JP5172443B2 - Management device, communication terminal, group communication system, group management method, and communication terminal control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a management apparatus, a communication terminal, a group communication system, a group management method, and a communication terminal control method, and more particularly to a group management apparatus generated using user location information, a communication terminal for performing group generation processing, and a group participation process. The present invention relates to a communication terminal that performs communication, a group communication system including these, a group management method, and a communication terminal control method.

If a plurality of users perform group communication using a communication terminal, the topic can be shared by a plurality of people and communication can be deepened.
A PTT (Push-to-talk) service is known as a service for realizing group communication. This uses a communication terminal such as a mobile phone like a transceiver to realize group communication with a simple operation.

  By the way, when performing communication using a PTT service using a communication terminal having a GPS (Global Positioning System) function, there is a technique for acquiring and displaying the geographical position of the communication terminal in the group (for example, Patent Document 1). reference). In addition, there is a technique for acquiring position information by GPS or RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) in the PTT service, and forming a group based on the acquired information (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

In addition, there is a technology that acquires position information of PTT service subscribers by GPS or the like, and enables group communication between subscribers located within a predetermined range in distance (for example, see Patent Document 3).
JP 2007-150768 A JP 2007-150985 A JP 2006-81184 A

By using the above-described technology, group communication with other communication terminals that are close to each other in distance can be realized by acquiring the position of the other communication terminal using GPS or the like.
However, a communication terminal capable of performing the group communication is limited to a case where the communication terminal is completely close at the same time. That is, there is a problem that even if the terminals are close in distance, communication terminals having slightly different times cannot perform group communication. For example, if you were in the same location, but a user was there until 3 o'clock and the user was in that location after 3: 1 (that is, not completely at the same time) Another problem is that the two cannot communicate.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to perform group communication with other communication terminals located close to each other in the case where they are completely close at the same time. It is to provide a management device, a communication terminal, a group communication system, a group management method, and a communication terminal control method that can be realized without them.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a management device and a communication terminal capable of realizing not only on-site communication but also continuation of communication after leaving the site using the group created as described above. It is to provide a group communication system, a group management method, and a communication terminal control method.

The management device according to claim 1 of the present invention is:
Based on the location information of the communication terminal, a participation area determination means for determining a participation area that is an area in which the communication terminal can participate in the group;
Based on at least the location information of the communication terminal, new participation deadline information indicating a time limit for participation in the group, and the area available for participation, a group that exists in the participation possible area and that is within the time limit for participation can be selected. A group selection means to select;
It is characterized by including. According to this configuration, it is possible to realize group communication between communication terminals located close to each other even if they are not completely close to each other at the same time. Note that “location information” of a communication terminal includes location information acquired by GPS, ID information for identifying an access point device used for communication of the communication terminal, and the location of the communication terminal. It is a concept including ID information for identifying a radio base station apparatus corresponding to a radio area.

The management apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 1,
Transmitting means for transmitting to the communication terminal the participation area information that is information related to the participation area determined by the participation area determination means and the participation group information that is information related to the group selected by the group selection means. Is further included. According to this structure, the group which a user wants to join can be selected by transmitting the information regarding the selected group to a communication terminal.

  The management device according to claim 3 of the present invention is the management device according to claim 2, wherein the transmission means controls the number of display characters for the groups that can participate in accordance with the distance from the communication terminal to the group based on the participation group information. The group name is transmitted to the communication terminal. When displaying a group name on a communication terminal, it is thought that by controlling the number of characters displayed according to the distance to the group, the user who sees it can be guided toward the group in order to know the entire title name. It is done. Also, when moving in the direction of the group, the distance to the group can be grasped sensuously by the number of displayed characters.

The management device according to claim 4 of the present invention is any one of claims 1 to 3,
Of the groups that can participate in a communication terminal, group determination means for determining a group to which the communication terminal should participate according to a predetermined algorithm, and determined group information for transmitting information on the group determined by the group determination means to the communication terminal And transmitting means. According to such a configuration, even when a request to join a group is not transmitted from the communication terminal, it is possible to determine a group to join and to promote participation in the group.

The management device according to claim 5 of the present invention is the management device according to claim 4, wherein at least the new participation deadline information, the joinable area information, and the group are created for a group created when a group creation request is made from a communication terminal. Further includes group management means for managing participation member information regarding participating members of
The group management means registers the participating member information for the group determined by the group determination means. According to this configuration, the participating members of each group can be easily managed.
The management apparatus according to claim 6 of the present invention is characterized in that in any one of claims 1 to 3, the management apparatus further includes participation request acquisition means for acquiring a request for participation in the group. According to this configuration, the management apparatus can acquire a request for participation in the group from the communication terminal.

A management device according to claim 7 of the present invention is the management device according to claim 6,
Group management means for managing at least the new participation deadline information, the joinable area information, and participating member information regarding the participating members of the group for a group created when a group creation request is received from a communication terminal;
New participation determination means for determining whether new participation in the group is possible based on the location information of the communication terminal included in the participation request acquired by the participation request acquisition means;
Further including
The group management means manages information related to members determined to be able to participate by the new participation determination means as the participating member information. According to this structure, the communication terminal which is a participating member of each group can be managed easily. Then, by managing the communication terminals that are members of each group, it is possible to use the created group to realize not only on-site communication but also communication continuation after leaving the site.

The management apparatus according to claim 8 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 5 or 7,
The group management means further manages attribute information of participating members,
The group selection means further selects a group based on the attribute information of the participating members. If it does in this way, an appropriate group can be selected based on attribute information of a user who can participate in a community, for example, age and sex.

A management device according to claim 9 of the present invention is the management device according to any one of claims 5, 7, and 8.
The group management means further manages area information regarding the size of an area that can participate in the group,
The participation area determining means further determines the participation area based on the area information. In this way, it is possible to set the area so that members can easily join the group. There are the following merits if the area where participation is possible can be set in stages. That is, as the area becomes larger (ie, wider), the feeling of being closer is lost, but the number of members tends to increase. Considering this point, it is desirable to be able to set areas in a plurality of stages. For example, as the size information that can be set in a plurality of stages, two stages of “large” and “small” are conceivable.

