JP4412199B2 - Content providing system, search control device, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a content providing system that provides content to a user of a client device, and a program that can be used in this system.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, content providing systems have been proposed in which content that is presumed to be of interest to a user is retrieved and output from a user interface or other display unit based on user input to the user interface.

As a specific example, there is a technique of recognizing a voice taken in from a microphone and outputting a content retrieved (read) based on a keyword extracted (recognized) from the voice to a display device (Patent Literature). 1).
JP 2004-164678 A

  However, in the above-described system, the detected contents are simply output sequentially, so that it takes time until the detection. Even content that has a high possibility of fading will be displayed on the display unit upon detection thereof.

  As described above, in the above-described technique, there is a possibility that the content that is estimated to be highly interested by the user cannot be provided at an appropriate timing when the time required for the search becomes long.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for providing content estimated to be of high user interest at an appropriate timing.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the content providing system according to the first configuration acquires, from time to time, one or both of input information for the user interface and output information for the user interface from a client device having a user interface. Each time information is acquired by the information acquisition means, search start means for sequentially starting execution of search processing for searching for content corresponding to the information from a predetermined database, and search processing by the search start means Content output means for providing content to the user of the client device by causing the output unit to output the detected content. Further, when a predetermined number or more of search processes are being executed when the information is acquired by the information acquisition means, at least the order in which the execution is started is the earliest search among the search processes being executed. A first stop means for stopping the execution of the process is provided.

  According to the content providing system configured as described above, when a predetermined number or more of search processes are being executed, the execution of the search process with the earliest execution order among them being stopped is stopped. .

  As described above, the search processing with the earliest execution order is information that triggers the processing, that is, input information and output information (hereinafter referred to as “input / output information”) in the user interface of the client device. ) Has been the longest in the search process being executed. For this reason, content that has been detected through such a search process also has the longest elapsed time since the input / output information was acquired, and as a result, the user's interest has diminished and is no longer adapted to that interest. It can be estimated that.

  Therefore, as described above, among the plurality of search processes, the order in which the execution is started stops the execution of the earliest search process, so that content that does not match the user's interest is provided with a delay. As a result, it is possible to provide content that is estimated to be of high user interest at an appropriate timing.

  In this configuration, the content output means is means for outputting the content detected by the search process to the output unit. For example, if the output unit has a function of displaying information, the content is output. What is necessary is just to comprise so that it may display on an output part. Further, if the output unit has a function of outputting sound, it may be configured to output sound indicating content. Further, if the output unit has a function of printing an image on a recording medium, the image indicating the content may be printed on the recording medium.

  In addition, the first stop means described above may be configured to stop only the search processing whose start is at least in the order in which the execution is started, or a plurality of searches from the earliest in the order in which the execution is started. You may comprise so that a process may be stopped.

  Further, the above-described search start means is means for sequentially starting execution of search processing, and the search processing that starts execution at this time may be the same search processing regardless of the acquired information. Moreover, it is good also as a different search process according to the acquired information.

For this latter case, for example, as in the second configuration , the search start means starts executing the search process according to the information acquired by the information acquisition means among a plurality of types of the search processes. When the information acquisition unit acquires information, if the same type of search process is being executed more than a predetermined number, the earliest stop unit is configured to execute the search process being executed. Of these, it is preferable that the order in which execution is started stops the execution of the earliest search process.

  With this configuration, it is possible to provide content that is estimated to be highly interested by the user at an appropriate timing by stopping the search process whose execution is started first for each of different types of search processes. In addition, the amount of content can be changed according to the type of search processing.

Further, in this configuration, for each of different search process, it may be used the same value as the criterion for determining whether the earliest stop means stops the execution "predetermined number", the third configuration As described above, the “predetermined number” serving as a criterion for determining whether or not to stop the execution of the search process may be configured to use a value corresponding to the type of the search process.

In the latter case, the execution of the search process can be stopped with different criteria depending on the type of search process.
In addition, in order to solve the above-described problem, the content providing system according to the fourth configuration acquires, from time to time, one or both of input information for the user interface and output information for the user interface from a client device having a user interface. Information acquisition means, search start means for sequentially starting execution of search processing for searching for a content corresponding to the information from a predetermined database each time information is acquired by the information acquisition means, and search by the search start means Content output means for providing content to the user of the client device by causing the output unit to output the content detected by the processing. Further, for each of the search processes started by the search start means, at least progress monitoring means for monitoring the elapsed time since the search processing was started, and the elapsed time monitored by the progress monitoring means is a predetermined time or more. And a progress stop means for stopping the execution of the search processing.

According to the content providing system configured as described above, the execution of the search process in which the elapsed time after the start of the execution is a predetermined time or more is stopped.
As described above, the search processing whose elapsed time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time is information that triggers the processing, that is, input information and output information in the user interface of the client device (hereinafter referred to as “input / output information”). Elapsed time since the acquisition of ()) is somewhat longer in the search process being executed. For this reason, content that has been detected through such a search process also has a long elapsed time since the input / output information was acquired, and the user's interest has diminished and is no longer adapted to that interest. It can be estimated that there is.

  Therefore, as described above, content that does not match the user's interest is provided with a delay by stopping the execution of the search processing in which the elapsed time after the start of execution has become a predetermined time or more. As a result, it is possible to provide only content that is estimated to be of high user interest at an appropriate timing.

In this configuration, the content output unit is a unit that causes the output unit to output the content detected by the search process, as in the first configuration .
Further, the search start means described above is means for sequentially starting the execution of the search process as in the first configuration, and the search process that starts the execution at this time is the same search process regardless of the acquired information. do it. Moreover, it is good also as a different search process according to the acquired information.

  Further, the above-described progress stopping means is means for stopping execution of search processing whose elapsed time monitored by the progress monitoring means is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, and stops search processing based on such elapsed time. There is no particular limitation on the timing to be performed. For example, it may be configured to stop the search process based on the elapsed time each time information is acquired by the information acquisition unit.

In this case, for example, as in the fifth configuration , when the progress acquisition unit acquires the next information by the information acquisition unit, the elapsed time monitored by the progress monitoring unit becomes a predetermined time or more. A configuration in which execution of search processing is stopped is conceivable.

If it is this structure, whenever information is acquired by an information acquisition means, the execution can be stopped about the search process in which elapsed time became more than predetermined time at the time.
Further, in this configuration, with respect to the “predetermined time” that is a determination criterion for the progress stopping unit to stop the search process, for example, after the input / output information is acquired, the user's interest is diminished and the interest is not matched. What is necessary is just to set the time assumed to be required.

  However, when the search start means is configured to start execution of the search process according to the information acquired by the information acquisition means among a plurality of types of search processes, the “predetermined time” Also, it may be necessary to make different depending on the type of search processing.

Therefore, as in the sixth configuration , the search start unit starts execution of the search process according to the information acquired by the information acquisition unit among the plurality of types of search processes, and the progress stop unit The “predetermined time” that is a criterion for determining whether or not to stop the execution of the search process is preferably configured to use a value corresponding to the type of the search process.

