JP4675857B2 - Icon display method, portable terminal and server - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an icon display method for displaying an icon on a screen of a mobile terminal, and a mobile terminal and a server used in the method.

Conventionally, the applicant of the present application provides a weather icon service using a second generation mobile phone network (a mobile phone network using PDC (Personal Digital Cellular)) (see Patent Document 1). In this service, transmission of information for displaying a weather icon on the screen of the mobile terminal is performed by broadcasting. In other words, the weather forecasts announced by the Japan Meteorological Agency are for each region, such as the Tokyo metropolitan area, western Tokyo, and the southern part of Saitama Prefecture. The base station broadcasts the weather forecast information of the area to which the base station belongs to the mobile terminal in the cell of the base station, and each mobile terminal that receives the information displays a weather icon on the screen according to the information. Yes.
JP 2004-193939 A

  By the way, in recent years, the mobile phone network is being shifted from the second generation to the third generation. Here, the third generation mobile phone network is, for example, a mobile phone network using a W-CDMA (Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access) system.

  In the third-generation mobile phone network, as in the second-generation mobile phone network, it is technically possible to broadcast weather forecast information from the base station to mobile terminals in the area. The capital investment will be enormous.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides an icon display that allows an icon representing region-specific information to be displayed on the screen of each mobile terminal without using broadcast technology every time region-specific information such as weather forecast information is transmitted. It is an object to provide a method and a portable terminal and a server used in the method.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the server transmits a file describing download schedule information to the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal is based on the time described in the download schedule information. Calculating a delivery request time within a range in which delivery is completed within a longest delay time which is a maximum delay time used when a file containing information is distributed and transmitted from a server to a plurality of portable terminals at the latest ; A request for the terminal to cause the server to transmit position identification information for identifying the position to which the portable terminal belongs and area information corresponding to the position to the server at the calculated distribution request time A region-specific information including icon identification information corresponding to a position identified by the position identification information. And as the information contained in the file, the sending to the portable terminal, the portable terminal, said received icon identification corresponding icon inside or group of icons external stored in the storage unit to the information (i.e. , icons and it displayed by selecting from a set group of) the identification information corresponding, displaying said region-specific information received in the luer icon display method wherein the portable terminal, the download schedule information It is determined whether or not the expiration date described in the above has expired. If the expiration date has expired, a request for transmitting the region-specific information to the server is not transmitted to the server. An icon display method is provided.

In the above icon display method, the server may include a step of transmitting a download schedule information deletion request to the mobile terminal .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in an icon display system including a server and a mobile terminal, the server includes means for transmitting a file describing download schedule information to the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal However, based on the time described in the download schedule information, at the latest , the delivery is completed at the longest delay time, which is the maximum delay time used when files containing information are distributed and transmitted from the server to a plurality of mobile terminals. Means for calculating a distribution request time within a range, and the mobile terminal identifies position to which the mobile terminal belongs to the server at the calculated distribution request time. And a means for transmitting a request for transmitting the area information corresponding to the position to the server. The region-specific information including the icon identification information corresponding to the location identified by the information, as the information contained in the file, further comprising means for transmitting to the portable terminal, the portable terminal, on the received icon identification information Means for selecting and displaying a corresponding icon from an icon group stored in an internal or external storage means (that is, a set of icons and identification information corresponding to the icon), and displaying the received region-specific information; in further comprising luer icon display system, wherein the portable terminal, when the determining whether the expiration date written in the download schedule information has expired, has expired, compared the server, icon display system characterized in that it does not send a request to transmit the region-specific information transmitted to the server Hisage It is.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to display an icon representing region-specific information on the screen of each mobile terminal without using broadcast technology every time region-specific information is transmitted.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile terminal includes a communication unit 101, a control unit 103, a storage unit 105, a display unit 107, an operation unit 109, a codec unit 111, and a microphone / speaker 113. The communication unit 101 performs communication on the mobile phone network according to the W-CDMA system or the like. The control unit 103 controls the entire mobile terminal. The storage unit 105 stores various information. The storage unit 105 may be inside or outside the mobile terminal. The phrase “the storage unit 125 is outside” means that the storage unit 125 is in a memory card inserted into a portable terminal or a memory card device that performs near field communication with a portable terminal using Bluetooth, infrared, FM, or the like. The display unit 107 displays a screen. The operation unit 109 receives input (other than voice) from the user. The codec unit 111 encodes speech input from the microphone and decodes the code input from the communication unit 101 into speech. The microphone / speaker 113 inputs and outputs audio.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the server according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the server includes a communication unit 121, a control unit 123, a storage unit 125, and an interface unit 127. The communication unit 121 performs communication on the mobile phone network according to the W-CDMA system or the like. The control unit 123 controls the entire server. The storage unit 125 stores various information. The interface unit 127 performs communication with a content provider server.

