JP3847735B2 - Presence information management apparatus and program thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention particularly relates to a presence information management apparatus and method suitable for use in managing user presence information in an instant message system.

With the spread of the Internet, opportunities for network communication between users are increasing. As a communication tool for performing simple message exchange on a network, there are instant messenger and chat (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-73513 A

In the communication tool described above, presence indicating the network connection status of the user, such as login / out, is managed by the presence management system and used as a communication trigger for starting message exchange.
Specifically, a specific party to exchange messages with is registered in the presence management system. This presence management system provides a list of registrants to the user as a contact list, and discloses each other's presence information so that each Only when the message can be exchanged, the above communication tool is used to send and receive messages.

The presence management system described above has the following disadvantages.
(1) When there are a large number of registrants, the presence information of the registrants is frequently updated, making it difficult to grasp the status of all registrants.
(2) Since presence information is provided only for the latest information at the time of update, it is impossible to grasp what kind of presence information has been provided in the past.
(3) Since there is no incentive to update the presence information, the presence information is not updated.

(4) The reason for updating his / her presence information and setting it to the latest state is based on the premise that the registrant will always update to the latest state by setting himself / herself to the latest state. The published presence information is not always the latest.
(5) Since it is left to the user to determine the presence information list of all the registrants provided by the presence information management system, because it is left to the user to identify the person whom he / she wants to start message exchange. It is not always possible to find a suitable partner.
(6) I cannot know who needs my presence information.

(7) Since the registrant becomes a specific partner known by the user, presence information can be exchanged only in a closed world (within the contact list) with a limited partner.
(8) On the other hand, if an unspecified majority is used as a registrant, his / her presence information is known to an unfamiliar partner, which is not preferable.
(9) Since contact lists exist independently for each user, it is not possible to exchange presence information between contact lists.

The present invention has been made in view of the various circumstances described above, and exists in a contact list where a user publishes his / her presence information, a subscriber who acquires the presence information of the other party, and a contact list. Manages all registrant's presence information as a router that relays to other registrants, can see who is referring to their presence information, and refers to other people's presence if they do not update their presence information It is an object of the present invention to provide a presence information management apparatus and a program thereof that can easily find an optimum message exchange partner by providing a mechanism that cannot be performed, and can provide presence update incentives.
In addition, by exchanging presence information via a router, you can contact a user who you do not know directly, so that you can find a more optimal partner for exchanging messages. It is another object of the present invention to provide a presence information management apparatus and a program thereof that can prevent unnecessary presence information from being disclosed by specifying the.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a presence information management apparatus to which a plurality of user terminals that transmit and receive presence information via a communication network are connected, and shows a list of counterpart users from whom the presence information is to be acquired. a first database for storing contact list, referring the opening range of the presence information for each user unit, a second database for storing the change history of the presence information, said first and second database Thus, a contact list indicating a list of partner users whose presence information is to be acquired across users according to the disclosure range and the latest date / time information on which the presence information has been updated are acquired, and the second database before the date / time is acquired. From the change history of the presence information of all users registered in Searching our presence information, along with to generate a list of users to publish the presence information from the presence information distributed to the user terminal of a user who wishes to provide the presence information, a list of users who acquire the presence information Presence information management means for generating and distributing the presence information to the user terminal of the updated user.

  According to the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the presence information management means 11 refers to the contact list DB 12 and the presence information DB 13 as the first and second databases, respectively. A list of partner users (publisher list) for which presence information is to be acquired across users according to the disclosure range defined in the DB 13 and the latest date / time information on which the presence information has been updated are acquired and registered in the presence information DB 13 before the date / time. The presence information of the desired counterpart user is searched from the presence information change history of all users, and distributed to the terminals (user terminals 2, 3, 4) of the users who wish to provide the presence information. In addition, a list of subscribers (subscriber list) that acquired the presence information of the other party is generated and distributed to the user terminals 2 and 3 of the users whose presence information has been updated.