The management apparatus according to claim 10 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to any one of claims 5 and 7 to 9.
The information processing apparatus further includes update means for updating information managed by the group management means. For example, by periodically updating the information, the position of the group and the communication terminals participating in the group can be continuously understood.
The management apparatus according to claim 11 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the group management means further manages master information indicating a master who is an administrator of each group,
When the master of a certain group is changed, the updating means changes the master information about the group. According to this configuration, master handover can be realized.

The management apparatus according to claim 12 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the participation area determination unit has, as a central point, position information of a communication terminal that requests creation of a group. The possible participation area is determined. By managing the area where participation is possible with the location information of the communication terminal as a central point, the management becomes easier.
The management apparatus according to claim 13 of the present invention is any one of claims 1 to 11,
The participation possible area determination means does not use the position information of the communication terminal that requests the creation of the group as a central point, but uses the position shifted probabilistically or deterministically within a certain range as the central point It is characterized by determining. By managing the shifted position as the center point, the master location can be concealed from other users.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a management apparatus according to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, wherein the climax index information calculating means for calculating the climax index information indicating the climax degree of each group, and the climax index information. It further includes climax index information transmitting means for transmitting the climax index information calculated by the calculating means. If the excitement index information is presented to the user of the communication terminal, when a plurality of groups are located in the surrounding area, it can be used as a guide when the user selects a group to participate. As a method of presenting the climax index information, for example, a method of changing the display color according to the value of the climax index information is conceivable.

The management apparatus according to claim 15 of the present invention is characterized in that in any one of claims 1 to 14, the management apparatus further includes community means for realizing a community using a communication terminal. With such a configuration, for example, a community by a communication terminal such as chat, browsing and writing on a bulletin board, a battle game, and coupon acquisition can be realized.
The management device according to claim 16 of the present invention is the management device according to any one of claims 1 to 15,
Search means for searching for a communication terminal that matches the search conditions, including at least preference information related to the user preference of the communication terminal and the distance from the communication terminal requesting the creation of a group (for example, in step S706 in FIG. 18) And the like. By searching for communication terminals with the same preference information, it is possible to perform grouping with a person who matches the preference information in the near field.

The management device according to claim 17 of the present invention is characterized in that, in claim 16, it further comprises condition update means for updating the search condition (for example, corresponding to step S718 in FIG. 18). By searching for communication terminals with the same preference information and updating the search conditions according to the search result, grouping can be performed with a person who matches the preference information in the near field.
A management apparatus according to claim 18 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 17,
The preference information has a hierarchical structure,
After the condition update unit fixes one of the distance and the hierarchy of the preference information and sequentially changes the other to perform the search by the search unit, the other is similarly changed in a state where the fixed one is changed. The search is performed by the search means by changing the order. According to such a configuration, it is possible to perform grouping appropriately by sequentially updating the search conditions.

The management apparatus according to claim 19 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 18,
The preference information has a hierarchical structure,
The condition update means is characterized in that either one of the preference information and the distance is set to a higher priority, and the other is sequentially changed to perform the search by the search means. According to such a configuration, grouping can be appropriately performed according to the priority.
The management apparatus according to claim 20 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 17,
The preference information has a hierarchical structure,
The condition updating means performs the search by fixing the distance and sequentially raising the preference information hierarchy from the lowest layer. According to such a configuration, it is possible to appropriately perform grouping by sequentially changing the hierarchy of preference information.

The management apparatus according to claim 21 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 17,
The condition update means sets a distance corresponding to the target number of terminals with the same preference information based on the approximate curve created for the relationship between the distance and the number of terminals with the same preference information within the distance range, The search is performed by the search means. By using an approximate curve, the possibility of creating a group can be increased.
A management device according to claim 22 of the present invention is the management device according to claim 17,
The condition update means sets a distance using statistical information indicating how far the distance has been extended in order to reach a specified number of communication terminals having the same preference information, and performs a search by the search means. It is characterized by that. The possibility of group creation can be increased by using past statistical information.

A management apparatus according to claim 23 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 17,
The condition update means calculates the area necessary to achieve the target number of communication terminals with the same preference information from the population density of the communication terminals with the same preference information, and seems to be able to achieve the target number based thereon A characteristic distance is set, and the search by the search means is performed. By considering the population density of communication terminals with the same preference information, the possibility of group creation can be increased.

The management apparatus according to claim 24 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to claim 17,
It further includes option creation means (for example, corresponding to step S718 in FIG. 23) that presents search condition options corresponding to the size of the group to be created to the communication terminal that requests the creation of the group. The condition update means updates the search condition. According to such a configuration, grouping can be easily realized by selecting an option.