  Mobile terminals and servers include base stations, SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node), GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node), WPG (WAP Gateway), MSC (Mobile Services Switching Center), SMC-C (Short Message Service Center) And PPG (Push Proxy Gateway).

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the entire weather icon display method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the server transmits the schedule file 401 and the weather icon group 403 to the mobile terminal (step S201). The timing may be, for example, when the weather icon service contract is made between the carrier and the subscriber, or when the schedule or icon is changed, but this transmission may be performed every night. The schedule file 401 is, for example, as shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 4, duration = "3600" in the second row indicates that the longest delay time is 3600 seconds. The longest delay time is used when the download time is distributed as shown in FIG. 5 in order to avoid congestion of the mobile phone network when many mobile terminals download weather icon identification information etc. from the server at the same time. This is the maximum delay time. For example, if the reference time is 7:30 am and the longest delay time is 3600 seconds (= 60 minutes), a plurality of mobile terminals are sporadically distributed from 7:30 am to 8:30 am Download weather icon identification information from the server. Note that duration = "3600" is merely an example, and may be changed according to the traffic amount of the communication network.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the third line starts the program 01.cgi at the location http://www.hogehoge.com with 7:30 am as the reference time, and the file (weather icon) that the program outputs (Including identification information) is to be downloaded.

  The fourth line starts the program 02.cgi at the location http://www.hogehoge.com with 1:30 pm as the reference time, and the file output by the program (including weather icon identification information, etc.) ) To download.

  The fifth line starts the program 03.cgi at the location http://www.hogehoge.com with 7:30 pm as the reference time, and the file output by the program (including weather icon identification information, etc.) ) To download.

  The weather icon group includes a basic weather icon as shown in FIG. 6, an icon indicating pollen information as shown in FIG. 7, an icon indicating cherry blossom information, an icon indicating the degree of autumn leaves, and a precipitation as shown in FIG. An icon indicating probability, an icon indicating typhoon information, an icon indicating ultraviolet intensity, an icon indicating disaster prevention information as shown in FIG. 9, a topic icon, and the like are included. Although omitted in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9, identification information (number, character string, etc.) is associated with each weather icon, and these are transmitted as a set from the server to the portable terminal. . For example, a clear icon and clear identification information “0001” are transmitted as a set from the server to the mobile terminal.

  The portable terminal stores the transmitted schedule file 401 and weather icon group 403 in the storage unit 105.

  The first base station continuously transmits cell identification information to portable terminals in the area (step S203). Therefore, when the mobile terminal is turned on, when the mobile terminal roams, or when the mobile terminal moves from outside the service area to within the service area, the mobile terminal can identify the first base station without delay. Receive information.

  Next, at the time determined by calculation between the first reference time described in the schedule file 401 (for example, 7:30 am) and the longest delay time elapses, the mobile terminal The weather icon identification information transmission request and the cell identification information are transmitted (to the cgi program in the server) (step S205).

  An example of a text file sent at this time is shown below.

http://www.www.hogehoge.com/01.cgi?loc=7022926
Here, “http://www.www.hogehoge.com/01.cgi” is extracted from the schedule file 401. “? Loc = 7022926” indicates that the cell identification information is 7022926.

  In order to calculate the time, at least the first reference time and the longest delay time are used, and the calculated delay time Δt elapses from the first reference time (for example, 7:30 am) t1. To fit in between. For example, the individual identification information of the portable terminal and the identification information of the cell to which the portable terminal belonged when the portable terminal is turned on are input to a random number generation function that outputs a numerical value α between 0 and 1, and t1 + α X Δt may be the time when step S205 is performed. Further, for example, t1 + β may be set as the time at which step S205 is performed using a value β obtained by a mathematical formula as shown in FIG.

  When the weather forecast information for each region is announced by the Japan Meteorological Agency, the content provider server generates a weather icon identification information group corresponding to the weather forecast information.

  That is, the weather forecast for 48 hours is announced by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Today's and tomorrow's weather forecast will be announced at 7:30 am, 1:30 pm will be announced after today's noon and tomorrow's weather forecast, and tomorrow and tomorrow will be announced at 7:30 pm Announce the weather forecast. The content provider generates weather icon identification information based on the weather forecast information.

