on the date and time when the advertisement data is acquired to these pieces of information, and stores them in the SRAM 13 in a state as shown in FIG. The advertisement code is a code for uniquely identifying advertisement data. The expiration date is a time limit during which the advertisement data can be used. URL is an address of a site related to the advertisement data. The screen data is data indicating an advertisement screen. The screen data is configured to include one or more of three types of data blocks shown in FIGS.
[0029]
The advertisement display unit displays an advertisement screen on the LCD 21 at a predetermined timing (described later) linked to application processing by the main program.
[0030]
The display inhibition unit inhibits the screen display on the LCD 21 from being performed by the application process by the main program during the period in which the advertisement screen is displayed by the advertisement display unit.
[0031]
The termination suppression unit suppresses the termination processing of the application process by the main program during the period in which the advertisement display unit displays the advertisement screen.
[0032]
The request unit requests the browser 122 to access the URL indicated in the advertisement data.
[0033]
The notification unit notifies the application distribution server 2 of a history of requesting display of the advertisement screen and access to the URL. In order to make this notification, the notification unit creates an event history as shown in FIG.
[0034]
The prohibition unit prohibits execution of the application process when the acquisition unit has not acquired the advertisement data for a certain period.
[0035]
Next, the operation will be described.
[0036]
When the mobile communication terminal 1 accesses the application distribution server 2 and requests distribution of the application, the application distribution server 2 downloads a Java applet having a main program that realizes the requested application to the mobile communication terminal 1. In the mobile communication terminal 1, the downloaded Java applet is stored in the SRAM 13. This Java applet is read by the SRAM 13 in accordance with an execution instruction from the user and executed on the Java virtual machine 121.
[0037]
Hereinafter, a specific operation will be described by taking as an example a case where a Java applet having a main program for realizing a game is executed.
[0038]
First, when execution of a Java applet is instructed, game application processing based on the main program as shown in FIG. 7 is started.
[0039]
First, in step ST1, the CPU 10 performs initialization. If this initialization is completed, the CPU 10 activates advertisement processing based on the advertisement program. When the advertisement process is activated by the game application process, the CPU 10 executes an advertisement process based on the advertisement program in parallel with the game application process.
[0040]
On the other hand, in the game application process, the CPU 10 reads game data included in the main program and creates initial data in step ST3. When the creation of the initial data is finished, the CPU 10 sets a main side end flag in step ST4. Then, in step ST5, the CPU 10 waits for the advertisement process activated in step ST2 to end. The main end flag is stored in the RAM 12, for example. In this way, at the time of starting the game application process, initialization and creation of initial data are first performed, but the subsequent processes are not performed until the advertisement process is completed.
[0041]
If it is confirmed in step ST5 that the advertisement process has been completed, the CPU 10 displays an initial game screen on the LCD 21 in step ST6. Thereafter, in step ST7, the CPU 10 starts a game process for causing the user to play the game.
[0042]
While performing this game processing, the CPU 10 waits for one of the games to be cleared, the game over, or an instruction to end the game in steps ST8 to ST10.
[0043]
If it is confirmed in step ST8 that one surface has been cleared, the CPU 10 executes surface clear processing in step ST11.
[0044]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of the surface clear process.
[0045]
First, in step ST21, the CPU 10 starts advertisement processing. Subsequently, in step ST22, the CPU 10 reads data on the next side of the game. If the data has been read, the CPU 10 sets a main side end flag in step ST23. Then, in step ST24, the CPU 10 waits for the advertisement process activated in step ST21 to end. As described above, in the game application of this embodiment, the game screen is switched every time one screen is cleared, but the next screen data is read first when the screen is cleared. The next game screen is not displayed until the game is finished.
[0046]
If it is confirmed in step ST24 that the advertisement process has been completed, the CPU 10 causes the LCD 21 to display a screen for the next side of the game in step ST25. Thereafter, the CPU 10 repeats the processes after step ST7.
[0047]
By the way, if it is confirmed in step ST9 that the game is over, the CPU 10 executes a game over process in step ST12.
[0048]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of the game over process.