As a result, the user can easily find the most suitable partner by providing presence information only for the partner who publishes the presence information desired by the user through the publisher list. In addition, when searching for a partner that matches the presence information desired by the user, the presence change history before the latest date and time when the user updated the presence information is used. Presence information needs to be updated, which is an incentive to update presence for the user. Further, by providing the presence information of the partner who acquired the updated presence information by the subscriber list, it is possible to know the partner user who needs him.
In addition, since the publisher list and subscriber list are generated for more users by relaying the presence information, it is possible to provide the most appropriate users for message exchange and contact the relay partners. By limiting the number of subscribers in the list, the router can authenticate other publishers and subscribers that are not in the user's contact list, so that the party with whom the presence information is exchanged can be identified. It is possible to prevent the presence information from being disclosed.

  Here, “presence information” refers to user status information including user status such as login status, system usage, and busy, spare time, location, and specialty areas.

In the present invention, the presence information management means acquires presence information updated by a user from the user terminal, registers the updated presence information in the second database, and stores the first and second From the database, obtain a contact list that is a list of partner users who want to obtain presence information across users according to the disclosure range and the latest date and time information that updated the presence information, and register them in the second database before the date and time A presence information processing unit that searches and outputs the presence information of a desired partner user from the history of changes in presence information of all users, a presence list is obtained from the presence information processing unit, and a publisher list is generated. User end of a user who wishes to obtain the presence information The publisher list processing unit that distributes to the presence information, and the presence information from the presence information processing unit, the subscriber list that is a list of users who acquire the presence information of the other party is created, and the presence information is updated to the subscriber list And a subscriber list processing unit that distributes to the user terminal of the user.

According to the present invention, for example, the presence information processing unit 111 shown in FIG. 7 spans users according to the presence information disclosure range defined in the second database (presence information DB 13), and lists the other users who want to acquire presence information. The publisher list and the latest date / time information with updated presence information are obtained, and the desired partner's presence information is retrieved from the change history of all users' presence information registered in the presence information DB 13 before the date / time. , A user terminal that requires a publisher list (a list of other users who want to obtain presence information) and a subscriber list (a list of users who obtain the presence information of the other party) via a publisher list processing unit 112 and a subscriber list processing unit 113, respectively. Send to 2 (3, 4) That.
As a result, the presence information processing unit 111 relays each user's presence information, so that the presence information among the users can be exchanged. Also, by defining the presence information disclosure range, the user's unnecessary information can be exchanged. It is possible to prevent the presence information from being disclosed. In addition, more publisher lists can be provided to users who are publishing presence information more widely because the range in which presence information can be used when creating a publisher list matches the disclosure range of the user's presence information. Can be provided.

  In the present invention, the presence information processing unit receives the latest presence information from the user terminal, registers the latest presence information and the latest update date and time in the second database, and the contact list of the user. And the presence information disclosure range of the user from the second database, and the presence information disclosure range of all users registered in the first database is the presence information of the user. The process of transmitting the presence information of the user is repeatedly executed until the disclosure range is exceeded.

Further, in the present invention, when the presence information processing unit receives the latest presence information from the user terminal, the presence information processing unit registers the latest presence information and the latest update date and time in the second database, and the user contact list Can be acquired from the first database and the contact list of all users registered in the first database can be acquired from the second database to obtain the presence information of all users before the latest update date and time. The presence information and user information obtained are repeatedly transmitted to the publisher list processing unit while updating the variable of the presence information disclosure range until there is no more.

  In the present invention, the presence information processing unit receives a user presence information acquisition request from the subscriber list processing unit, acquires the user presence information from the second database, and uses the presence information as the subscriber information. It transmits to a list process part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

In the present invention, when the presence information processing unit receives presence information desired by a user from the user terminal, the presence information processing unit transmits the desired presence information to the publisher list processing unit, and the publisher list processing unit includes: The presence information and the user list are acquired from the presence information processing unit, the presence information desired by the user is compared with the acquired presence information, and when there is matching presence information, a publisher list is generated. Only when there is a difference between the publisher list and the publisher list created this time, it is sent to the user terminal as the difference of the corresponding presence information publish list, and the subscriber list of all users in which a difference has occurred in the user list Create the subscribing Characterized in that it requests the Ibarisuto processor.