  Further, the content provider server has information on which region each cell belongs to. Accordingly, the content provider server stores the weather icon identification information group for each cell in the storage unit 125 via the interface unit 127 every time the Meteorological Agency announces the weather forecast three times a day. Therefore, the storage unit 125 of the server stores a weather icon identification information group corresponding to the latest weather forecast for each cell.

  The transmission request and the cell identification information in step S205 are passed to a program (for example, a CGI program, but may not be a CGI program) via the communication unit 121. This program is running on the control unit 123. Therefore, the program reads the weather icon identification information group corresponding to the cell indicated by the cell identification information from the storage unit 125 and transmits it to the mobile terminal (step S207).

  An example of the text file transmitted at this time is shown in FIG. In the example illustrated in FIG. 11, the weather icon identification information group includes five weather icon identification information (0004, 0007, 0001, 0009, 0012). Each of them corresponds to “sunny”, “after”, “rain”, “large pollen”, and “cherry blossoms”.

  The program operating in the control unit 103 of the mobile terminal that has received the weather icon identification information group in step S207 reads the weather icon corresponding to each weather icon identification information from the storage unit 105. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the weather icons are displayed side by side on the standby screen displayed by the display unit 107.

  As the weather forecast is announced three times a day by the Japan Meteorological Agency, operations similar to steps S203, S205, and S207 are performed three times a day. The remaining two operations are shown in steps S209, S211 and S213, and S215, S217 and S219 in FIG.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 13, a weather icon display method performed by a program operating in the control unit 103 of the portable terminal will be described.

  First, the current time is measured (step S301).

  Next, the next scheduled reception time is calculated (step S303). This calculation refers to a file as shown in FIG. 4 to obtain a reception reference time t next to the current time, and to obtain t + α × Δt as described above using the reception time and the longest delay time Δt. It is a simple calculation.

  Next, the process waits until the current time reaches the time calculated in step S303 (steps S305 and S307).

  If the current time is the time calculated in step S303 (YES in step S307), the mobile terminal has already acquired from the base station and acquires the cell identification information stored in the storage unit 105 (step S309). ).

  Next, a weather icon identification information transmission request and cell identification information are transmitted to the server (step S311). This step corresponds to step S205, S211 or S217 in FIG.

  Next, the weather icon identification information group is received from the server (step S313). This step corresponds to step S207, S213 or S219 in FIG. The weather icon group identification information group includes one or more weather icon identification information.

  Next, a weather icon corresponding to each weather icon identification information included in the weather icon identification information group received in step S313 is searched from the storage unit 105 (step S315).

  Next, the weather icon group searched in step S315 is displayed on the display unit 107 (step S317).

  Next, the next scheduled reception time is calculated (step S319). Similar to step S303, this calculation refers to a file as shown in FIG. 4 to obtain a reception reference time t next to the current time and uses the reception time and the longest delay time Δt as described above. This is a calculation for obtaining t + α × Δt.

  From step S319, the process returns to the loop of steps S305 and S307 and waits until the current time is calculated in step S319. Thereafter, step 309 and subsequent steps are repeated.

  The method shown in FIG. 13 is a method for calculating the scheduled reception time every time. However, if the schedule file is received, all reception times for one day may be calculated together. In such a case, steps S301 and S319 are omitted. If the schedule file is received, the process proceeds to step S303, where all scheduled reception times for one day are calculated together. In step S307, the current time is compared with all scheduled reception times within one day, and if the current time matches any scheduled reception time, the process proceeds to step S309.

  According to the first embodiment, the weather icon group is transmitted from the server to the mobile terminal in advance, and when the weather icon of the weather forecast is actually displayed, the weather icon identification information is transmitted from the server to the mobile terminal. When displaying the weather icon of the weather forecast, the traffic volume in the mobile terminal network can be reduced compared to the case where the weather icon itself is transmitted from the server to the mobile terminal.

[Embodiment 2]
In the first embodiment, a weather icon and corresponding weather icon identification information are paired and downloaded to the mobile terminal in advance, and when the weather icon is actually updated, the weather icon identification information is downloaded from the server to the mobile terminal. However, the weather icon corresponding to the downloaded weather icon identification information is displayed on the mobile terminal.

  In the second embodiment, a weather icon and weather icon identification information corresponding to the weather icon are not paired and downloaded to the mobile terminal in advance. When the weather icon is actually updated, the weather icon itself is downloaded from the server to the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal displays the downloaded weather icon.