A group communication system according to claim 25 of the present invention comprises:
The management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 24;
A communication terminal that performs group participation processing for participating in a group of communication terminals, in order to search for position information acquisition means for acquiring position information related to the position of the own terminal, and a group in which the user of the own terminal can participate A group search request transmitting unit that transmits a group search request including the position information acquired by the position information acquiring unit, and a joinable group information acquiring unit that acquires joinable group information relating to a group in which the user of the terminal can participate. A first communication terminal including:
Including location information acquisition means for acquiring location information relating to the position of the terminal itself, and transmission means for transmitting the location information acquired by the location information acquisition means and a group creation request to a device that manages the group. A second communication terminal for performing group creation processing for creating a group;
It is characterized by including. According to this configuration, it is possible to realize group communication between communication terminals located close to each other even if they are not completely close to each other at the same time. Note that “location information” includes location information acquired by GPS, ID information for identifying an access point device used for communication of the communication terminal, and a wireless area in which the communication terminal is located. It is a concept including ID information for identifying a corresponding radio base station apparatus.
The group communication system according to claim 26 of the present invention is the group communication system according to claim 25, further comprising area information specifying means for the area of the area where the second communication terminal can participate in the group to specify area information. Including
The group search request transmission means further transmits the area information. In this way, it is possible to set the area so that it is easy to find a group that can participate. As the size information that can be set, for example, two levels of “large” and “small” are conceivable, but an area may be set in more stages.
The group communication system according to claim 27 of the present invention is the group communication system according to claim 25 or claim 26, wherein the first communication terminal acquires the joinable group information acquired by the joinable group information acquisition means. The image processing apparatus further includes storage means for storing.
The group communication system according to claim 28 of the present invention is the group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 27, wherein the participation possible group information acquisition means indicates the degree of excitement of each group together with the participation possible group information. The present invention further includes a presentation unit that obtains the exciting index information, and the first communication terminal presents the exciting index information to the user of the terminal together with the participation group information.
A group communication system according to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention is the group communication system according to any one of the twenty-fifth to twenty-eighth aspects, wherein the first communication terminal sets at least group names that can participate based on the participation group information. It further comprises display means for displaying and display control means for controlling the number of display characters of the group name according to the distance from the terminal to the group when the group name is displayed by the display means.
The group communication system according to claim 30 of the present invention is the group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 29, wherein the first communication terminal is indicated by the participation group information stored in the storage means. Among the possible groups, input means for inputting information related to the participation desired group that the user desires to participate in, and transmission for transmitting the information related to the participation desired group input by the input means to the device managing the group Means.
The group communication system according to claim 31 of the present invention is the group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 29, wherein the first communication terminal is indicated by the participation group information stored in the storage means. Among the possible groups, group determining means for determining a group in which the terminal should participate according to a predetermined algorithm, and transmission means for transmitting information on the group determined by the group determining means to a device that manages the group It is characterized by including.
A group communication system according to a thirty-second aspect of the present invention is the group communication system according to any one of the twenty-fifth to thirty-first aspects, wherein the first communication terminal is in accordance with at least one of a movement distance and a time lapse of the own terminal. It further includes position information transmitting means for transmitting information relating to the position of the own terminal to a device managing the group.
The group communication system according to claim 33 of the present invention is the community according to any one of claims 25 to 32, wherein the first communication terminal establishes a community with the second communication terminal. Further comprising means.
A group communication system according to a thirty-fourth aspect of the present invention is the group communication system according to any one of the twenty-fifth to thirty-third aspects, wherein the second communication terminal specifies area information relating to a size of an area that can participate in the group. The transmission means further transmits the width information specified by the width information specifying means to a device that manages the group.
According to a thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal according to any one of the first to twenty-fourth aspects, and a first communication terminal that performs group participation processing for participating in a group of communication terminals. And a position information acquisition means for acquiring position information related to the position of the terminal, and a transmission means for transmitting the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means and the group creation request to a device that manages the group, A first communication terminal used in a group communication system including a second communication terminal that performs a group creation process for creating a group of terminals,
A group for transmitting a group search request including the position information acquired by the position information acquiring unit in order to search for a group in which the user of the terminal can participate, and a position information acquiring unit for acquiring position information regarding the position of the terminal It includes a search request transmission unit and a participation group information acquisition unit that acquires participation group information regarding a group in which a user of the terminal can participate. According to such a configuration, it is possible to acquire joinable group information regarding joinable groups according to the position of the user. Note that “location information” includes location information acquired by GPS, ID information for identifying an access point device used for communication of the communication terminal, and a wireless area in which the communication terminal is located. It is a concept including ID information for identifying a corresponding radio base station apparatus.

Communication terminal according to claim 36 of the present invention, in claim 35, further comprising a size information designating means for designating the size information about the size of which can join area group,
The group search request transmission means further transmits the area information. In this way, it is possible to set the area so that it is easy to find a group that can participate. As the size information that can be set, for example, two levels of “large” and “small” are conceivable, but an area may be set in more stages.
A communication terminal according to a thirty-seventh aspect of the present invention is the communication terminal according to the thirty-fifth or thirty- sixth aspect, further comprising storage means for storing the joinable group information acquired by the joinable group information acquisition means. According to such a configuration, the group information that can be participated can be read in the terminal, so that the processing can be performed quickly.

In a communication terminal according to a thirty- eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the thirty- fifth to thirty-seventh aspects, the joinable group information acquisition unit includes a swell that indicates a swell degree of each group together with the joinable group information. Get index information,
It further includes presentation means for presenting the climax index information to the user of the terminal together with the joinable group information. If the swell index information is presented, when a plurality of groups are located in the vicinity, it can be used as a guide when the user selects a group to participate.

A communication terminal according to a thirty-ninth aspect of the present invention is the communication terminal according to any one of the thirty- fifth to thirty- eighth aspects, wherein the display means displays at least a group name that can participate based on the participation group information, and the display means. When the group name is displayed, the display control means for controlling the number of display characters of the group name according to the distance from the terminal to the group is further included. By controlling the number of characters displayed in the group name according to the distance, it is considered that the user who sees the title name can be guided toward the group in order to know the entire title name. Also, when moving in the direction of the group, the distance to the group can be grasped sensuously by the number of displayed characters.

A communication terminal according to a 40th aspect of the present invention is the communication terminal according to any one of the 35th to 39th aspects, wherein the user joins among the joinable groups indicated by the joinable group information stored in the storage means. And an input means for inputting information related to the desired participation group, and a transmission means for transmitting the information related to the participation desired group input by the input means to a device for managing the group. To do. With such a configuration, a group desired to participate can be selected by the user's intention.

A communication terminal according to a 41st aspect of the present invention is the communication terminal according to any one of the 35th to 39th aspects, wherein among the groups that can be participated indicated by the joinable group information stored in the storage means, The apparatus further includes group determining means for determining a group to join according to a predetermined algorithm, and transmitting means for transmitting information on the group determined by the group determining means to a device managing the group. With such a configuration, it is possible to appropriately select a group to participate according to a predetermined algorithm.