  Further, in the present invention, the subscriber list processing unit receives a subscriber list creation request for a user having a difference among the user lists from the publisher list processing unit, and acquires presence information from the presence information processing unit. Create a subscriber list, compare the subscriber list created last time with the subscriber list created this time, and if there is a difference, the presence information of the user is used as the difference in the subscriber list. It transmits to the user terminal.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a computer of a presence information management apparatus , which is connected to a plurality of user terminals that transmit and receive presence information via a communication network, and includes first and second databases. A first step of storing in the first database a contact list indicating a list of counterpart users whose information is to be acquired, a disclosure range of the presence information for each user unit, and a change history of the presence information in a second A second step to be stored in a database, a contact list indicating a list of other users whose presence information is to be acquired across users according to the disclosure range by referring to the first and second databases, and presence information And the latest date and time information updated, and the second date before the date and time is acquired. Find the presence information of the other party user desiring the change history for all users of the presence information registered in the base, and distributes the presence information of the retrieved destination user to a user terminal of a user who wishes to provide the presence information a third step, in the generating the list of users who acquire the presence information of the other party, the presence information management program for executing a fourth step of delivering to the user terminal of the user who updates the presence information is there.

In the present invention, the third step includes receiving the latest presence information from the user terminal and registering the latest presence information and the latest update date and time in the second database; The contact list is acquired from the first database, the presence information disclosure range of the user is acquired from the second database, and the presence information disclosure range of all users registered in the first database is the user's presence information disclosure range. A presence information management program for causing a computer to repeatedly execute a process of transmitting presence information of the user until the presence information disclosure range is exceeded .

In the present invention, when receiving the latest presence information from the user terminal, the second step registers the latest presence information and the latest update date and time in the second database ; The contact list of all users registered in the first database is a process for acquiring the contact list from the first database and acquiring the presence information of all users before the latest update date and time from the second database. A presence information management program for causing a computer to execute the step of repeatedly transmitting obtained presence information and user information while updating variables of the presence information disclosure range until it cannot be acquired .

As described above, according to the present invention, a user can easily find an optimum partner by providing presence information only for a partner who publishes presence information desired by the user by a publisher list. In addition, when searching for a partner that matches the presence information desired by the user, the presence change history before the latest date and time when the user updated the presence information is used. Presence information needs to be updated, which is an incentive to update presence for the user.
Further, by providing the presence information of the partner who acquired the updated presence information by the subscriber list, it is possible to know the partner user who needs him.

  In addition, since the publisher list and subscriber list are generated for more users by relaying the presence information, it is possible to provide the most appropriate users for message exchange and contact the relay partners. By limiting the number of subscribers in the list, the router can authenticate other publishers and subscribers that are not in the user's contact list, so that the party with whom the presence information is exchanged can be identified. It is possible to prevent the presence information from being disclosed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a presence information management system in which the present invention is adopted.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a presence management apparatus of the present invention, which is connected to a user terminal 2, a user terminal 3, and a user terminal 4 via a communication network (not shown). The presence management apparatus 1 includes a contact list DB 12 and a presence information DB 13 with the presence information management means 11 as a core.

In the contact list DB 12, a list (user list) of other users who want to obtain presence information is registered, and in the presence information DB 13, presence information change history for each user is registered together with the presence information disclosure range (relay stage number data). The data structure will be described later.
The presence information management means 11 refers to the contact list DB 12 and the presence information DB 13, so that a list of counterpart users who want to acquire presence information across users according to the previous presence information disclosure range and the latest updated presence information. The date and time information, the presence information of the desired counterpart user is searched from the change history of the presence information of all users registered in the presence information DB 13 before the date and time, and the terminal 2 of the user who desires to provide the presence information; The function distributed to each of 3 and 4 is executed. The presence information management means 11 also executes a function of generating a list (subscriber list) of users who have acquired the presence information of the other party and distributing them to the user terminals 2 and 3 of the users whose presence information has been updated.