[0049]
First, in step ST31, the CPU 10 starts advertisement processing. Subsequently, in step ST32, the CPU 10 checks whether or not the result of the game over game is a high score. If it is confirmed that the score is high, the CPU 10 starts transmitting high score information indicating a game score and the like. In step ST34, the CPU 10 waits for the transmission of the high score information to be completed. If the transmission of the high score information is completed, the CPU 10 sets a main side end flag in step ST35. Then, in step ST36, the CPU 10 waits for the advertisement process activated in step ST31 to end. As described above, in the game application of this embodiment, when the high score is achieved, the high score information is transmitted. At this time, the advertisement processing is executed in parallel. And even if transmission of high score information is completed, the next process in a game application process is not performed until an advertisement process is complete | finished.
[0050]
If it is confirmed in step ST36 that the advertisement process has been completed, the CPU 10 causes the LCD 21 to display a high score transmission completion screen in step ST37. The high score transmission completion screen notifies the user that transmission of high score information has been completed. Then, the user who confirms the display of the high score transmission completion screen is to perform a predetermined key input indicating the confirmation. Therefore, in step ST38, the CPU 10 waits for the above key input. If it is confirmed that the above key input has been made, the CPU 10 ends the game over process.
[0051]
If it is confirmed in step ST32 that the score is not high, the CPU 10 sets a main side end flag in step ST39. Then, in step ST40, the CPU 10 waits for the advertisement process activated in step ST31 to end. As described above, when the high score is not achieved, the high score information is not transmitted, but the next process in the game application process is not performed until the advertisement process is completed. If it is confirmed in step ST40 that the advertisement process has been completed, the CPU 10 ends the game over process.
[0052]
When the game over process is completed, the CPU 10 can repeat the process from step ST6 to restart the game from the beginning.
[0053]
When it is confirmed in step ST10 that the game has been instructed, the CPU 10 executes an end process in step ST13.
[0054]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of the end processing.
[0055]
First, in step ST41, the CPU 10 starts advertisement processing. Subsequently, in step ST42, the CPU 10 sets a main side end flag. Then, in step ST43, the CPU 10 waits for the advertisement process activated in step ST41 to end. Thus, the advertisement process is performed before the game application process is terminated, and the next process in the game application process is not performed until the advertisement process is terminated.
[0056]
If it is confirmed in step ST43 that the advertisement process has ended, the CPU 10 performs an application end process for ending the game application in step ST44, thereby ending the end process. If the termination process in step ST13 is terminated as described above, the CPU 10 terminates the game application process accordingly.
[0057]
As described above, the advertisement process is activated during the game application process, and the game application process is not displayed on the LCD 21 until the advertisement process is terminated.
[0058]
Next, the advertisement process will be described in detail.
[0059]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing details of the advertisement process.
[0060]
In step ST51, the CPU 10 first deletes the advertisement data stored in the SRAM 13 from the SRAM 13 if the expiration date has passed. Next, in step ST52, the CPU 10 checks whether or not advertisement data is stored in the SRAM 13. If it is confirmed that the advertisement data is stored in the SRAM 13, the CPU 10 selects one of the advertisement data stored in the SRAM 13 in step ST53. When a plurality of advertisement data is stored in the SRAM 13, the selection of advertisement data may be random or may be performed according to a predetermined order. On the other hand, if it is confirmed that no advertisement data is stored in the SRAM 13, the CPU 10 selects default advertisement data in step ST54.
[0061]
If step ST53 or step ST54 is complete | finished, CPU10 will perform the acquisition process of advertisement data in step ST55 succeedingly.
[0062]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing details of the advertisement data acquisition process.
[0063]
First, in step ST71, the CPU 10 checks whether or not event history information is stored in the SRAM 13. If it is confirmed that the event history is stored, the CPU 10 transmits the event history to the application distribution server 2 in step ST72.
[0064]
As shown in FIG. 13, if an event history is sent from the mobile communication terminal 1, the application delivery server 2 transfers it to the advertisement delivery server 3. In response to this, the advertisement distribution server 3 returns a confirmation notification indicating whether or not the event history has been normally received to the application distribution server 2. The application distribution server 2 transfers this confirmation notification to the mobile communication terminal 1.