[Embodiment 3]
In the first embodiment, the weather forecast for each cell is obtained based on the weather forecast for each region announced by the Japan Meteorological Agency and the information on which region each cell belongs to, and the obtained weather forecast for each cell. The weather icon identification information group corresponding to the information was previously stored in the storage unit of the server.

  On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the weather forecast of each region announced by the Japan Meteorological Agency is stored in the storage unit of the server in advance or converted into a weather icon identification information group. When the server receives the weather icon identification information request and the cell identification information from the mobile terminal, the server determines to which region the cell identified by the cell identification information belongs based on the cell identification information. Then, weather icon identification information corresponding to the determined weather forecast is transmitted to the portable terminal.

[Embodiment 4]
The second embodiment can be modified in the same manner as the first embodiment is transformed into the third embodiment.

  That is, in the fourth embodiment, the weather forecast of each region announced by the Japan Meteorological Agency is stored as it is or converted into a weather icon group and stored in a storage device connected to the server in advance. When the server receives the weather icon request and the cell identification information from the mobile terminal, the server determines, based on the cell identification information, which region the cell identified by the cell identification information belongs to. It can be modified to send a weather icon group corresponding to the weather forecast of the selected area to the mobile terminal.

[Embodiment 5]
In the first embodiment, the cell identification information is used as information representing the position where the mobile terminal is present.

  On the other hand, in the fifth embodiment, the position where the mobile terminal is currently present is detected from the latitude and longitude by using a GPS built in or connected to the mobile terminal.

  And a portable terminal transmits the latitude longitude of the present position of an own portable terminal to a server simultaneously with the request | requirement of weather icon identification information. Based on the latitude and longitude sent from the mobile terminal, the server determines to which region the mobile terminal belongs, and transmits a weather icon identification information group corresponding to the determined area to the mobile terminal.

[Embodiment 6]
In the second embodiment, the cell identification information is used as information representing the position where the mobile terminal is present.

  On the other hand, in the sixth embodiment, the position where the own mobile terminal currently exists is detected from the latitude and longitude using the GPS built in or connected to the mobile terminal.

  And a portable terminal transmits the latitude longitude of the present position of an own portable terminal to a server simultaneously with the request | requirement of a weather icon. The server determines to which region the mobile terminal belongs based on the latitude and longitude sent from the mobile terminal, and transmits a weather icon group corresponding to the determined area to the mobile terminal.

[Embodiment 7]
In the first to sixth embodiments, it has been described that the weather icon is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal and that the weather forecast information is used for that purpose. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  That is, for example, a traffic information icon, a disaster information icon, a local government transmission information icon, and a regional coupon ticket icon can be handled instead of the weather icon. Even in this case, the current position represented by cell identification information or longitude / latitude is used. The information corresponding to the icon is, for example, traffic information in the case of a traffic information icon, and is a disaster information icon in the case of a disaster information icon. The traffic information icon can represent the degree of congestion, accident information, traffic regulation information, and the like. Inundation information, fire information, collapse information, etc. can be represented by disaster information icons. Local government information icons can represent election dates, garbage collection dates, shopping street event information, and the like. A coupon icon for a shopping mall can be represented by a coupon icon for each region.

  A wind direction icon and a wind speed icon can also be used as a kind of weather icon.

[Embodiment 8]
In the first, third, and fifth embodiments, the weather icon is transmitted from the server to the mobile terminal. This makes it possible to change the weather icon displayed on the mobile terminal without having to preinstall the weather icon on the mobile terminal.

  However, if the weather icon is preinstalled in the mobile terminal, it is not necessary to transmit the weather icon from the server to the mobile terminal. For example, at least basic icons such as a sun icon for sunny, a cloud icon for cloudy, an umbrella icon for rain, a predetermined icon for "after", another predetermined icon for "sometimes" If pre-installed on a mobile device, the weather icon is displayed on the mobile device simply by sending the icon identification information corresponding to the weather forecast information from the server to the mobile device without sending the weather icon from the server to the mobile device. Can be made.

[Embodiment 9]
In the ninth embodiment, the schedule expiration date is described in the schedule file 401. The portable terminal reads the expiration date, and if the expiration date has expired, does not issue a request for icon identification information or icon transmission to the server.

  When only time information is described in the schedule file and no date is described, the mobile terminal downloads icon identification information and icons from the server at the time determined according to the time information, and displays the icons. Will be repeated every day.