Here, terms are defined as follows. First, the “contact list” refers to a list of other users for whom presence information is to be acquired. Here, the presence information is shared with friends. Therefore, as a user attribute, a publisher that publishes his / her presence information to his / her friends (publish), a subscriber (subscribe) that acquires his / her presence information, and a router (router) that relays his / her presence information to other friends. Have. Here, the relay of presence information means that one's own presence information is relayed to a friend and the presence information of the friend is further acquired.
The “presence information” refers to user status information including user status such as login status and system usage status, busyness, free time, location (company, home), and specialty field.

In FIG. 1, the user A uses the user terminal 2 owned by the user A, and the user B uses the user terminal 3 owned by the user B to transmit the latest presence information to the presence information management apparatus 11 (symbol (a)). ).
Every time presence information is received, the presence information management apparatus 11 accesses the presence information DB 13 to update the presence information of each of the users A and B. When the presence information of the user A is updated, the publisher list (user A) is distributed to the user terminal 3 (symbol (c)), and the scriber list (user B) is distributed to the user terminal 2. (Code (d)).

The user A transmits further latest presence information by the user terminal 2 (symbol (a)). The presence information management apparatus 11 receiving this updates the presence information of the user A and distributes the publisher list (user B) to the user terminal 2 when the presence information of the user B is updated (code (g) )), The subscriber list (user A) is distributed to the user terminal 3 (symbol (h)).
Here, it is assumed that the user B transmits the desired presence information to the presence information management apparatus 11 via the user terminal 3 (symbol (b)). At this time, the presence information management apparatus 11 extracts target user information from the contact list of the user B and the latest update time, acquires presence information from the target user's presence DB 13, and sends it to the user terminal 3. On the other hand, the publisher list (user A) is (code (c)), and the subscriber list (user B) is distributed to the user terminal 2 (code (d)).

FIG. 2 explains the range of presence information disclosure and search. Here, an example of a contact list for each of the user B, the user C, the user b, the user c, the user # 2, and the user # 3 is shown, and the range of disclosure and search of presence information among the users is schematically shown. Has been.
That is, with user B as the starting point (black circle in FIG. 2), the presence information of user A, user C, and user b is disclosed as a contact list to user B. D, presence information of user c is made public. By the way, since the user C discloses the presence information only to the user B, the number of relay stages as the presence information disclosure range is set to zero. On the other hand, since the user c publicly discloses presence information to the user C and the user b, the number of relay stages as the presence information disclosure range is one, and the user # 1 and the user # 3 are relays as the presence information disclosure range. The number of stages is two.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a relay range when the number of relay stages of presence information is one. In the figure, a portion surrounded by a double frame indicates a partner user to be relayed.
As shown in the contact list of each user, for example, for user A, presence information of user B, user C, user D, user a, user b, and user c is made public. In addition to user A, user C, and user b, presence information of users d, # 1, and # 2 that cannot be directly acquired by user A is disclosed, so that user A is user B, user C, and user B. In addition to D, user a, user b, and user c, user B can be relayed to obtain presence information of user d, user # 1, and user # 2. In addition to the users A and C, the presence information of the user E, the user f, the user g, and the user # 4 that the user A cannot directly acquire is disclosed to the user a. In addition to user C, user D, user a, user b, and user c, presence information of user E, user f, user g, and user # 4 can be acquired by relaying user a. The same applies to other contact lists, and the description is omitted here in order to avoid duplication.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a relay range when the number of presence information relay stages is two. In the figure, a partner user (first stage) relayed by a portion surrounded by a double frame is shown as a partner user (second stage) relayed by a portion surrounded by a solid thick frame.
As shown in the contact list of each user, for example, for user A, user B can relay and acquire presence information of user d, user # 1, and user # 2 (first stage). The presence information of the user X, the user Y, the user n, and the user # 8 can be acquired by relaying (second stage). The same applies to other contact lists, and a description thereof will be omitted.

5 and 6 show examples of display images on the user terminal screen.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), in the case of one-stage relay, the presence information of the other party is expressed by hierarchical development for each user, and here, relayed by user B and user B The presence information of user d # 1 and user # 2 is shown. Your presence information is also shown at the bottom of the screen.
Also, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), similarly in the case of two-stage relay, the presence information of the other party is expressed in a hierarchical manner for each user. Here, relay is performed by user B and user B. User d, user # 1 (first stage), and presence information of user X, user Y, user n, and user # 8 (second stage) relayed by user # 1 are shown. Also, your presence information is shown at the bottom of the screen.