In the latter case, the execution of the search process can be stopped with different criteria depending on the type of search process.
In addition, the search control device according to the seventh configuration acquires any one or both of input information to the user interface and output information from the user interface from a client device having a user interface, and the information is acquired. Each time a search process for searching for content corresponding to the information is started from a predetermined database, and then the content detected by the search process is output to an output unit, thereby allowing the user of the client device to If the output control device that provides content to the output control device obtains information from the user interface and a predetermined number or more of search processes are being executed, the search being executed Stop the execution of the search process with the earliest execution order at least. And a foremost stop means, characterized in that.

According to the search control device configured as described above, a part of the content providing system according to any one of the first to third configurations can be configured.
Each means in this search control device may be configured to function in the same manner as the same means in the second or third configuration . Further, the search control device may include means for realizing a part of functions in the output control device (a function for acquiring information, a function for starting search processing, and a function for outputting content).

Further, the search control device according to the eighth configuration acquires any one or both of input information for the user interface and output information for the user interface from a client device having a user interface, and the information is acquired. Each time a search process for searching for content corresponding to the information is started from a predetermined database, and then the content detected by the search process is output to an output unit, thereby allowing the user of the client device to A progress monitoring unit that monitors at least an elapsed time from the start of the search process, and a progress monitor for each of the search processes started by the search start unit with respect to the output control device that provides content to The search process when the elapsed time monitored by the means exceeds the specified time And a, a course stop means for stopping the execution of, characterized in that.

According to the search control device configured as described above, it is possible to configure a part of the content providing system according to any one of the fourth to sixth .
Each means in this search control device may be configured to function in the same manner as the same means in the fifth or sixth configuration . Further, the search control device may include means for realizing a part of functions in the output control device (a function for acquiring information, a function for starting search processing, and a function for outputting content).

Further, a program according to a ninth configuration includes an information acquisition procedure for acquiring any one or both of input information to the user interface and output information by the user interface from a client device having a user interface, and the information acquisition Each time information is acquired by a procedure, a search start procedure for sequentially starting execution of search processing for searching for content corresponding to the information from a predetermined database, and content detected by the search processing by the search start procedure are output. When the information is acquired by the content output procedure for providing the content to the user of the client device and the information acquisition procedure, more than a predetermined number of search processes are being executed. In the case of the search process being executed, at least the execution is started. And earliest stop procedure order stops the execution of the search processing of the earliest was, are included, characterized in that.

According to the computer system controlled by such a program, a part of the content providing system according to any one of the first to third configurations can be configured.
In addition, this program may be a program for causing a computer system to execute processing procedures for realizing functions as all means included in the content providing system according to the second or third configuration. The computer system can constitute a part of the content providing system according to the second or third configuration .

The program according to the tenth configuration includes an information acquisition procedure for acquiring any one or both of input information for the user interface and output information for the user interface from a client device having a user interface, and the information acquisition Each time information is acquired by a procedure, a search start procedure for sequentially starting execution of search processing for searching for content corresponding to the information from a predetermined database, and content detected by the search processing by the search start procedure are output. For each of the content output procedure for providing content to the user of the client device and the search process started by the search start procedure, at least the elapsed time since the search process was started Progress monitoring procedures to be monitored and An elapsed stopping means elapsed time monitored by the monitoring procedure stops the execution of the search process becomes more than a predetermined time, it is included, characterized in that.

According to the computer system controlled by such a program, a part of the content providing system according to any one of the fourth to sixth configurations can be configured.
In addition, this program may be a program for causing a computer system to execute processing procedures for realizing functions as all means included in the content providing system according to the fifth or sixth configuration. The computer system can constitute a part of the content providing system according to the fifth or sixth configuration .

  The above-described program is composed of an ordered sequence of instructions suitable for processing by a computer. For example, the program is recorded via a recording medium such as an FD, a CD-ROM, a memory card, or a communication line network such as the Internet. Thus, it is provided to a content providing system or a user who uses them. In addition, as a form of providing these programs to the user, it is also possible to provide a form pre-installed in a hard disk or memory.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1. First Embodiment (1) Overall Configuration of System As shown in FIG. 1, this system 1 is connected to a WAN (Wide Area Network) such as the Internet by a web server 10 having various contents, an information search server 20, and the like. A personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 30, a telephone device (hereinafter referred to as “telephone device”) 50, information collection and analysis is connected to a LAN (local area network) connected to the WAN via a router R or the like. In this system, the device 70 is connected.

  The information retrieval server 20 includes a control unit 21 composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. (not shown), a storage unit 23 composed of a hard disk device, etc., a communication unit 25 that controls data communication with a WAN or LAN, and the like. ing.

  Among these, the storage unit 23 stores a database including address information (URL information) groups of various contents that can be provided by the web server 10, various search programs, and the like. This search program is activated when a query (inquiry) is received from the outside, and the process of searching for content based on this query and returning the search result to the sender of the query is controlled. This is executed by the unit 21.

  The personal computer 30 controls data communication with a control unit 31 composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. (not shown), a storage unit 33 composed of a hard disk device, a monitoring unit 35 described later, and a WAN or LAN. The communication unit 37 includes a user interface 40 configured by an input unit 41 that receives user input operations and a display unit 43 that displays various types of information.

  Among these, the storage unit 33 stores various application software (hereinafter simply referred to as “text data creation based on text input by the input unit 41”, display of text indicated by the text data by the display unit 43, etc.). "Software") is installed.

  In addition, the monitoring unit 35 monitors predetermined software among the software executed by the control unit 31 as a data collection target, and the text input from the input unit 41 or the display unit 43 based on the software. It is configured to execute a process of collecting text data indicating the displayed text from the software (a personal computer monitoring process described later).

  The telephone device 50 controls data communication with a control unit 51 including a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like (not shown), a storage unit 53 including a hard disk device, a monitoring unit 55 described later, and a WAN or LAN. A communication unit 57, a sound input unit 61 for inputting sound and converting it to sound data, and a sound output unit 63 for outputting sound represented by the sound data. An IP (Internet Protocol) telephone function that communicates with an external telephone device via the network can be realized.

  Among these, the monitoring unit 55 monitors voice data exchanged via the user interface 60, and is configured to execute processing for collecting the voice data (telephone monitoring processing described later). Yes.

  The information collection and analysis device 70 includes a control unit 71 composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. (not shown), a storage unit 73 composed of a hard disk device, etc., and a communication unit that controls data communication with the WAN or LAN 75, a display unit 77 for displaying various information, and a sound output unit 79 for outputting sound represented by audio data, as well as an analysis unit 81, a search unit 83, a reading unit 85, an output control unit 87, and the like, which will be described later.