The communication terminal according to claim 42 of the present invention is the communication terminal according to any one of claims 35 to 41 , wherein the information on the position of the own terminal is grouped according to at least one of the moving distance and the time passage of the own terminal. The apparatus further includes position information transmitting means for transmitting to a device that manages the information. If comprised in this way, the management apparatus can grasp | ascertain the position of a communication terminal.
A communication terminal according to claim 43 of the present invention is the communication terminal according to any one of claims 35 to 42 , further comprising community means for realizing a community with the second communication terminal. . With such a configuration, for example, a community by a communication terminal such as chat, browsing and writing on a bulletin board, a battle game, and coupon acquisition can be realized.

A communication terminal according to claim 44 of the present invention is a communication terminal that performs a group creation process for creating a group of communication terminals, the position information acquisition means for acquiring position information regarding the position of the own terminal, and the position information The transmission means for transmitting the position information and group creation request acquired by the acquisition means to a device that manages the group, and the necessity of transmitting the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means to the device that manages the group. And a judging means for judging. If comprised in this way, the management apparatus can grasp | ascertain the position of the communication terminal of a master. Note that “location information” includes location information acquired by GPS, ID information for identifying an access point device used for communication of the communication terminal, and a wireless area in which the communication terminal is located. It is a concept including ID information for identifying a corresponding radio base station apparatus.

Communication terminal according to claim 45 of the present invention, in claim 44, further comprising a size information designating means for designating the size information about the size of which can join area group,
The transmission means further transmits the width information designated by the width information designation means to a device managing a group. In this way, it is possible to set the area so that members can easily join the group.

A group management method according to claim 46 of the present invention comprises:
Based on the location information of the communication terminal, a participation area determination step for determining a participation area that is an area in which the communication terminal can participate in the group;
Based on at least the location information of the communication terminal, new participation deadline information indicating a time limit for participation in the group, and the area available for participation, a group that exists in the participation possible area and that is within the time limit for participation is selected. And a group selection step of selecting.
According to this method, group communication between communication terminals that are close to each other in distance can be realized even when they are not completely close to each other at the same time. Note that “location information” of a communication terminal includes location information acquired by GPS, ID information for identifying an access point device used for communication of the communication terminal, and the location of the communication terminal. It is a concept including ID information for identifying a radio base station apparatus corresponding to a radio area.

According to a 47th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal control method comprising: a group joining process for joining a group of communication terminals used in the group communication system according to any one of the 25th to 34th aspects. A control method for the first communication terminal to be performed, the position information acquisition step for acquiring position information related to the position of the terminal, and the position information acquisition step for searching for a group in which the user of the terminal can participate. A group search request transmission step for transmitting a group search request including the position information acquired in step 1, a participation group information acquisition step for acquiring participation group information relating to a group in which the user of the terminal can participate, and the participation group information And a storage step for storing the available group information acquired by the acquisition step. The features. According to this method, it is possible to acquire joinable group information regarding a joinable group according to the position of the user. Note that “location information” includes location information acquired by GPS, ID information for identifying an access point device used for communication of the communication terminal, and a wireless area in which the communication terminal is located. It is a concept including ID information for identifying a corresponding radio base station apparatus.

According to a 48th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal control method comprising: a group creation process for creating a group of communication terminals used in the group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 34 ; A control method for the second communication terminal to be performed, wherein a position information acquisition step for acquiring position information relating to the position of the terminal itself, a position information acquired in the position information acquisition step, and a group creation request are managed in a group A transmission step of transmitting to the device that performs the determination, and a determination step of determining the necessity of transmitting the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step to the device that manages the group. According to this method, the management apparatus can grasp the position of the master communication terminal. Note that “location information” includes location information acquired by GPS, ID information for identifying an access point device used for communication of the communication terminal, and a wireless area in which the communication terminal is located. It is a concept including ID information for identifying a corresponding radio base station apparatus.

According to the present invention, by selecting a group based on location information of a communication terminal, participation deadline information indicating a participation deadline for the group, and an area where participation is possible, even if the group is not completely close at the same time Communication can be performed, and group communication can be continued even after leaving the place.
In addition, users who were in the same place but were not at the same time (different time zones were present) can communicate with each other. Here, for example, if a user leaves the place at 3 o'clock and sets the deadline for new participation 30 minutes later, another user who is at the same place after 9 o'clock and has no contact at all will join the same group. There will be no participation.
Further, by searching for communication terminals with the same preference information and updating the search conditions according to the search result, grouping can be performed with a person who matches the preference information in the near field. Even if the preference information does not match, or even if the number of people required, that is, the specified number is not gathered, the probability of grouping can be increased by gradually expanding the target range.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings referred to in the following description, the same parts as those in the other drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals.
(Group communication system)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a group communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the figure, the group communication system according to the present embodiment has a server function, and includes a group management server 20 that is a management apparatus for realizing group communication, and communication terminals 40 and 60 that are mobile devices. , Including.

  In this example, a terminal that creates a group that performs group communication is the communication terminal 40, and a terminal that participates in the created group and performs group communication is the communication terminal 60. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the communication terminal 40 may be referred to as “group creation terminal 40”, and the communication terminal 60 may be referred to as “group participation terminal 60”. Both the group creation terminal 40 and the group participation terminal 60 can communicate with the group management server 20 by wireless communication.

(Group management server configuration example)
In FIG. 1, the group management server 20 includes a communication unit 21 for communicating with each of the communication terminals 40 and 60, and a community by the communication terminal (for example, chat, browsing and writing on a bulletin board, a battle game, acquisition of a coupon, etc.). Are provided with a community unit 22, a management unit 23 that manages information related to each communication group, and a determination unit 24 that determines whether or not to participate from a communication terminal. These units are realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) in the group management server 20 executing a program using software or firmware. These units are connected so that signals can be input and output with each other.