FIG. 6 is another user terminal screen display example. As shown in this figure, a publisher list and a subscriber list are displayed on the screen of the user terminal. In the publisher list, the desired presence information (the user who is at home and currently free) is displayed on the upper side, and the presence information of the free user who is currently logged in and at home is displayed on the lower side. . Here, as in FIG. 5, presence information of relayed users is hierarchically expanded and expressed.
Also, in the subscriber list, the presence information (user A who is free at the company) and the number of relay stations (presence information disclosure range) are displayed on the upper side, and the current login is displayed on the lower side. The presence information of the user who is looking for “in” is displayed in a hierarchical manner including relay users.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an expanded function of the internal configuration of the presence information management apparatus according to the present invention. Specifically, each block is configured by a peripheral LSI (Large Scale Integration) including a CPU and a memory. Then, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) sequentially reads and executes a program recorded in the memory, thereby realizing the function of the block.
The presence information management apparatus according to the present invention includes a presence information processing unit 111, a publisher list processing unit 112, and a subscriber list processing unit 113.

The presence information processing unit 111 acquires presence information updated by the user from the user terminal 2, the user terminal 3, and the user terminal 4, registers the updated presence information in the presence information DB 13, and creates a contact list DB 12 and presence information DB 13. The publisher list, which is a list of partner users whose presence information is to be acquired across users according to the disclosure range, and the latest date / time information on which the presence information has been updated is acquired from each of the above, and all registered in the presence information DB 13 before the date / time are acquired. It has a function to search and output the presence information of a desired other user from the change history of the user presence information.
Further, the publisher list processing unit 112 acquires presence information from the presence information processing unit 111 to generate a publisher list, and the user terminal 2, user terminal 3, and user terminal of the user who desires to acquire presence information from the publisher list. 4, the subscriber list processing unit 113 acquires presence information from the presence information processing unit 111, creates a subscriber list that is a list of users who acquire the other party's presence information, It has a function of distributing the presence information to the user terminal 2, user terminal 3, and user terminal 4 of the user who has updated the presence information.

An example of the data structure of the contact list DB 12 and presence information DB 13 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8A, the contact list DB 12 includes, for each user (user ID), the number of other users for whom presence information is to be acquired, and an ID list (ID # 1 to ID # 1) of the other users for whom presence information is to be acquired. #N). Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, the presence information DB 13 includes a presence information disclosure range (number of relay stages) defined for each user (user ID), the latest update date and time, presence information history for each user. Number, presence information list (# 1 to #n) for each presence information update date and time.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart cited for explaining the basic operation of the presence information management apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 10 is an operation sequence diagram cited for explaining the overall operation of the system to supplement the explanation of FIG. It is. The flowchart shown in FIG. 9 also shows the processing procedure of the presence information management program of the present invention.
In FIG. 10, step numbers given the same numbers as the step numbers shown in FIG. 9 correspond to the step numbers shown in FIG. 9.
The operation of the presence information management apparatus shown in FIG. 7 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, the presence information processing unit 111 receives the latest presence information from the user terminal 2 (3, 4) (S91), and registers the latest presence information and the latest update date / time in the presence information DB 13 (S92). Then, the user's contact list is acquired from the contact list DB 12 (S93), and the presence information disclosure range (number of relay stages) of the user is acquired from the presence information DB 13 (S94).
Next, the variable (X = number of relay stages) is set to “0” (S95), and the contact list of all users registered in the contact list is acquired from the contact list DB 12 (S96). The presence information disclosure range (number of relay stages) is acquired from the presence information DB 13 (S97), and it is checked whether the presence information disclosure range of all users is greater than or equal to the user presence information disclosure range (S98). Here, if “true”, the user presence information is updated (S99). Next, in the case of “false” or after the process of S99, the variable X is updated (+1) (S100), and it is checked whether or not the variable X is greater than or equal to the user's presence disclosure range (S101). In the case of “,” the processing after S96 is repeated.