  However, in this case, for example, in order to cancel the weather icon display service in a certain mobile terminal, a message for deleting the schedule file from the mobile terminal needs to be transmitted from the server to the mobile terminal.

  On the other hand, for example, if the expiration date of the schedule file is set to the end of every month, the contract is continued only by not performing the operation of sending the schedule file for the month at the beginning of the next month. It becomes possible.

  Further, for example, it is possible to display an icon representing region-limited information that is valid for only three days on the mobile terminal for only three days.

[Embodiment 10]
In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the area-limited information is displayed using icons. However, the area-limited information may be represented by characters or a combination of icons and characters.

  FIG. 14 shows detailed weather information represented by characters and icons. When the user performs a predetermined operation, the screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed.

  For this purpose, the server transmits an HTML document for displaying the screen shown in FIG. 14 to the mobile terminal. The icon may be transmitted from the server to the portable terminal together with the HTML document. However, as in the first embodiment, the icon is stored in advance in the portable terminal and an HTML document including icon identification information is sent. Also good.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal by embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the server by embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the weather icon display method by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the schedule file by embodiment of this invention. In embodiment of this invention, it is a conceptual diagram which shows a mode that weather icon identification information is transmitted by time dispersion | distribution. It is a figure which shows the basic weather icon and weather icon identification information utilized by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure (1/3) which shows the extended weather icon utilized by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure (2/3) which shows the extended weather icon utilized by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure (3/3) which shows the extended weather icon utilized by embodiment of this invention. In embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the calculation formula utilized for the time dispersion | distribution of the transmission of weather icon identification information. It is a figure which shows the text data containing the weather icon identification information group transmitted to a portable terminal from the server in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the standby screen on which the weather icon by embodiment of this invention was displayed. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a weather icon display method in a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the screen on which the detailed information of the weather by embodiment of this invention was displayed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Communication part 103 Control part 105 Storage part 107 Display part 109 Operation part 111 Codec part 113 Microphone / speaker 121 Communication part 123 Control part 125 Storage part 127 Interface part 401 Schedule file 403 Weather icon group

Claims (4)

A server sending a file describing download schedule information to the mobile terminal;
Based on the time described in the download schedule information , the longest delay time that is the maximum delay time used when the file containing information is distributed and transmitted from the server to a plurality of portable terminals at the latest . Calculating a delivery request time within a range where delivery is completed,
The portable terminal causes the server to transmit position identification information for identifying a position to which the portable terminal belongs and area information corresponding to the position to the server at the calculated distribution request time. Sending a request for
Transmitting the region-specific information including the icon identification information corresponding to the position identified by the position identification information to the portable terminal as information included in the file ;
The portable terminal selects and displays an icon corresponding to the received icon identification information from an icon group (that is, a set of icons and identification information corresponding to the icon) stored in an internal or external storage means. And displaying the received region-specific information;
In Rua icon display method with a,
The mobile terminal determines whether or not the expiration date described in the download schedule information has expired, and if the expiration date has expired, the region-specific information transmission to the server An icon display method characterized by not transmitting a request for transmission . The icon display method according to claim 1 ,
The icon display method further comprising the step of the server transmitting a download schedule information deletion request to the mobile terminal. In an icon display system including a server and a mobile terminal,
The server comprises means for transmitting a file describing download schedule information to the mobile terminal,
Based on the time described in the download schedule information , the longest delay time that is the maximum delay time used when the file containing information is distributed and transmitted from the server to a plurality of portable terminals at the latest . A means for calculating a delivery request time within a delivery completion range,
The portable terminal causes the server to transmit position identification information for identifying a position to which the portable terminal belongs and regional information corresponding to the position to the server at the calculated distribution request time. Means for sending a request for
The server further includes means for transmitting region-specific information including icon identification information corresponding to a position identified by the position identification information to the portable terminal as information included in the file ,
The portable terminal selects and displays an icon corresponding to the received icon identification information from an icon group (that is, a set of icons and identification information corresponding to the icon) stored in internal or external storage means. in further includes luer icon display system means for displaying the region-specific information received,
The mobile terminal determines whether or not the expiration date described in the download schedule information has expired, and if the expiration date has expired, sends the region-specific information to the server to the server. An icon display system characterized by not transmitting a request for transmission . In the icon display system according to claim 3,
The server further includes a step of transmitting a download schedule information deletion request to the mobile terminal .