  Among these, the storage unit 73 stores various programs executed by the control unit 71, the analysis unit 81, the search unit 83, the reading unit 85, and the output control unit 87, and various data tables used when the program is executed. ing.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 77 is an area for displaying text and images, and a text / image area for scrolling and displaying new information, and a moving image for displaying the reproduction result of the moving image file. This is for displaying a content providing screen composed of a reproduction area and a term display area for displaying a term search result.
(2) Personal computer monitoring process by the personal computer 30 Here, the processing procedure of the personal computer monitoring process executed by the monitoring unit 35 of the personal computer 30 will be described with reference to FIG. This personal computer monitoring process is a process that is repeatedly executed after the personal computer 30 is activated.

  When this personal computer monitoring process is started, first, it is checked whether or not there is software that holds text data that has not been collected at the present time among predetermined software to be collected (s110).

  If it is determined in s110 that the corresponding software does not exist, the process waits until any of the data collection target software holds uncollected text data (s110: NO). On the other hand, if it is determined that there is software that holds uncollected text data (s110: YES), the timer is reset and counting is restarted (s120).

  Next, the document mode of the software determined to hold uncollected text data in s110 is checked (s130). This “document mode” can be determined by receiving a notification from the software when the software is checked in s110, and the software determines the text data and the display unit according to the input operation to the input unit 41. When the display contents on 43 are sequentially updated, it is “document creation mode”, and when the text indicated by the text data designated by the input unit 41 is displayed on the display unit 43. It is notified that it is in “document browsing mode”. Therefore, in s130, the document mode is determined according to the notification content from the software.

  If it is determined in s130 that the mode is “document creation mode” (s130: YES), device usage information indicating “document creation” is generated (s140), while the mode is not the document creation mode (that is, in the document browsing mode). If it is determined that there is (S130: NO), device usage information indicating “document browsing” is generated (s145).

  After generating the device usage information in this way, writing of the text data as a transmission target file is started while collecting uncollected text data from the software (s150).

  Thereafter, the writing of the text data to the transmission target file is performed until the count value of the timer restarted in s120 passes a predetermined unit time T1 (1 minute in the present embodiment) (s160: NO). Source generation time information indicating the current time at that time is generated (s170).

Then, a transmission target file in which text data for unit time T1 is written, source generation time information generated in s170, device usage information generated in s140 or s145, and input indicating that the transmission source is the personal computer 30 After associating the original information and transmitting these as source information to the information collecting and analyzing apparatus 70 (s180), the process returns to s110 and waits until the next uncollected data is generated.
(3) Telephone Monitoring Processing by Telephone Device 50 Next, the telephone monitoring processing procedure executed by the monitoring unit 55 of the telephone device 50 will be described with reference to FIG. This telephone monitoring process is a process that is repeatedly executed after the telephone device 50 is activated.

When the telephone monitoring process is activated, the process waits until the telephone device 50 is connected to another telephone device (communication line is closed) (s210: NO), and the connection to the other telephone device is established. If it is made (s210: YES), it is checked whether or not the connection is caused by the telephone device 50 calling (s220).

  If it is determined in s220 that the telephone device 50 itself has caused a call (s220: YES), device usage information indicating “calling” is generated (s230), while other phone calls are made. If it is determined that the cause is that the device originates a call (the telephone device 50 has received a call), device usage information indicating “incoming call” is generated (s235).

  Thus, after the device usage information is generated, the audio data input / output by the sound input unit 61 and the sound output unit 63 is acquired until the unit time T2 elapses thereafter, and the audio indicated by the audio data is obtained. The text data is converted into text data by a known voice recognition technique and written into a transmission target file (s240).

  Next, after generating source generation time information indicating the current time (s250), a transmission target file generated in s240, source generation time information generated in s250, device usage information generated in s230 or s235, and Input source information indicating that the transmission source is a telephone device is associated and transmitted as source information to the information collection and analysis device 70 (s260).

Then, after transmitting the data in s260, it is checked whether the connection has been disconnected (communication line has been released). If it is determined that the connection has not been disconnected (s270: NO), the process returns to s240. Then, while repeating the process of converting the audio data for the next time T2 into text data, if it is determined that the connection has been disconnected (s270: YES), the process returns to s210 and waits until the next connection is made ( s210: NO).
(4) Processing by Information Collection Analysis Device 70 Various processes executed by the information collection analysis device 70 will be described below.
(4-1) Source Information Registration Process First, the processing procedure of the source information registration process repeatedly executed by the control unit 71 after the information collection / analysis apparatus 70 is started will be described with reference to FIG.

  When this source information registration process is started, first, either source information transmitted from the personal computer 30 at s180 in FIG. 3 or source information transmitted from the telephone device 50 at s260 in FIG. (S310: NO).

  When the source information is received in s310 (s310: YES), a predetermined file name is assigned to the transmission target file in the source information and stored in the storage unit 73 (s320).

Then, a record including the file name (or path name) of the transmission target file stored in s320 and the source generation time information, device usage information, and input source information among the source information received in s310 is sourced. After registering in the management table (s330), the process returns to s310 and waits until the next source information is received. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, source management is a data table for registering a record in which source generation time information, device usage information, and input source information are associated with the file name of a transmission target file. Since the table is stored in the storage unit 73, in s330, each information is registered in the corresponding record in this table.
(4-2) Keyword Extraction Processing Subsequently, a processing procedure of keyword extraction processing that is repeatedly executed by the analysis unit 81 after the information collection / analysis apparatus 70 is started will be described with reference to FIG.

When this keyword extraction processing is started, first, it is checked whether or not an unprocessed record that is not a processing target in the subsequent processing is registered in the above-described source management table (s420). If the unprocessed record is not registered, the process waits until the unprocessed record is registered in the above-described source information registration process (s420: NO).
On the other hand, when it is determined in s420 that an unprocessed record has been registered (s420: YES), the record is processed as a record to be processed, and text data (transmission) of the file name in this target record is sent. Target data), this text data is analyzed by well-known morphological analysis, nouns included in the text indicated by the text data are extracted, and nouns other than specific nouns are extracted as keywords from the extracted nouns. (S430). Here, general nouns that are not suitable for use as keywords when searching for content are defined as specific nouns, and nouns obtained by excluding such specific nouns from nouns extracted by morphological analysis are extracted as keywords.

  Next, new records are added to the search information management table by the same number as the keyword type extracted in s430 (s440). As shown in FIG. 8, this search information management table is stored in the storage unit 73 as a data table for registering source generation time information, search keys, the number of search keys, and the like. In s440, new records necessary for setting these pieces of information in the subsequent processing are registered in the search information management table by the same number as the types of keywords.

Then, each keyword extracted in s430 and the number of extracted keywords are registered in “search key” and “number of search keys” in the same record of the search information management table, respectively (s450, s460). Then, after registering the time indicated by the “source generation time information” in the target record of the source management table in each of the “source generation time information” in each record thus registered (s470), the process returns to s420 and is unprocessed. Wait until the record is registered in the source information registration process described above.
(4-3) Search Control Processing Next, a search control processing procedure that is repeatedly executed by the search unit 83 after the information collection / analysis apparatus 70 is started will be described with reference to FIG.