  That is, the process of transmitting the presence information of the user is repeatedly executed until the presence information disclosure range of all users registered in the contact list DB 12 exceeds the user presence information disclosure range.

On the other hand, when “true” is determined in the process of S101, “2” is set to the variable N (S102). First, the contact list group of all users who have registered users in the contact list is obtained from the contact list DB 12. Obtain (S103). Then, for example, a user list is created from the contact list of the user A and the contact list group, and duplicate users are excluded from the user list (S104). Furthermore, the presence information disclosure range (number of relay stages) of all users in the user list is acquired from the presence information DB 13 (S105), and the user whose presence information disclosure range is “0” is deleted from the user list (S106).
Then, it is checked whether or not the contact list of all the users whose presence information disclosure range is greater than or equal to the variable N is registered in the contact list from the contact list DB 12 (S107). Update (+1) and repeat the processing after S103 (S108). On the other hand, if the acquisition fails, the presence information group is acquired from the presence information DB 13 (S109), and the presence information is transmitted to the user terminal 3 and others (S110).

  That is, the process of acquiring the user contact list from the contact list DB 12 and acquiring the presence information of all users before the latest update date from the presence information DB 13 can be acquired for all the user registered in the contact list DB 12. The presence information and user information obtained are repeatedly transmitted to the publisher list processing unit 112 while updating the variable N of the presence information disclosure range until there is no more.

FIGS. 11 to 13 are flowcharts cited for explaining the operation according to the embodiment of the present invention, and each of the presence information processing unit 111, the publisher list processing unit 112, and the subscriber list processing unit 113 is shown.
FIGS. 14 to 17 are operation sequence diagrams quoted for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention to supplement the explanation of FIGS. 11 to 13, and update presence information (FIGS. 14 and 15), presence. Each operation sequence of information acquisition (FIG. 16, FIG. 17) is shown. 14 to 17, step numbers given the same numbers as the step numbers shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 correspond to the step numbers shown in FIGS. 11 to 13.
Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The presence information processing unit 111 receives information from the user terminal 2 (user terminal 3, user terminal 4) or the subscriber list processing unit 113 (S111), and checks the transmission source and its information type (S112, S113). When the latest presence information or desired presence information is received via the user terminals 2, 3, etc., the latest presence information and the latest update date and time are registered in the presence information DB 13 (S114), or the desired presence information is registered. Presence information is transmitted to publisher list processing unit 112 (S115).
Then, the user's contact list is acquired from the contact list DB 12 (S116), and “2” is set to the variable N (S117). Here, first, contact list groups of all users who have registered users in the contact list are acquired from the contact list DB 12 (S118). Then, for example, a user list is created from the contact list of the user A and the contact list group, and duplicate users are deleted from the user list (S119). Furthermore, the presence information disclosure range (number of relay stages) of all users in the user list is acquired from the presence information DB 13 (S120), and the user whose presence information disclosure range is “0” is deleted from the user list (S121).

Then, it is checked whether or not the contact list of all the users whose presence information disclosure range is greater than or equal to the variable N is registered in the contact list can be acquired from the contact list DB 12 (S122). Update (+1) and repeat the processing after S118 (S123). On the other hand, if acquisition fails, the presence information group is acquired from the presence information DB 13 (S124), and the presence information and the user list are transmitted to the publisher list processing unit 112 (S125, S126).
That is, the process of acquiring the user contact list from the contact list DB 12 and acquiring the presence information of all users before the latest update date from the presence information DB 13 can be acquired for all the user registered in the contact list DB 12. The presence information and user information obtained are repeatedly transmitted to the publisher list processing unit 112 while updating the variable N of the presence information disclosure range until there is no more.

  On the other hand, when the presence information processing unit 111 receives a user presence information acquisition request from the subscriber list processing unit 113 in the process of S112 (S127), the presence information processing unit 111 acquires the user presence information from the presence information DB 13 (S128). Presence information is transmitted to the subscriber list processing unit 113.