[0065]
In portable communication terminal 1, after completing step ST72 or when confirming in step ST71 that no event history is stored, CPU 10 determines in step ST73 whether the event history has been successfully transmitted. Is confirmed based on the confirmation notification sent from the application distribution server 2 as described above. If it is confirmed that the event history has been successfully transmitted, the CPU 10 confirms whether or not the acquisition condition is satisfied in step ST74. The acquisition condition defines a timing at which advertisement data should be acquired. For example, contents such as “once a day” or “two days have passed since the last acquisition date” are arbitrarily set in advance.
[0066]
If it is confirmed in step ST74 that the acquisition condition is satisfied, in step ST75, the CPU 10 requests distribution of advertisement data and receives advertisement data sent in response thereto. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, the mobile communication terminal 1 sends an advertisement distribution request to the application distribution server 2. Then, the application distribution server 2 transfers the advertisement distribution request to the advertisement distribution server 3. Upon receiving the advertisement distribution request, the advertisement distribution server 3 extracts some of the advertisement data registered in itself and transmits an advertisement distribution response including the extracted advertisement data to the application distribution server 2. The application distribution server 2 transfers this advertisement distribution response to the mobile communication terminal 1.
[0067]
As described above, the party to which the mobile communication terminal 1 exchanges event information and advertisement data is ultimately the advertisement distribution server 3, but the application distribution server 2 is interposed between the Java applet. This is because it is specified that the process based on the above can only communicate with the server that delivered the Java applet.
[0068]
Subsequently, in step ST76, the CPU 10 confirms whether or not the advertisement delivery response has been successfully received. If it is confirmed that the advertisement delivery response has been successfully received, the CPU 10 checks whether valid advertisement data is correctly included in the advertisement delivery response. If it is confirmed that valid advertisement data is included, the CPU 10 stores the advertisement data in the SRAM 13 in step ST78. When the storage of the advertisement data is completed, in step ST79, the CPU 10 updates the information on the last acquisition date and time stored in the SRAM 13 to indicate the current date and time, and ends the advertisement data acquisition process.
[0069]
If it is confirmed in step ST77 that no valid advertisement data is included, the CPU 10 ends the advertisement data acquisition process without performing the processes in steps ST78 and ST79. If it is confirmed in step ST73 that transmission of the event history has failed, or if it is confirmed in step ST74 that the acquisition condition is not satisfied, the CPU 10 does not perform steps ST75 to ST79. In other words, the advertisement data acquisition process is terminated without acquiring the advertisement data.
[0070]
When the advertisement data acquisition process is thus completed, the CPU 10 subsequently checks in step ST56 whether or not the period during which advertisement data cannot be acquired (non-acquisition period) is equal to or less than a predetermined limit value. If it is confirmed that the unacquired period is equal to or less than the limit value, the CPU 10 reads one of the advertisement data stored in the SRAM 13 in step ST57. Next, in step ST58, the CPU 10 clears the advertisement side end flag in order to indicate that the advertisement processing is not completed. The advertisement side end flag is stored in the RAM 12, for example. Subsequently, in step ST59, the CPU 10 updates the event history. Specifically, in association with the advertisement code of the advertisement data read out in step ST57, a record in which the current date and time is set as the event date and “display” as the event content is added to the event history.
[0071]
Thereafter, in step ST60, the CPU 10 causes the LCD 21 to display an advertisement screen based on the first screen data included in the advertisement data read in step ST57 over a predetermined time. When the display of the advertisement screen for a certain period of time is completed, in step ST61, the CPU 10 determines whether or not all the display of the advertisement screen based on all the screen data included in the advertisement data read in step ST57 is completed. Check. If it is confirmed that the advertisement display has not been completed yet, the CPU 10 confirms in step ST62 whether or not the key input for clicking the link shown on the displayed advertisement screen has been performed. If it is confirmed that the key input has not been performed, the CPU 10 displays the advertisement screen based on the next screen data included in the advertisement data read in step ST57 on the LCD 21 for a predetermined time in step ST63. . When the display of the advertisement screen for a predetermined time is completed, the CPU 10 returns the process to step ST61 and repeats the processes after step ST61.