When this search control process is activated, first, the number of search processes is initialized ("0" is set) (s512).
Next, it is checked whether or not an unprocessed record not to be processed in the subsequent processing is registered in the search information management table described above (s514), and an unprocessed record is registered. If it is determined that there is no record, the process waits until an unprocessed record is registered by the keyword extraction process described above (s514: NO).

  On the other hand, when it is determined in s514 that an unprocessed record is registered in the search information management table (s514: YES), among the registered records, “source generation time” The record indicated by “information” that is the latest (closest to the current time) (s516) and that has the largest “number of search keys” is selected as a record to be processed (s518).

  Next, it is checked whether or not the number of search processes is less than a predetermined upper limit value (“10” in this embodiment) (s520). If the number is greater than or equal to the upper limit value (s520: NO), the process returns to s514. The process waits until an unprocessed record is registered by the keyword extraction process described above.

  If the number of search processes is less than the predetermined upper limit value in s520 (s520: YES), based on the “number of search keys” in the processing target record of the search information management table selected in s516 and s518, In the subsequent processing, a search program to be executed is determined (s522), and a search processing described later is started according to a procedure corresponding to the type of the search program. Note that the search information management table described above is a queuing data table (queue), and the target records selected in s516 and s518 are processed from the search information management table when the search process is started. Will be deleted as a completed record.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, as information corresponding to each of a plurality of search programs to be executed, a search indicating address information of a server (information search server 20 in the present embodiment) having a search program. A search program table that is a data table in which query generation information indicating a method for generating a query including a program address, a search expression, category information indicating a category of content searched by the search program, and an issue time when a query is issued is registered. Is stored in the storage unit 73. In this search program table, “category information” indicates the type of search program. In this embodiment, two types of “term search” and “general search” are prepared. In s522, if the “number of search keys” in the processing target record of the search information management table is less than a predetermined number (“5” in the present embodiment), a search program for “term search” is determined. If the number is a predetermined number or more, a search program for “general search” is determined. As a method for determining the search program, a method other than the method based on the “number of search keys” may be employed.

  Thus, if the search program determined in s522 is “term search” (s524: YES), among the search programs corresponding to the records in the search program table, the “term search” search program that is not currently activated. Is checked (s526). In this embodiment, the “issue time” in the record registered in the search program table is registered as the current time when the search program corresponding to this record is started in the subsequent processing. The registered content is deleted when the program is terminated. That is, among the search programs corresponding to the records registered in the search program table, the search program in which the information indicating the time is registered in the “issue time” of the record is the active search program, and the “issue time” A search program that has not been registered with is a search program that is not running. Since the search program for “term search” and the search program for “general search” each have a predetermined number of searches that can be started in parallel, in this s526, registration of “issue time” of records registered in the search program table is performed. Depending on the state, it is checked whether or not there is a “term search” search program that is not activated at the present time.

  If there is a search program for “term search” that has not been started in s526 (s526: YES), one of such search programs will be selected and the search program for starting the search program will be described later. After starting the search process (s528), adding “1” to the search process (s530), the process returns to s512 and waits until an unprocessed record is registered by the keyword extraction process described above.

  On the other hand, if there is no search program that has not been started in s526 (s526: NO), the search program with the oldest start time among the search programs of “term search” corresponding to the record in the search program table is selected. In response to this, a stop command is issued (s532). Here, out of the search program of “term search” corresponding to the record of the search program table, the search for the search program with the oldest time indicated by “issue time” in the record (the longest elapsed time up to the current time) is stopped Issue an instruction. With this stop command, the server is instructed to stop the search program through the search process started in s528.

  Then, after deleting the registered contents of “issue time” in the record corresponding to the search program with the oldest start time (s534), the process proceeds to s528, where the search program corresponding to the record whose registered contents are deleted is selected. Then, a search process for starting this search program is started.

  If the search program determined in s522 is “general search” (s524: NO), among the search programs corresponding to the records in the search program table, the “general search” that has not been started at the present time. Whether or not a search program exists is checked in the same manner as s526 (s536).

  If there is a search program for “general search” that has not been started in s536 (s536: YES), one of such search programs will be selected and the search program for starting the search program will be described later. The search process is started (s538), "1" is added to the search process in s580, and then the process returns to s514 and waits until an unprocessed record is registered by the keyword extraction process described above.

  On the other hand, if there is no search program that has not been started in s536 (s536: NO), as in s532, the start time of the search programs of “general search” corresponding to the records in the search program table is A stop command is issued to the oldest search program (s540). With this stop command, the server is instructed to stop the search program through the search process started in s538.

Then, after deleting the registered contents of “issue time” in the record corresponding to the search program with the oldest start time (s542), the process proceeds to s538, where the search program corresponding to the record whose registered contents are deleted is selected. Then, a search process for starting this search program is started.
(4-4) Search Process Next, the process procedure of the search process activated in s528 and s538 in FIG. 9 will be described based on FIG. This search process is a process executed by the search unit 83 in parallel with the search control process described above.

  When this search process is started, first, the “search key” in the target record of the search information management table selected in s516 and s518 of FIG. 9 and the search program table in s528 and s538 of FIG. Based on the “query generation information” in the record, a content search expression is generated, and a query that is an inquiry stored therein is generated (s610).

  Next, the query generated in s610 is transmitted to the “search program address” in the record selected from the search program table in s528 and s538 in FIG. 9, so that the search program corresponding to this record is sent to the server ( In the present embodiment, the information search server 20) is activated (s620). From the server that has received this query, the content is searched according to the search expression stored in the query, and the address information of one or more contents detected as a result is returned as a response to the query. In the present embodiment, a response to a query is returned from the server in a state where an evaluation value indicating content evaluation is associated with each address information. The “evaluation value” here is a parameter indicating the importance of the content calculated on the server side based on a predetermined calculation method.

Next, the current time is registered in the “issue time” in the record of the search program table corresponding to the search program activated in s620 (s625).
Next, after starting the execution of the search program on the server side in s620, if there is no reply from the server (s630: NO), check whether a stop command is issued by s532 and s540 in FIG. If it is determined that a stop command has not been issued (s640: NO), the process returns to s630.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that a stop command has been issued in s640 (s640: YES), a stop command for the search program started on the server side in s620 is sent to the server that sent the query in s620. After (s650), it returns to s630. The server that has received this stop command stops the execution of the search program commanded thereby, and a response to that effect is returned as a response to the stop command.

  Thus, when a query is transmitted in s620 or a stop command is transmitted in s650 and then a response is received from the server in s630 (s630: YES), the response is not a response to the query. If it is a response to the stop command (s660: NO), the registered content of “issue time” in the record of the search program table registered in s625 is deleted (s665).

Then, after subtracting “1” from the number of search processes (s670), the search process is terminated.
If the response from the server received in s630 is a response to the query, that is, a search result of the content (s660: YES), “category” in the record selected from the search program table in s528 and s538 in FIG. “Information” is checked (s680).