  Here, FIG. 2A illustrates a functional configuration example of the group management server 20. Referring to the figure, the group management server 20 of this example can participate based on the location information of the group participation terminal 60 to determine an area where the group participation terminal 60 can participate in the group. Based on the area determination means 241, at least the position information of the group participation terminal 60, new participation deadline information indicating the time limit for participation in the group, and the participation possible area, and exists in the participation possible area and can participate Group selection means 242 for selecting a group within the time limit, participation area information that is information related to the participation area determined by the participation area determination means 241, and participation that is information related to the group selected by the group selection means 242 Transmission means 211 for transmitting possible group information to the group participation terminal 60; Eteiru.

  In addition, the group management server 20 of this example, regarding the group created when the group creation request is received from the group creation terminal 40, at least new participation deadline information, participation area information, and participation regarding the participating members of the group Based on the group management means 231 for managing member information, the update means 232 for updating information managed by the group management means 231, and the position information of the group creation terminal 40 included in the group participation request, A new participation determination unit 243 that determines whether or not new participation in the group is possible, and the group management unit 231 manages information on members determined to be able to participate by the new participation determination unit 243 as participation member information. .

  Furthermore, the group management server 20 of this example transmits the climax index information calculating means 244 for calculating the climax index information indicating the climax degree of each group, and the climax index information calculated by the climax index information calculating means 244. Index information transmitting means 212 and community means 221 for realizing a community using a communication terminal (for example, chatting, browsing or writing on a bulletin board). The rise index will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, in the group management server 20 of this example, the transmission means 211 and the climax index information transmission means 212 are shown in the communication unit 21 in FIG. 1, and the community means 221 is shown in FIG. 1, the group management means 231 and the updating means 232 are added to the management section 23 in FIG. 1, and the participation possible area determination means 241, the group selection means 242, the new participation determination means 243, and the excitement index information calculation means 244 are added. Corresponds to the determination unit 24 in FIG.

  In order to realize the functions of the group management server 20 as described above, for example, a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. The group management server 20 shown in FIG. 1 exchanges signals with a keyboard 201 and a mouse 202 for inputting various types of information, a display 203 for displaying various types of information, and other devices and terminals. A communication interface 204, a CPU 205 for controlling each unit, a memory 206 for storing various types of information, and a bus 200 for connecting each unit to realize signal exchange. The above functions can be realized by the CPU 205 executing a program by software or firmware.

(Configuration example of group creation terminal)
In FIG. 1, the group creation terminal 40 includes a communication unit 41 for communicating with the group management server 20, a position confirmation unit 42 for acquiring information on the current position of the own terminal by a GPS function, A determination unit 43 that determines to transmit information on the current position to the group management server 20 and an input unit 44 for inputting various types of information are provided. Each of these units is realized by the CPU in the group creation terminal 40 executing a program by software or firmware. This program may be originally incorporated when the group creation terminal 40 is manufactured, or may be downloaded from another device via a network. These units are connected so that signals can be input and output with each other.

Here, FIG. 3A shows a functional configuration example of the group creation terminal 40. Referring to the figure, the group creation terminal 40 of this example includes a location information acquisition unit 421 that acquires location information regarding the location of its own terminal, a location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 421, and a group creation request. Transmission means 411 for transmitting to the management server 20, determination means 431 for determining the necessity of transmitting the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means 421 to the group management server 20, and the size of the area that can participate in the group And area information designating means 441 for designating area information about the communication terminal, and performs group creation processing for creating a group of communication terminals.
As shown in FIG. 3A, in the group creation terminal 40 of this example, the transmission unit 411 is in the communication unit 41 in FIG. 1, and the position information acquisition unit 421 is in the position confirmation in FIG. The determination means 431 corresponds to the determination section 43 in FIG. 1, and the area information designation means 441 corresponds to the input section 44 in FIG.

  In order to realize the function of the group creation terminal 40 as described above, for example, a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. The group creation terminal 40 shown in the figure has a keypad 401 for inputting various information, a display 402 for displaying various information, and for exchanging signals with other devices and terminals. A communication interface 403, a CPU 404 for controlling each unit, a memory 405 for storing various types of information, and a bus 400 for connecting each unit to realize signal exchange are provided. Each function described above can be realized by the CPU 404 executing a program by software or firmware. This program may be originally incorporated when the group participation terminal 40 is manufactured, or may be downloaded from another device via a network.

(Configuration example of group participation terminal)
In FIG. 1, the group participation terminal 60 can participate at least with a communication unit 61 for communicating with the group management server 20, a position confirmation unit 62 for acquiring information on the current position of the own terminal by a GPS function or the like. A storage unit 63 that stores information about various groups, a display unit 64 for displaying various types of information, an input unit 65 for inputting various types of information, and a community for realizing a community together with other communication terminals Part 66.

  Here, FIG. 4A shows a functional configuration example of the group participation terminal 60. Referring to the figure, the group participation terminal 60 of this example obtains position information acquisition means 621 for acquiring position information related to the position of the own terminal and position information acquisition in order to search for groups in which the user of the own terminal can participate. A group search request transmitting unit 611 that transmits a group search request including the position information acquired by the unit 621; a joinable group information acquiring unit 612 that acquires joinable group information regarding a group in which the user of the terminal can participate; A storage unit 631 for storing the participation group information acquired by the possible group information acquisition unit 612, and performs a group participation process for participating in a group of communication terminals.

  In addition, the group participation terminal 60 of this example includes a presentation unit 641 that presents excitement index information to the user of the terminal together with group information that can participate, and a display unit that displays the group names that can participate based on the group information that can participate. 642 and display control means 643 for controlling the number of display characters of the group name according to the distance from the terminal to the group when the group name is displayed by the display means.