[0072]
If the advertisement screen is displayed based on the last screen data included in the advertisement data read in step ST57 in step ST63, the CPU 10 next confirms that the advertisement display is completed in step ST61. It will be. In this case, in step ST64 and step ST65, the CPU 10 ends the processing on the main side, that is, the game application processing side here, or performs key input for clicking the link shown on the displayed advertisement screen. I wait.
[0073]
Whether or not the main-side processing has been completed is confirmed by confirming the state of the main-side end flag. If the main-side end flag is set, the CPU 10 determines that the main-side processing has ended. In this case, in step ST66, the CPU 10 sets an advertisement side end flag, and ends the advertisement process.
[0074]
If the advertisement-side end flag is set in this way, the CPU 10 can confirm that the advertisement process has ended in step ST5, step ST24, step ST36, step ST40 or step ST43 in the game application process. Accordingly, the stopped game application process is resumed in response to the completion of the advertisement process after the process of step ST66.
[0075]
On the other hand, if it is confirmed in step ST62 or step ST65 that a key input has been made, the CPU 10 updates the event history in step ST67. Specifically, in association with the advertisement code of the advertisement data read in step ST57, a record in which the current date and time is set as the event date and “click” as the event content is added to the event history. Thereafter, in step ST68, the CPU 10 requests the browser 122 to access the link destination URL of the link designated by the key input confirmed in step ST62 or step ST65. And CPU10 complete | finishes an advertisement process with this.
[0076]
The browser 122 is activated based on the request in step ST62. With the activation of the browser 122, application processing based on a Java applet such as game application processing is forcibly terminated.
[0077]
By the way, when it is confirmed in step ST56 that the non-acquisition period has been extended for a long time and is equal to or greater than the limit value, the CPU 10 displays a warning screen on the LCD 21 in step ST69. This warning screen notifies the user that the application cannot be used because advertisement data has not been acquired. Then, with this warning screen displayed, the CPU 10 waits for the user to instruct the forced termination of the application in step ST70. If it is confirmed that an instruction to forcibly terminate the application has been issued, the CPU 10 terminates the advertisement process accordingly. In this case, the game application process is also forcibly terminated.
[0078]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, when any of the following four events occurs in the processing of the Java application, the advertisement processing is activated.
(1) Start up a Java application.
(2) Switching the display screen using a Java application.
(3) Communication by Java application.
(4) Terminate the Java application.
[0079]
Until the advertisement processing is completed, the processing of the Java application is stopped so that the processing accompanied by the screen display in the Java application is not performed.
[0080]
In the advertisement process, an advertisement screen based on advertisement data acquired from the advertisement distribution server 3 via the application distribution server 2 is displayed. At this time, since the advertisement screen can be displayed regardless of the screen display of the Java application, the display area of the LCD 21 can be freely used. For this reason, the degree of freedom in designing the advertisement screen is increased, and it is possible to easily design an advertisement screen that is easy to see and has a high advertising effect.
[0081]
The Java application process is not resumed unless the advertisement process ends normally. In other words, the Java application cannot be used continuously unless the advertisement screen is displayed. Therefore, it is possible to reliably present the advertisement screen to the user of the Java application without incorporating the advertisement image into the display screen for the Java application. Therefore, since the display screen for the Java application can be designed regardless of the advertisement, the display area of the LCD 21 can be freely used. As a result, the degree of freedom in designing the display screen for the Java application is increased.
[0082]
Further, according to the present embodiment, when a link set in the advertisement screen is clicked, the mobile communication terminal 1 accesses the link destination address of the link by the browser, and An event history indicating that the click has been performed is transmitted to the application distribution server 2. In this embodiment, the application distribution server 2 further transfers the event history to the advertisement distribution server 3. For this reason, the application distribution server 2 and the advertisement distribution server 3 can manage the execution status of the web access based on the advertisement, and can be applied, for example, to investigate the usage of the advertisement.