  In this s680, when the category information indicates “term search” (s680: YES), one address information among the address information of one or more contents as a response from the server is retrieved as a search result management table. (S690). As shown in FIG. 12, this search result management table is a data table that registers source generation time information, search key information address, category information, evaluation value, address information, and output presence / absence information in association with each other. In this s690, information on the address information having the highest evaluation value corresponding to the address information among the address information of one or more contents that are responses from the server is registered in the same record of the search result management table. Specifically, address information having the highest evaluation value is registered as “address information”, the evaluation value is registered as “evaluation value”, and information indicating term search is registered as “category information”. In the “output presence / absence information”, a value “FALSE” as an initial value is registered.

  Further, when the category information indicates “general search” in s680 described above (s680: NO), a predetermined number (in the present embodiment) of the address information of one or more contents that are responses from the server. Register 5 pieces of address information in the search result management table (s700). Here, among the address information of one or more contents, which are responses from the server, information related to a maximum of five address information in descending order of the evaluation value corresponding to the address information is registered in the same record in the search result management table. To do. Specifically, the top five address information with high evaluation values are registered as “address information” of different records, and the evaluation values corresponding to these address information are stored in the “ “Evaluation value” is registered, and information indicating general search is registered in each “category information” of these records. In this s700 as well, the initial value “FALSE” is registered in the “output presence / absence information”.

In this way, after registration in the search result management table in s690 or s700, the search process is terminated through s665 and s670.
(4-5) Read Control Process Subsequently, the process procedure of the read control process repeatedly executed by the read unit 85 after the information collection / analysis apparatus 70 is started will be described with reference to FIG.

When the reading control process is started, first, the number of reading processes is reset (“0” is set) (s810).
Next, it is checked whether or not an unprocessed record not to be processed in the subsequent processing exists in the search result management table (s820), and if it is determined that there is no unprocessed record, The process waits until an unprocessed record is registered in the retrieved process (s820: NO). On the other hand, if it is determined in s820 that there is an unprocessed record (s820: YES), it is checked whether the number of read processes is less than a predetermined upper limit (“10” in the present embodiment) (s830). ), If it is equal to or greater than the upper limit (s830: NO), the process returns to s820.

If the number of read processes is less than the upper limit value in s830 (s830: YES), the latest (closest to the current time) of the unprocessed records in the search result management table is selected as the record to be processed. (S840), a read process to be described later is started based on the information in this record (s850), "1" is added to the number of read processes (s860), and the process returns to s820.
(4-6) Reading Process Next, the processing procedure of the reading process activated in s850 in FIG. 13 will be described based on FIG. This reading process is a process executed by the reading unit 85 in parallel with the reading control process described above.

When this reading process is started, first, the timer is reset and counting is started again (s910).
Next, the “address information” of the record selected in s840 of FIG. 13 is read (s920), and the access destination indicated by the “address information” is requested to transmit content (s930). The access destination that has received this request returns the content if the content corresponding to the request can be provided, and returns error information for notifying the error if the content cannot be provided.

  After requesting content transmission in this way, it is checked whether or not the count value of the timer has passed a predetermined processing time limit (s940), and if it is determined that the processing time limit has passed (s940: YES) Then, “1” is subtracted from the number of reading processes (s960), and this reading process is terminated.

  If it is determined that the processing time limit has not elapsed in s940 (s940: NO), it is checked whether or not a reply from the server that requested the transmission of content is received in s930 (s970). If it is determined that it has not been received (s970: NO), based on a user operation or an external command, if there is no stop command for this reading process (s980: NO), the process returns to s940 while a stop command is generated If so (s980: YES), the process proceeds to s960, and “1” is subtracted from the number of reading processes, and this reading process is terminated.

If it is determined that a reply from the server is received in s970 (s970: YES), if the reply is not the content requested in s930, that is, error information (s1000: NO), the process proceeds to s960. The number of read processes is decremented by “1”, and this read process ends. On the other hand, if the reply received from the server is the content requested in s930 (s1000: YES), a predetermined file name is attached to the content and stored in the storage unit 73 (s1010), and in s840 of FIG. After the “address information” of the selected record to be processed is updated to a path name indicating the file name and storage location of this content (s1020), the process proceeds to s960, and “1” is subtracted from the number of reading processes and the main reading is performed. The process ends.
(4-7) Output Process Next, the processing procedure of the output process repeatedly executed by the output control unit 87 after the information collection / analysis apparatus 70 is started will be described with reference to FIG.

  When this output processing is started, first, it is checked whether or not there is content that has not been output in the subsequent processing among the content stored in the storage unit 73 in the read processing (s1110). If it is determined that there is no content, the process waits until content that has not been output is stored in the storage unit 73 in the reading process (s1110: NO). Here, the determination as to whether or not the content stored in the reading process has not been output is made based on the “address information” and “output presence / absence information” in each record registered in the search result management table. When content exists with a path name indicated by “information” and “output presence / absence information” is “FALSE” which is an initial value, it is determined that the content has not been output.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that there is content that has not been output (s1110: YES), one of the content that has not been output is selected as content to be processed (s1120), and the type of content to be processed is checked ( s1130), when the content is data (text data) indicating information such as a term (s1130: YES), the processing target content is displayed in the term display area on the content providing screen (s1140), and the next The process proceeds to processing (s1200). Here, when other content is already displayed in the term display area, the content to be processed is deleted and the processing target content is preferentially reproduced.

  Further, when the type of processing target content is data (moving image data) indicating a moving image (s1130: NO, s1150: YES), the processing target content (path name) and the processing target content are supported in the moving image reproduction data queue. After registering “source generation time information” in the record of the search result management table to be associated (s1160), the process proceeds to the next process (s1200). In this way, the content registered in the video playback data queue is used by the control unit 71 to perform video playback to the video playback area on the content providing screen displayed on the display unit 77 and audio output from the sound output unit 79. Are sequentially written in the output buffer (registration order), thereby starting the reproduction of the moving image in the moving image reproduction region and the sound output from the sound output unit 79. Here, when other content is written in the output buffer, the processing target content is preferentially reproduced by overwriting the processing target content on the output buffer.

  If the type of content to be processed is data (audio data) indicating audio (s1150: NO, s1170: YES), the audio output unit 79 outputs the audio indicated by the audio data that is the content ( s1180), the process proceeds to the next process (s1200). Here, when the reproduction of the audio indicated by the other content has been started, the audio reproduction is interrupted and the reproduction of the audio indicated by the processing target content is preferentially started.

In addition, when the type of processing target content is data (text data, image data) indicating information other than terms (s1170: NO), the processing target content (path name) and the processing target content are displayed in the display data queue. After registering “source generation time information” in the corresponding search result management table record (s1190), the process proceeds to the next process (s1200). In this way, the content registered in the display data queue is written by the control unit 71 to the output buffer for displaying in the text / image display area on the content providing screen displayed on the display unit 77 as needed. The content is scrolled from the bottom to the top of the text / image display area. Here, when other content is written in the output buffer, the display is performed such that the content to be processed is scrolled from the state where the content to be processed is arranged below the content. Is called.