Furthermore, the group participation terminal 60 of this example includes an input unit 651 for performing an input operation of a participation desired group that the user desires to participate in among the groups that can be participated indicated by the joinable group information stored in the storage unit 631. And a size information specifying unit 652 for specifying size information regarding the size of an area that can participate in the group, and a transmission for transmitting information about the desired participation group input by the input unit 651 to the group management server 20 Means 613. When there are a plurality of groups within the range in which participation is possible, each group can be selected with the direction key by the input means 651. Thereby, any group can be selected even if the groups overlap in the same area. In addition, when searching for a group around the terminal, the area can be set to an area where it is easy to find an available group. As the size information that can be set, for example, two levels of “large” and “small” are conceivable, but an area may be set in more stages.
In addition, the group participation terminal 60 of this example includes a position information transmission unit 614 that transmits information related to the position of the own terminal to the group management server 20 according to at least one of the movement distance and time of the own terminal, Community means 661 for realizing a community with the communication terminal.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, in the group participation terminal 60 of this example, a group search request transmission unit 611, a group information acquisition unit 612, a transmission unit 613, and a location information transmission unit 614 are provided. In the communication unit 61 in FIG. 1, the position information acquisition unit 621 is in the position confirmation unit 62 in FIG. 1, the storage unit 631 is in the storage unit 63 in FIG. 1, and the presentation unit 641, the display unit 642, and the display control unit 643. 1 corresponds to the display unit 64 in FIG. 1, the input unit 651 and the area information designation unit 652 correspond to the input unit 65 in FIG. 1, and the community unit 661 corresponds to the community unit 66 in FIG.

  In order to realize the function of the group participation terminal 60 as described above, for example, a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. The group participation terminal 60 shown in the figure has a keypad 601 for inputting various types of information, a display 602 for displaying various types of information, and for exchanging signals with other devices and terminals. A communication interface 603, a CPU 604 for controlling each unit, a memory 605 for storing various types of information, and a bus 600 for connecting each unit to realize signal exchange are provided. Then, each function described above can be realized by the CPU 604 executing a program by software or firmware. This program may be originally incorporated when the group participation terminal 60 is manufactured, or may be downloaded from another device via a network.

(Process when creating a group)
The user of the group creation terminal 40 can create a group at his current position. The user who created the group becomes the master of the group.
Here, processing at the time of creating a group in the above-described group communication system will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, the position confirmation unit 42 of the group creation terminal 40 acquires the current position information of the terminal itself by GPS (step S201). The information acquired here is passed to the communication unit 41 (step S202). The communication unit 41 adds position information, deadline information for new participation deadline information, and group participation condition information to the group creation request signal to the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 using wireless communication. Transmit (steps S203 and S204).

When receiving the group creation request signal, the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 sends the creation request and position information to the management unit 23 (step S205). The management unit 23 creates one new group according to the creation request, and manages the new group in association with the received position information (step S206).
The group participation condition information is, for example, an area that can participate in the group, age and sex that can participate in the group. As an area that can participate in the group, for example, either a large area or a small area may be selected. That is, you may enable it to specify the area information regarding the size of the area which can participate in a group. As attribute information of users who can participate in the group, for example, age and gender, it may be possible to select R18, all generations are possible, only the same sex, the opposite sex is also possible, and the like.

(Group management table)
In the group management means of the group management server 20, information indicating the contents of the group is held in the group management table. In this group management table, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, a group ID for identifying the group, a title of the group, master information indicating a user who is the master of the group, Information on the latitude and longitude of the center position (that is, the center point) of the group, the creation date and time of the group, the participation conditions of the group, the number of participants in the group, the participant information that is information about the participant, and the Information about the size of the group is registered. The group creation date is used for managing the deadline for participation in the group.

Here, the master information is the user ID of the user who created the group, or the user ID of the user who newly becomes the master when the master is taken over later.
The participant information is ID information of each participant. The area is an area in which the group can participate (for example, “large” or “small”).
The participation condition is an age sex condition that allows the group to participate.

Here, at the time of creating the group, only the master is participating, so the number of people is “1”. That is, a group is formed even when there is only one participant. However, it is possible to prevent the creator from automatically becoming a “participant”.
In this example, the shape of the area that can participate in the group is circular. For this reason, the latitude and longitude of the center position of the circle are registered in the table. However, the shape of the area is not circular, but may be a polygon having an arbitrary shape such as an ellipse, a triangle, a quadrangle, a pentagon, or a hexagon. However, if the shape of the area is circular, only the center position needs to be registered in the table, so there is an advantage that management is easy.

(Initial registration process)
By the way, in order to perform group communication by this system, initial registration of a user ID is required in advance. The user ID information initial registration process will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, the user operates the group creation terminal 40 to start an application program (step S501a). Then, a determination command is sent from the input unit 44 to the determination unit 43 (step S501b), and it is determined whether the group creation terminal 40 itself holds the management number (step S502). If the management number is held in step S502, the registration has already been completed, and the processing is terminated as it is.

  On the other hand, if the management number is not held, an ID registration request screen is displayed (step S503), and the user who sees the ID inputs his / her user ID information from the input unit 44 (step S504). In this example, the user ID information includes gender and other profile information. Then, an ID creation request including a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) serial number and ID information is transmitted to the group management server 20 via the communication unit 41 of the group creation terminal 40 (steps S505a and S505b).

The communication unit 61 of the group management server 20 that has received this creation request transmits an ID creation response to the group creation terminal 40 (steps S506a and S506b). Receiving this, the determination unit 43 of the group creation terminal 40 holds the management number included in the ID creation response (step S507).
Although the initial registration process by the group creation terminal 40 has been described above, the initial registration process is similarly performed at the group participation terminal 60.

  As a result of the above registration process, the user ID information is registered in the group management server 20. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a management number, a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) serial number, sex, and other profiles are registered as user ID information. In the case of a communication terminal that does not use the SIM, the machine number of the terminal may be registered instead of the SIM serial number.

(Change of registration contents)
It is also possible to change user ID information already registered. This change registration of user ID information will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, when the user operates the input unit 44 of the group creation terminal 40, the display screen of the terminal changes to the profile operation screen (step S601), and the profile input screen is displayed (step S602). Here, when the user operates the group creation terminal 40, at least a part of the user ID information is input (step S603). Then, a screen for profile confirmation is displayed on the group creation terminal 40 (step S604). Next, the system waits until an operation for registration is performed, such as when the user presses the registration button (steps S604 → S605...).