As shown in the flowchart in FIG. 12, the publisher list processing unit 112 acquires presence information and a user list from the presence information processing unit 111 (S131, S132), and compares the presence information desired by the user with the acquired presence information. If there is matching presence information (S133), a publisher list is generated (S134).
Further, the created publisher list is compared with the publisher list created this time (S135), and when there is a difference, it is transmitted to the user terminal 3 and others as the difference of the corresponding presence information publish list (S136). Among them, the subscriber list processing unit 137 is requested to create a subscriber list for all users in which differences have occurred (S137).

Further, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13, the subscriber list processing unit 113 receives from the publisher list processing unit 112 a request for creating a subscriber list of a user whose difference has occurred in the user list (S141). Then, the presence information processing unit 112 is requested to acquire presence information (S142), and the presence information is acquired to create a subscriber list (S143, S144).
Here, the subscriber list created last time is compared with the subscriber list created this time (S145), and only when there is a difference, the presence information of the user is used as a difference in the subscriber list, and all of the differences in the user list are generated. It transmits to the user terminal 3 and others (S146).

As described above, the present invention provides a user with a publisher (Publisher) who publishes his / her presence information, a subscriber (Subscriber) who acquires the presence information of the other party, and all the presence information of registrants present in the contact list. Is managed as a router that relays to other registrants, who can check who's presence information is being referenced, and has built a mechanism that can only refer to the presence of other people without updating their presence information It is easy to find the best partner for exchanging messages and gives an incentive to update presence.
In addition, by exchanging presence information via a router, you can contact a user who you do not know directly, so that you can find a more optimal partner for exchanging messages. The presence of the presence information is prevented by specifying.

  The procedure executed by each of the presence information processing unit 111, the publisher list processing unit 112, and the subscriber list processing unit 113 shown in FIG. 7 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium and recorded on this recording medium. It is assumed that the presence information management apparatus of the present invention is realized by causing a computer system to read and execute a program. The computer system here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.
The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system connection structure of the presence information management system by which this invention is employ | adopted. It is a figure which shows typically about "the range of disclosure and search of presence information" used by this invention. It is a figure which shows typically about the "relay range of presence information" used by this invention. It is a figure which shows typically about "the multistage relay range of presence information" used by this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the user terminal screen image used in this invention embodiment. It is a figure which shows another example of the user terminal screen image used in embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which expanded the function and showed the internal structure of the presence information management apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the database used by this invention embodiment. It is the flowchart quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of embodiment of this invention. It is the operation | movement sequence diagram quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of this invention embodiment. It is the flowchart quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of embodiment of this invention. It is the operation | movement sequence diagram quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of this invention embodiment. It is the operation | movement sequence diagram quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of this invention embodiment. It is the operation | movement sequence diagram quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of this invention embodiment. It is the operation | movement sequence diagram quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of this invention embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Presence information management apparatus, 2 (3, 4) ... User terminal, 11 ... Presence information management means, 12 ... Contact list DB, 13 ... Presence information DB, 111 ... Presence information processing part, 112 ... Publisher list processing part, 113 ... Subscriber list processing section

Claims (10)