In this way, after the display and reproduction of each content is started, the “output presence / absence information” in the table of the search result management table corresponding to the processing target content is updated to a value “TRUE” which means that the output has ended ( s1200) After deleting the content (and source generation time information) whose source generation time information is a predetermined time before the current time from the video playback data queue and the display data queue (s1210), return to s1110, In the reading process, the process waits until unoutput content is stored in the storage unit 73.
(5) Action and Effect As described above, according to the system 1, in the information collecting and analyzing apparatus 70, the text data indicating the text displayed on the display unit 43 according to the input operation to the input unit 41 of the personal computer 30, the sound of the telephone device 50 Text data obtained by converting voice indicated by voice data input / output by the input unit 61 and the sound output unit 63 into text is collected (s180 in FIG. 3, s260 in FIG. 4, s310 to s330 in FIG. 5). .

  From the text data collected in this way, keywords serving as search keys when searching for content are extracted (s430 and s450 in FIG. 7), and the information collection and analysis device 70 generates a query generated based on the search key. By transmitting to the server (information search server 20), a search program for searching the content is started on the server side (s620 in FIG. 11), and then the content detected by receiving the content detected on the server side Are collected and displayed as a content providing screen on the display unit 77 (s1140, s1160, s1180, s1190 in FIG. 15).

  In this process, when starting the search program on the server side, the information collection and analysis apparatus 70 starts a predetermined number or more (all in this embodiment) of search programs corresponding to each record registered in the search program table. If it is in the middle (s526, s536: NO in FIG. 9), among the activated search programs, the search time with the oldest startup time, that is, the search program with the earliest startup order (the search process related to the startup) ) Is issued to stop.

  The search program with the oldest start time is the information that triggers the processing, that is, the time since text input / output by the user interfaces 40 and 60 of the personal computer 30 and telephone device 50. The time is the longest of all active search programs. Therefore, the content detected and collected by such a search program also has the longest elapsed time since text input / output is performed by the user interfaces 40 and 60, thereby reducing the user's interest. It can be presumed that the content is not suitable for interest.

  Therefore, as described above, by stopping the search program with the earliest start order (search process related to the start) with a stop command, such content that does not fit the user's interest is provided with a delay. As a result, it is possible to provide content that is estimated to be of high interest to the user at an appropriate timing.

In the above embodiment, when the information collection and analysis apparatus 70 starts the search program on the server side, all search programs corresponding to the respective records registered in the search program table are being started. The search program with the earliest startup order (search processing related to startup) is stopped (s532 and s540 in FIG. 9). At this time, according to the type of search program to be executed, a process for checking the number of active search programs (s526, s536 in the figure) and a process for stopping the search program whose start is the first (same figure) s532 and s540) are performed, and the search program with the earliest start order can be stopped for different types of search programs.
2. Second Embodiment A system according to this embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and only a part of the processing procedure is different. Therefore, only this difference will be described in detail.
(1) Search control processing by the information collection and analysis device 70 The search control processing in the present embodiment is the same as the first embodiment because only the partial control procedure is different from the search control processing in the first embodiment. The contents are given the same step number and the description is omitted, and only the processing contents different from the first embodiment are explained with different step numbers.

  When this search control process is started, first, after performing s512 to s522, as shown in FIG. 16, if the search program determined in s522 is for "term search" (s524: YES), search Of each search program of “term search” corresponding to the record registered in the program table, the time indicated by “issue time” of the record is a predetermined time (5 minutes in this embodiment) compared with the current time. ) It is checked whether or not there is a search program with the previous time (s542).

  If it is determined in s542 that there is no search program in which the time indicated by “issue time” is more than a predetermined time (s542: NO), the process proceeds to s526 while the corresponding search program is If it is determined that it exists (s542: YES), a stop command is issued to the search program (s544) as in s532, and the “issue time” in the record corresponding to the search program is registered. After deleting the contents (s546), the process proceeds to s528.

  If the search program determined in s522 is that of “general search” (s524: NO), among the search programs of “general search” corresponding to the records registered in the search program table, It is checked whether or not there is a search program whose time indicated by “issue time” is at least a predetermined time (5 minutes in the present embodiment) before the current time (s552).

If it is determined in s552 that there is no search program in which the time indicated by the “issue time” is more than a predetermined time (s552: NO), the process proceeds to s536, while the corresponding search program is If it is determined that it exists (s552: YES), a stop command is issued to the search program (s554) and registration of “issue time” in the record corresponding to the search program is performed as in s544. After deleting the contents (s556), the process proceeds to s538.
(2) Actions and Effects In this way, in the system, the following actions and effects can be obtained in addition to the actions and effects obtained by the same configuration as in the first embodiment.

  Thus, according to the system, the information collection and analysis device 70 is registered in the search program table when starting the search program on the server side in the process until the content is displayed and reproduced on the display unit 77 as the content providing screen. Among the search programs corresponding to each record, the time indicated by the “issue time” of the record is a time that is more than a predetermined time before the current time, that is, the elapsed time of the start-up descending is a predetermined time A stop command is issued to stop the search program (search process related to the start-up) that has been described above (s542 to s546, s552 to s556 in FIG. 16).

  In this way, the retrieval program whose elapsed time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time is input / output of information that triggers the processing, that is, text input / output by the user interfaces 40 and 60 of the personal computer 30 and the telephone device 50. The elapsed time since then has become somewhat longer in the search program that is running. Therefore, the content detected and collected by such a search program also increases the elapsed time after the text input / output is performed by the user interfaces 40, 60, and the interest of the user is reduced. It can be presumed that the content is no longer suitable for.

Therefore, as described above, content that does not fit the user's interest by stopping the search program (search processing related to its startup) whose elapsed time after startup has become a predetermined time or more with a stop command Can be prevented from being delayed, and as a result, it is possible to provide only content that is estimated to be of high interest to the user at an appropriate timing.
3. The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various forms can be taken as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention. Nor.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the personal computer monitoring process of FIG. 3 is illustrated as being executed by the monitoring unit 35 of the personal computer 30, but this personal computer monitoring process is executed by the control unit 31 of the personal computer 30. You may comprise.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, you may comprise two or more apparatuses among the personal computer 30, the telephone apparatus 50, and the information collection apparatus 70 as an integrated apparatus.
Further, in the above embodiment, the telephone monitoring process of FIG. 4 is exemplified by the monitoring unit 55 of the telephone device 50, but this telephone monitoring process is performed by the control unit 51 of the telephone device 50. It may be configured to be executed by.

  In the above embodiment, the keyword extraction process of FIG. 7 is exemplified to be executed by the analysis unit 81 of the information collection analysis apparatus 70. However, the keyword extraction process is performed by the information collection analysis apparatus 70. The control unit 71 may be configured to be executed in parallel with other processes.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the search control process of FIG. 9 is exemplified to be executed by the search unit 83 of the information collection analysis device 70, but this search control process is performed by the information collection analysis device 70. The control unit 71 may be configured to be executed in parallel with other processes.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the search process of FIG. 11 is illustrated as being configured to be executed by the search unit 83 of the information collection analysis apparatus 70. However, this search process is controlled by the information collection analysis apparatus 70. The unit 71 may be configured to be executed in parallel with other processing.