  When the user performs an operation for registration, data is transmitted to the group management server 20 via the communication unit 41 of the group creation terminal 40 (steps S605 → S606a, S606b, S606c). In the group management server 20, the communication unit 21 receives it and changes the registration content of the management unit 23 (step S607). Then, the inquiry result is transmitted to the group creation terminal 40 by the communication unit 21 (steps S608a and S608b).

(Create group)
Here, a process of creating a group for performing group communication will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, the user operates the input unit 44 of the group creation terminal 40, such as pressing a new group creation button (step S401). Then, a group condition setting screen is displayed (step S402). Here, the user inputs conditions for a group that is newly created.

  Next, GPS positioning is performed by the position confirmation unit 42 of the group creation terminal 40 (step S403). Then, the group creation request including the position information (that is, latitude and longitude) of the group creation terminal 40 acquired by the position measurement, the user ID, and the group condition is sent to the group management server 20 by the communication unit 41 of the group creation terminal 40. It is transmitted (steps S404a and S404b). This group creation request is received by the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 and sent to the determination unit 24 (step S404c). The determination unit 24 of the group management server 20 calculates the center point of the area that can participate in the group (step S405). Then, information indicating the contents of the newly created group is sent to the management unit 23 (step S406) and held in the table (step S407). When the holding in the table is completed, a group creation response including area information and user information is transmitted from the management unit 23 of the group management server 20 to the group creation terminal 40 via the determination unit 24 and the communication unit 21 (step S408a). , S408b, S408c).

  This group creation response is received by the communication unit 41 of the group creation terminal 40 and sent to the determination unit 43 (step S408d). In the determination unit 43, “1” is added to the value of the number of newly created groups (that is, the number of groups for which participation is being recruited) (step S409). Since the number of newly created groups is not “0”, the time measurement by the timer is started (steps S410 → S411). In this example, the timer value is 15 minutes. Then, when 15 minutes, which is the time value of the timer, has elapsed, position measurement by GPS is executed (step S412). Then, the position information of the group creation terminal 40 acquired by the position measurement is notified to the group management server 20 (steps S413a, S413b, S413c). After notification of location information, the GPS tracking mode keeps track of the location of its own terminal, and distances with surrounding groups are calculated based on the updated location information of its own terminal. Screen display is performed.

Also in the group management server 20, timing by a timer is started after transmission of the group creation response (step S414). After the group creation, the group management server 20 confirms the position information notification transmitted from the group creation terminal 40 every 15 minutes, and if the group creation terminal 40 is located in the participation area, the process is particularly performed. Not performed.
On the other hand, if it is not possible to confirm that the group creation terminal 40 is located within the area where participation is possible, if it continues twice, new participation in the group will be closed, and a new participation deadline notification will be sent to the group management server 20. To the group creation terminal 40 (steps S416, S417a, S417b, S417c). Thereafter, the new participation deadline processing for the group is performed (step S418). In addition, even when 30 minutes have passed, if no location information notification is sent from the group creation terminal 40, the new participation deadline processing for the group is performed (steps S415 → S418).

In the group creation terminal 40 that has received the new participation deadline notification from the group management server 20, “1” is subtracted from the number of newly created groups (step S419). Thereafter, the process returns to step S410, and if the number of newly created groups is “0”, the process ends.
When there is a newly created group, the group creation terminal 40 may be turned off and then turned on. In this case, processing for confirming whether there is a newly created group (that is, a group that is recruiting participation) is performed in the group creation terminal 40, there is a newly created group, and location information to the group management server 20. If more than 15 minutes have passed since the previous transmission of the notification, the group creation terminal 40 immediately transmits a position information notification to the group management server 20.

  According to the group creation terminal 40 described above, the new participation deadline process that is more actual can be performed by the determination unit 43 that determines the necessity of transmitting the position information of the terminal itself to the group management server 20. In other words, in the above example, the group creation terminal 40 that has created a group for which new participation is being accepted transmits its own terminal location information to the group management server 20 every 15 minutes. Here, when the application for group communication is not started only at the timing of sending the location information, the group management terminal 20 keeps the group creation terminal 40 in the area even though the group creation terminal 40 exists in the area. The new entry deadline ends without being able to determine that it is. However, when the application is launched 20 minutes after creation, if there is a need for transmission (for example, transmission is necessary but transmission is not possible after 15 minutes), position information is transmitted.

(Search for available groups)
When the user performs an operation for group search, groups that can participate by the communication terminal are displayed on the display screen of the communication terminal. In this example, the titles of the groups that can participate are expressed in characters. The contents can be judged by looking at the title.
Next, processing at the time of group search will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, the position confirmation unit 62 of the group participation terminal 60 acquires the current position information of the terminal itself (step S300). The information acquired here is passed to the communication unit 61 (step S301). The communication unit 61 transmits a search request signal with position information to the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 using wireless communication (steps S302 and S303).

  When receiving the search request signal, the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 notifies the determination unit 24 of the search request including the position information (step S304). Based on the position information of the group participation terminal 60, the determination unit 24 determines a possible participation area in which the terminal can participate in the group (step S305). Next, the determination unit 24 inquires about the group list in order to confirm the group information stored in the management unit 23 (step S306). In response to this inquiry, the management unit 23 reads the stored group list (step S307), and transmits the group list to the determination unit 24 as a response to the inquiry (step S308). Thereby, the determination part 24 can acquire all the group information.