[0083]
Further, according to the present embodiment, the mobile communication terminal 1 transmits an event history indicating which advertisement data is displayed based on which advertisement data is displayed to the application distribution server 2 by the advertisement process. In this embodiment, the application distribution server 2 further transfers the event history to the advertisement distribution server 3. For this reason, the application distribution server 2 and the advertisement distribution server 3 can manage the actual execution state of the advertisement display, and can be applied, for example, to count the number of advertisements displayed.
[0084]
Further, according to the present embodiment, the mobile communication terminal 1 collects information related to clicks and displays of advertisements as history information (event history) and transmits the history information. For this reason, it is not necessary to communicate each time an advertisement is displayed or a link in an advertisement is clicked, and the above information can be transmitted efficiently. In addition, in the present embodiment, since the mobile communication terminal 1 transmits the event history when acquiring the advertisement data, the number of communications can be further reduced.
[0085]
Further, according to the present embodiment, the mobile communication terminal 1 tries to acquire advertisement data every time the advertisement process is started if a predetermined acquisition condition is satisfied. Therefore, the mobile communication terminal 1 tries to acquire advertisement data periodically to some extent, and the latest advertisement data can be downloaded. As a result, appropriate advertisement display based on the latest advertisement data can be performed.
[0086]
In addition, in the present embodiment, the mobile communication terminal 1 puts a certain amount of time between the final acquisition timing of the advertisement data and the next attempt to acquire the advertisement data. For this reason, it does not try to acquire advertisement data more frequently than necessary, and useless communication does not occur.
[0087]
Further, according to the present embodiment, if an expiration date is set for the advertisement data and the advertisement data acquired and stored in the mobile communication terminal 1 has passed the expiration date, the advertisement data is deleted. It is not used for advertisement display. For this reason, the display of the advertisement screen that is no longer effective when it is old is not performed meaninglessly.
[0088]
According to the present embodiment, the mobile communication terminal 1 displays an advertisement screen based on default advertisement data prepared in advance when there is no advertisement data downloaded and stored in the SRAM 13. Yes. For this reason, even if the advertisement data cannot be acquired via the Internet 5, the advertisement display can be performed without any trouble.
[0089]
Further, according to the present embodiment, the period during which the advertisement is displayed is set until the display of all advertisement screens indicated by one advertisement data is completed. For this reason, it is possible to display an advertisement with a high advertising effect consisting of a plurality of screens.
[0090]
Further, according to the present embodiment, when the period during which advertisement data cannot be newly acquired continues so as to exceed the limit value, the mobile communication terminal 1 does not return the process from the advertisement process to the main process of the application. Yes. For this reason, for example, when the mobile communication terminal 1 has been unable to acquire advertisement data because the mobile communication terminal 1 has been outside the service area of the mobile communication network 4 for a long period of time, Usage can be restricted.
[0091]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the application program according to the present invention is not limited to that realized as a Java applet, and may be an arbitrary form of program.
[0092]
An application realized by application processing may be other than a game such as a stock price display.
[0093]
Moreover, the timing which performs an advertisement process should just contain at least 1 of the 4 types of timing shown to the said embodiment.
[0094]
A plurality of links with different link destinations may be set in one advertisement data. The link destination is not limited to a WWW (World Wide Web) site, but may be another network. Therefore, the link destination address is not limited to a URL.
[0095]
Processing for accessing the link destination when the link in the advertisement is clicked and displaying information distributed from the link destination may be performed based on the application program of the present invention.
[0096]
Further, notification of advertisement display or click of a link in the advertisement may be transmitted every time those events occur. Even when the history information is transmitted, the history information regarding the advertisement display and the history information regarding the click of the link in the advertisement may be separately created and transmitted separately. And when transmitting as history information like these or event history, you may perform the transmission irrespective of acquisition of advertisement data.
[0097]
Further, the transmission destination of the event history is not limited to the application distribution server 2 but may be directly transmitted to the advertisement distribution server 3 or may be transmitted to a completely different notification destination. good. Further, the advertisement display notification and the click notification of the link in the advertisement may be transmitted to different notification destinations.