  In the above embodiment, the read control process of FIG. 13 is exemplified to be executed by the read unit 85 of the information collection analysis apparatus 70. However, this read control process is performed by the information collection analysis apparatus 70. The control unit 71 may be configured to execute in parallel with other processing.

  In the first embodiment, the reading process of FIG. 14 is exemplified to be executed by the reading unit 85 of the information collection analysis apparatus 70. However, this read process is performed by the information collection analysis apparatus 70. The control unit 71 may be configured to execute in parallel with other processing.

  In the first embodiment, the output process of FIG. 15 is illustrated as being executed by the output control unit 87 of the information collection analysis apparatus 70. However, the output process is performed by the information collection analysis apparatus 70. The control unit 71 may be configured to be executed in parallel with other processes.

  Moreover, in the said 1st Embodiment, what was comprised so that a content might be provided to a user by the display on the display part 77 and the output of the audio | voice from the sound output part 79 was illustrated. However, as a configuration for providing content, for example, if the information collection and analysis device 70 has a function of printing an image on a recording medium, the content is printed on the recording medium by this function. May be provided.

  In the first embodiment, when the search program is started on the server side, it is started when all the search programs corresponding to the records registered in the search program table are running. An example is shown in which the search program with the earliest order (search processing related to activation) is stopped (s532 and s540 in FIG. 9). However, with regard to the number of search programs that are used as a criterion for determining whether or not to stop this search program, not all search programs corresponding to each record registered in the search program table but a predetermined number or more of search programs When the program is being activated, the search program with the earliest activation order may be stopped. Further, the search program to be stopped at this time may be configured to stop not only the first one in the starting order but also a plurality of ones from the first starting order. In addition, the number of search programs that are a criterion for determining whether or not to stop the search program may vary depending on the type of search program determined as an execution target (s526 and s536 in FIG. 9). In this case, the search program can be stopped with different criteria depending on the type of search program.

  Moreover, in 2nd Embodiment mentioned above, when starting a search program by the server side, what was comprised so that the search program from which the elapsed time after starting was more than predetermined time was stopped was illustrated. However, the timing for stopping the search program whose elapsed time after the activation has reached a predetermined time or more is not limited to when the search program is activated on the server side, but may be another timing. For example, every time a search key is acquired from the personal computer 30 or the telephone device 50, it is conceivable to stop the search program whose elapsed time after activation has become a predetermined time or more. In this case, the source information registration in FIG. In the processing, after s330, processing corresponding to s542 and s552 in FIG. 16, processing corresponding to s544 and s546 in FIG. 16, processing corresponding to s554 and s556 in FIG. 16 (processing performed regardless of the type of search program) ) Is executed, and the process may return to s310. With this configuration, each time a search key is acquired from the personal computer 30 or the telephone device 50, the search program whose elapsed time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time can be stopped.

  In the second embodiment described above, the “predetermined time”, which is a criterion for stopping the search program, is necessary for the user's interest to diminish after the search key is acquired and no longer fit with that interest. Then, an expected time may be set, and the specific time is not particularly limited.

  However, in the above-described embodiment, processing according to the type of search program to be executed is performed, so the specific “predetermined time” also differs depending on the type of search program to be executed. It may be necessary to make it happen. Therefore, as the “predetermined time” that is a criterion for stopping the search program, a value corresponding to the type of search program to be dealt with is used. Specifically, s542 and s552 in FIG. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which made the value which becomes "time" differ. If comprised in this way, a search program can be stopped with the different judgment criteria according to the kind of search program.

  In the above embodiment, the information collection / analysis apparatus 70 is configured to limit the number of activations of the search program. However, not only the number of activation of the search program but also the user is finally provided. The processing until content is acquired may also be configured to limit the number of activations.

  For this purpose, for example, first, the number of first and second processes may be reset in s310 of FIG. 13 so that s830 and s860 are not performed, and FIG. 14 is configured as shown below.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 17, after reading “address information” in s920 of FIG. 14, it is checked whether or not the access destination indicated by this address information is an external storage area (database) (s1052). If it is determined that the storage area is an external storage area (s1052: YES), it is checked whether or not the first process number is less than a predetermined upper limit value (“2” in the present embodiment) (s1054).

  If the number of first processes is less than the predetermined upper limit value in s1054 (s1054: YES), in addition to the “address information”, “search key address”, “category information” in the target record, the address is stored in the read information management table. After registering the type of access destination indicated by the information (external or internal) and the current time (s1056), the process proceeds to s930 to request content. As shown in FIG. 18, the read information management table registers a record including “address information”, “search key address”, “category information”, “read start time information”, and “access destination type”. In step s1056, the corresponding information is registered. The “read start time information” registers the current time, and the “access destination type” registers a value “LAN / WAN” indicating an external storage area.

  If the number of first processes is greater than or equal to the predetermined upper limit value in s1054 (s1054: NO), the value indicated by the “access destination type” in the read information management table is external. And delete the record with the oldest time when the content request is made to the access destination indicated by “address information” (the longest elapsed time up to the current time) (s1058), After the process moves to s1056 and the corresponding information is registered in the read information management table, the process moves to s930 to request a content.

  When it is determined in s1052 that the access destination is an internal storage area (database) (s1052: NO), the second process number is less than a predetermined upper limit (“4” in this embodiment). It is checked whether or not there is (s1060). In this case, the upper limit value is set to a value larger than the upper limit value of the first process number.

If the number of second processes is less than the predetermined upper limit in s1060 (s1060: YES), “address information”, “search key address”, and “category information” in the target record are stored in the read information management table as in s1056. In addition, after registering the type of access destination indicated by the address information and the current time (s1062), the process proceeds to s930 to request content. In this s1062, a value “Local” indicating that it is an internal storage area is registered in the “access destination type”.

  If the number of second processes is greater than or equal to the predetermined upper limit value in s1060 (s1060: NO), the value indicated by the “access destination type” in the read information management table is internal. And delete the record with the oldest time when the content request is made to the access destination indicated by “address information” (the longest elapsed time from the current time) (s1062), After the process moves to s1056 and the corresponding information is registered in the read information management table, the process moves to s930 to request a content.

  Thus, after the content request is made in s930, if the access destination is an external storage area, "1" is added to the first read process number, and the access destination is an internal storage area After adding “1” to the second read process number (s1064), the process proceeds to s940.

  Thereafter, in s960, when the access destination is an external storage area, “1” is subtracted from the first read process number, and when the access destination is an internal storage area, the second read process number is subtracted. After subtracting “1”, the reading process is terminated.

  In this configuration, the upper limit of the number of processes differs depending on whether the access destination is external or internal, and the upper limit value is larger when the access destination is internal. If the access destination is internal, there are few factors that influence the search processing time (for example, network traffic conditions), so content detection and reading are completed in a short time and in an average search time. Because.