A presence information management apparatus to which a plurality of user terminals that transmit and receive presence information via a communication network are connected,
A first database for storing a contact list indicating a list of counterpart users from whom the presence information is to be acquired ;
A second database for storing the disclosure range of the presence information and the change history of the presence information for each user ;
By referring to the first and second databases, a contact list indicating a list of other users whose presence information is to be acquired across users according to the disclosure range, and the latest date and time information on which presence information has been updated are acquired. Then, the presence information of the desired counterpart user is searched from the change history of the presence information of all users registered in the second database before the date and time, and a list of users who disclose the presence information is generated from the presence information with delivery to the user of the user terminal which desires to provide the presence information and to generate a list of users who acquires the presence information, the presence information management means for distributing to the user terminal of the user who updates the presence information ,
A presence information management apparatus comprising: The presence information management means includes:
Presence information updated by the user is acquired from the user terminal, the updated presence information is registered in the second database, and the presence information is extended from the first and second databases across the users according to the disclosure range. A contact list that is a list of the other users who want to acquire information and the latest date and time information that updated the presence information, and requests from the change history of the presence information of all users registered in the second database before the date and time A presence information processing unit for retrieving and outputting the presence information of the other user;
Obtain presence information from the presence information processing unit to generate a publisher list,
A publisher list processing unit for distributing the publisher list to a user terminal of a user who wishes to obtain the presence information;
A subscriber list that acquires presence information from the presence information processing unit, creates a subscriber list that is a list of users who acquire the presence information of the other party, and distributes the subscriber list to the user terminal of the user who has updated the presence information A processing unit ;
The presence information management apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: The presence information processing unit
The latest presence information is received from the user terminal, the latest presence information and the latest update date and time are registered in the second database, the contact list of the user is acquired from the first database, and the user's The presence information disclosure range is acquired from the second database, and the presence information of the user is transmitted until the presence information disclosure range of all users registered in the first database exceeds the presence information disclosure range of the user. The presence information management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the process is repeatedly executed. The presence information processing unit
When the latest presence information is received from the user terminal , the latest presence information and the latest update date and time are registered in the second database, and a user contact list is acquired from the first database to obtain the second presence information . The process of acquiring the presence information of all the users before the latest update date from the database is updated with the variables in the presence information disclosure range until the contact list of all the users registered in the first database cannot be acquired. The presence information management apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein presence information and user information obtained repeatedly are transmitted to the publisher list processing unit. The presence information processing unit includes:
5. A user presence information acquisition request is received from the subscriber list processing unit, user presence information is acquired from the second database, and the presence information is transmitted to the subscriber list processing unit. The presence information management device described in 1. The presence information processing unit
When the presence information desired by the user is received from the user terminal, the desired presence information is transmitted to the publisher list processing unit,
The publisher list processing unit
The presence information and the user list are acquired from the presence information processing unit, the desired presence information is compared with the acquired presence information, and a publisher list is generated when there is matching presence information. Only when there is a difference between the list and the publisher list created this time, it is sent to the user terminal as the difference of the corresponding presence information publish list, and the subscriber list of all users in which the difference has occurred in the user list The presence information management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the presence information management apparatus requests creation to the subscriber list processing unit. The subscriber list processing unit includes:
Receive a subscriber list creation request for a user who has a difference among the user lists from the publisher list processing unit, obtain presence information from the presence information processing unit, create a subscriber list, and the previously created subscriber list and this time The comparison with the created subscriber list is performed, and only when there is a difference, the presence information of the user is transmitted as a difference of the subscriber list to all the user terminals that have produced the difference in the user list. 2. The presence information management device according to 2. A plurality of user terminals that transmit and receive presence information via a communication network are connected , and the computer of the presence information management apparatus having the first and second databases includes :
A first step of storing, in a first database, a contact list indicating a list of counterpart users for whom the presence information is to be acquired;
A second step of storing the disclosure range of the presence information and the change history of the presence information in a second database for each user;
By referring to the first and second databases, a contact list indicating a list of other users whose presence information is to be acquired across users according to the disclosure range, and the latest date and time information on which presence information has been updated are acquired. The presence information of the desired other user is searched from the change history of the presence information of all the users registered in the second database before the date and time, and the presence information of the searched other user is provided to the presence information. A third step of delivering to the user terminal of the user who desires
A fourth step of generating a list of users who have acquired the presence information of the other party and distributing the list to the user terminal of the user who has updated the presence information;
Presence information management program to execute . The third step includes
Receiving the latest presence information from the user terminal and registering the latest presence information and the latest update date and time in the second database;
The contact list of the user is acquired from the first database, the presence information disclosure range of the user is acquired from the second database, and the presence information disclosure range of all users registered in the first database is Repeatedly executing a process of transmitting the presence information of the user until the presence information disclosure range of the user is exceeded;
The presence information management program according to claim 8 for causing a computer to execute . The third step includes
When the latest presence information is received from the user terminal , the latest presence information and the latest update date and time are registered in the second database;
The process of acquiring the contact list of the user from the first database and acquiring the presence information of all users before the latest update date and time from the second database is the contact of all users registered in the first database. Repeatedly updating the presence information disclosure range variable until the list cannot be acquired, and transmitting the obtained presence information and user information ;
10. The presence information management program according to claim 8 or 9 for causing a computer to execute .

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