[0098]
If the advertisement delivery response is not included in the advertisement delivery response even though the advertisement delivery response has been successfully received from the application delivery server 2, the mobile communication terminal 1 side does not receive the advertisement data. It can be said that the operation is performed. Therefore, if the advertisement delivery response can be received, the last acquisition date may be updated. In this way, when there is no advertisement data to be distributed by the advertisement distribution server 3, it is possible to prevent the mobile communication terminal 1 from repeatedly trying to acquire advertisement data in an unnecessarily short period. This eliminates unnecessary communication costs for the user of the terminal 1. In addition, even if the advertisement data acquisition is not actually performed for a period exceeding the limit value, the application processing is performed as long as the communication with the application distribution server 2 is performed at an interval not exceeding the limit value that is normally performed. Can be executed.
[0099]
Moreover, the timing which tries acquisition of advertisement data can be arbitrarily changed, for example, every time the power of the mobile communication terminal 1 is turned on or every certain time.
[0100]
Further, for example, if the advertisement data once used for displaying the advertisement is deleted from the SRAM 13, the management of the expiration date of the advertisement data can be omitted.
[0101]
Further, when the downloaded advertisement data is not stored in the SRAM 13, the advertisement display may not be performed.
[0102]
Further, the period during which the advertisement is displayed can be arbitrarily changed, for example, a fixed period.
[0103]
In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0104]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the screen display on the display by application processing is temporarily interrupted at a predetermined timing, and the display of the advertisement screen based on the advertisement data acquired through the mobile communication network is performed on the display. Then, after the display of the advertisement screen is finished, the screen display on the display unit by the application process is resumed. Therefore, while the advertisement screen is displayed in connection with the application process, the display screen for the application process Can display a completely separate advertising screen. Furthermore, the execution of the application process is prohibited when a state in which advertisement data cannot be acquired or a state in which communication with a predetermined partner for acquiring the advertisement data has not succeeded exceeds a predetermined period. be able to. As a result, it becomes possible to effectively advertise to the user of the application in the mobile communication terminal.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a process configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage state of advertisement data in the SRAM 13;
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of a data block included in advertisement data.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a structure of an event history.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of game application processing.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of surface clear processing.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of a game over process.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of end processing.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing details of advertisement processing.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing details of advertisement data acquisition processing.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a sequence when the mobile communication terminal 1 acquires advertisement data.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... Mobile communication terminal
2 ... Application distribution server
3 ... Advertisement distribution server
4. Mobile communication network
5 ... Internet
10 ... CPU
11 ... ROM
12 ... RAM
13 ... SRAM
111 ... Firmware
121 ... Java Virtual Machine
122 ... Browser
131 ... Java applet

Claims (2)

A computer that controls a mobile communication terminal that communicates via a mobile communication network and includes a display capable of displaying an arbitrary screen and a storage means capable of storing arbitrary information.
Obtaining means for obtaining advertisement data via the mobile communication network;
Storage control means for storing the advertisement data in the storage means;
Advertisement display means for causing the display to display an advertisement screen based on advertisement data stored in the storage means during a predetermined advertisement period determined in association with a predetermined event in a predetermined application process;
Display suppression means for suppressing screen display on the display by the application process during the advertisement period;
An application program that functions as a prohibiting unit that prohibits execution of the application process when a state in which advertisement data cannot be acquired by the acquiring unit continues for a predetermined period. A computer that controls a mobile communication terminal that communicates via a mobile communication network and includes a display capable of displaying an arbitrary screen and a storage means capable of storing arbitrary information.
Obtaining means for obtaining advertisement data via the mobile communication network;
Storage control means for storing the advertisement data in the storage means;
Advertisement display means for causing the display to display an advertisement screen based on advertisement data stored in the storage means during a predetermined advertisement period determined in association with a predetermined event in a predetermined application process;
Display suppression means for suppressing screen display on the display by the application process during the advertisement period;
An application program that functions as a prohibiting unit that prohibits execution of the application process when a state in which communication with a predetermined partner for acquiring the advertisement data by the acquiring unit is not successful exceeds a predetermined period .

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