In other words, if the access destination is an external storage area, the upper limit value of the number of processes can be reduced. If the access destination is an internal storage area, the upper limit value of the process number can be increased. However, since such content is detected and read out in a short time and with an average search time, as described above, it is possible to provide more content. It is possible to make the content corresponding to the change.
4). Correspondence with the Present Invention In the embodiment described above, the information collection and analysis apparatus 70 is the content providing system, search control apparatus, and output control apparatus in the present invention, and the display section 77 and the sound output section 79 are the output in the present invention. Part. The personal computer 30 and the telephone device 50 are client devices in the present invention.

5 is information acquisition means in the present invention, and the source information acquired in this process is input information or output information in the present invention.
Further, the search control processing of FIG. 9 is search start means in the present invention, and s532 and s540 in FIG. 9 are earliest stop means in the present invention.

Further, s1140, s1160, s1180, and s1190 in FIG. 15 are content output means in the present invention.
Further, s544 and s554 in FIG. 16 are progress stopping means in the present invention, and s542 and s552 in FIG. 16 are progress monitoring means in the present invention.

Block diagram showing the overall system configuration The figure which shows the display area of the contents offer screen Flow chart showing PC monitoring process Flow chart showing telephone monitoring process Flow chart showing source information registration processing Diagram showing data structure of source control table Flow chart showing keyword extraction processing The figure which shows the data structure of a search information management table Flowchart showing second embodiment search control processing Diagram showing data structure of search program table Flow chart showing search processing The figure which shows the data structure of the search result management table Flow chart showing read control processing The flowchart which shows the read-out process in 1st Embodiment. Flow chart showing output processing Flowchart showing search control processing in the second embodiment The flowchart which shows the reading process in other embodiment The figure which shows the data structure of a reading information management table

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... System, 10 ... Web server, 20 ... Information retrieval server, 21 ... Control part, 23 ... Memory | storage part, 25 ... Communication part, 30 ... Personal computer, 31 ... Control part, 33 ... Memory | storage part, 35 ... Monitoring part, 37 ... Communication unit 40 ... User interface 41 ... Input unit 43 ... Display unit 50 ... Telephone device 51 ... Control unit 53 ... Storage unit 55 ... Monitoring unit 57 ... Communication unit 60 ... User interface 61 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Sound input part, 63 ... Sound output part, 70 ... Information collection and analysis apparatus, 71 ... Control part, 73 ... Storage part, 75 ... Communication part, 77 ... Display part, 79 ... Sound output part, 81 ... Analysis part, 83 ... Searching unit, 85 ... Reading unit, 87 ... Output control unit.

Claims (9)

Information acquisition means for acquiring any one or both of input information to the user interface and output information by the user interface from a client device having a user interface as needed;
Search start means for sequentially starting execution of search processing for searching for a content corresponding to the information from a predetermined database each time information is acquired by the information acquisition means;
A content providing system comprising: content output means for providing content to a user of the client device by causing the output unit to output content detected by search processing by the search start means,
When a predetermined number or more of search processes are being executed when the information is acquired by the information acquisition means, at least the order in which the execution is started among the search processes being executed is the earliest search process. A content providing system comprising first stop means for stopping execution. The search start unit starts execution of a search process according to the information acquired by the information acquisition unit among a plurality of types of the search processes,
When the information acquisition unit acquires information, if the same type of search process is being executed a predetermined number or more, the earliest stop unit executes the search process being executed. The content providing system according to claim 1, wherein execution of the earliest search process is stopped according to the order in which the search is started. The earliest stop means, when information is acquired by the information acquisition means, when the type of search processing corresponding to the information is being executed more than a predetermined number determined for the type of search processing The content providing system according to claim 2, wherein among the search processes that are being executed, the execution of the search process that is first performed stops the execution of the search process. Information acquisition means for acquiring any one or both of input information to the user interface and output information by the user interface from a client device having a user interface as needed;
Search start means for sequentially starting execution of search processing for searching for a content corresponding to the information from a predetermined database each time information is acquired by the information acquisition means;
A content providing system comprising: content output means for providing content to a user of the client device by causing the output unit to output content detected by search processing by the search start means,
For each search process started by the search start means, at least progress monitoring means for monitoring an elapsed time since the search process was started;
Progress stopping means for stopping the execution of the search processing when the elapsed time monitored by the progress monitoring means is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, and
The progress stopping means stops execution of search processing when the elapsed time monitored by the progress monitoring means is equal to or longer than a predetermined time when the next information is acquired by the information acquiring means. Offer system. The search start unit starts execution of a search process according to the information acquired by the information acquisition unit among a plurality of types of the search processes,
5. The content according to claim 4, wherein a value corresponding to a type of the search process is used as the “predetermined time” that is a criterion for determining whether or not to stop the execution of the search process by the progress stopping unit. Offer system. Either or both of input information to the user interface and output information by the user interface are acquired from a client device having a user interface as needed, and each time the information is acquired, content corresponding to the information is predetermined. For the output control apparatus that provides content to the user of the client device by causing the output unit to output the content detected by the search processing after sequentially starting the execution of the search processing for searching from the database ,
When the output control apparatus acquires information from the user interface, if a predetermined number or more of search processes are being executed, at least the order in which the execution is started is the earliest of the search processes being executed. A search control device comprising first stop means for stopping execution of search processing. Either or both of input information to the user interface and output information by the user interface are acquired from a client device having a user interface as needed, and each time the information is acquired, content corresponding to the information is predetermined. For the output control apparatus that provides content to the user of the client device by causing the output unit to output the content detected by the search processing after sequentially starting the execution of the search processing for searching from the database ,
For each search process started by the search start means, at least progress monitoring means for monitoring an elapsed time since the search process was started;
Progress stopping means for stopping the execution of the search processing when the elapsed time monitored by the progress monitoring means is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, and
The progress stopping means stops execution of search processing when the elapsed time monitored by the progress monitoring means becomes a predetermined time or more when the next information is acquired by the information acquiring means. Control device. On the computer,
An information acquisition procedure for acquiring any one or both of input information to the user interface and output information by the user interface from a client device having a user interface,
A search start procedure for sequentially starting execution of search processing for searching for content corresponding to the information from a predetermined database each time information is acquired by the information acquisition procedure;
A content output procedure for providing content to the user of the client device by causing the output unit to output the content detected in the search process according to the search start procedure;
When a predetermined number or more of search processes are being executed when information is acquired by the information acquisition procedure, at least the order in which the execution is started is the earliest search process among the search processes being executed. First stop procedure to stop execution,
A program for running On the computer,
An information acquisition procedure for acquiring any one or both of input information to the user interface and output information by the user interface from a client device having a user interface,
A search start procedure for sequentially starting execution of search processing for searching for content corresponding to the information from a predetermined database each time information is acquired by the information acquisition procedure;
A content output procedure for providing content to the user of the client device by causing the output unit to output the content detected in the search process according to the search start procedure;
For each search process started by the search start procedure, at least a progress monitoring procedure for monitoring an elapsed time from the start of the search process;
An elapsed stop procedure for stopping the execution of the search process when the elapsed time monitored by the progress monitoring procedure is equal to or longer than a predetermined time;
A program for running

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