  The determination unit 24 compares the position information notified from the group participation terminal 60 with the position information given to each group, and selects information about groups that can participate (step S309). In this example, information on all groups having a center position within a preset distance is returned as a search response to the group participation terminal 60 (steps S310 and S311). This search response is received by the communication unit 61 of the group participation terminal 60 and sent to the storage unit 63 (step S312). In the storage unit 63, the acquired information regarding the groups that can be joined is stored (step S313). At the time of group selection in step S309, based on at least the position information of the communication terminal, the new participation deadline information indicating the time limit for participation in the group, and the participation possible area, and within the participation possible area, and Select a group within the time limit for participation. Furthermore, a group may be selected based on attribute information of participating members, for example, age and sex.

(Display according to the rising index)
You may make it change the display color of the group in a communication terminal according to the excitement index of the community by a group. In that case, the climax index is calculated in the group management server 20, and the calculated climax index is transmitted to the communication terminal. The group is displayed on the display screen of the communication terminal in a color corresponding to the received excitement index. For example, the lowest index is “blue” and the highest index is “red”. If the climax index is displayed in this way, when a plurality of groups are located in the vicinity, it can be used as a guide when the user selects a group to participate.

  The climax index is, for example, the number of comments issued in a 5-minute cycle from the time when a group is created until the deadline for new participation, and the climax of the group is indexed step by step based on that number. is there. User convenience can be improved. Note that the group in which the user has already participated (including the group in which the user is in charge of the master) may be displayed in a color corresponding to the climax index.

(Title display according to distance)
When the group name is displayed on the communication terminal, the number of characters displayed in the title may be controlled according to the distance from the terminal to the group.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of the communication terminal. For example, when the group names “group title 1” to “group title 5” are originally displayed as shown in FIG. 9A, in this example, in this example, the group from the own terminal as shown in FIG. The number of characters displayed for the group name is controlled in accordance with the distance to. That is, when the distance from the terminal to the group is small (that is, a nearby group), all group names are displayed as “group title 1” and “group title 2”. On the other hand, when the distance from the terminal to the group is large (that is, a distant group), “Group tie”, “Group data”, “Group” in FIG. Like “???”, the characters that make up the group name are replaced with “?”.

  That is, 3 characters are replaced with “?” For “Group Title 3”, 4 characters are replaced with “?” For “Group Title 4”, and 6 characters are replaced with “?” For “Group Title 5”. Is done. If the distance from the terminal to the group changes, the number of characters replaced with “?” Changes. That is, in this example, when approaching the group gradually, the character string representing the group name is displayed stepwise from the front, and finally the entire character string is displayed. Contrary to this example, the character string may be displayed stepwise from the rear side, and finally the entire character string may be displayed. In addition, various modifications can be considered in the display method, for example, the character position replaced with “?” Is a random position.

That is, the group participating terminal 60 acquires the distance from the own terminal to the group, and when displaying the group name, the number of characters displayed in the group name is controlled according to the distance from the own terminal to the group.
In this way, when displaying the group name, the number of characters displayed in the group name is controlled according to the distance from the terminal to the group, so that the user who sees the title name can know the group name. It is thought that it can be guided in the direction. Also, when moving in the direction of the group, the distance to the group can be grasped sensuously by the number of displayed characters.

  In addition, instead of controlling the number of display characters in the group participation terminal 60, when transmitting information on group names that can be participated in by the transmission unit 211 of the group management server 20, the number of display characters according to the distance from the group participation terminal 60 to the group. May transmit a group name controlled in advance. Since the number of display characters is controlled by the group management server 20, the processing load on the group participation terminal 60 can be reduced. In this case, the information about the distance from the own terminal to the group acquired by the group participation terminal 60 is transmitted to the group management server 20, and the group management server 20 determines the group participation terminal for groups that can participate based on the group information that can participate. What is necessary is just to produce the group name by which the number of display characters was controlled according to the distance from 60 to a group, and to transmit to a communication terminal. When the distance from the group participation terminal 60 to the group changes, only the information regarding the group name whose number of display characters is controlled again according to the changed distance or the character (for example, one character) corresponding to the changed distance. May be transmitted from the group management server 20 to the group participation terminal 60.

  In this way, by controlling the number of display characters of the group name according to the distance from the group participation terminal 60 to the group, the user who sees the title name is guided in the direction of the group in order to know the entire title name. It is thought that you can. Further, when moving in the direction of the group, the distance to the group can be intuitively grasped by the number of displayed characters.

(Concealing master position)
As described above, when the master creates a group, other users in the area where the group can participate can participate in the group. In this case, an area centered on the position where the master created the group is created.
By the way, if the center point of the created group is used as it is, there is a possibility that the position where the group creator, that is, the master exists (the position where it exists if it has not moved) may be known to other users. For this reason, it is desirable to perform processing for concealing the location of the master. In order to realize this, the following processing is performed in the group management server 20. That is, as shown in FIG. 13A, a circle with a certain radius is created from the center point P at which the master created the group. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, a center point Q of the participation area is created at an arbitrary position inside the circle. The center point Q to be created is a random position. Therefore, the participation area A having the center point Q at the shifted position as shown in FIG. 5B is not always created, but at a different time, the shifted position as shown in FIG. A participation area A ′ as a point Q ′ is created.

(Modification)
(1) In the above description, a group desired to participate is input from the input unit 65 by the user operating the group participation terminal 60. Here, a group to participate in may be determined according to a predetermined algorithm. In this case, a determination unit 67 may be provided as shown in FIG. In this case, the group participation terminal 60 is not provided with the input unit 651 in FIG. 2, and as shown in FIG. 15, the participation group indicated by the participation group information stored in the storage unit 631 is displayed. Among these, a group determining means 671 is provided for determining a group to which the terminal should participate according to a predetermined algorithm. Then, the transmission unit 613 transmits information regarding the group determined by the group determination unit 671 to the group management server 20. As an algorithm to be used, for example, a method of selecting a group closest to the current position of the user, a method of selecting a group at random, a method of selecting all, and the like can be considered. The function of the group participation terminal 60 shown in the figure can be realized by the hardware configuration already described with reference to FIG. 6B, for example.

(2) By the way, when determining the group which should participate, not the group participation terminal 60 but the group management server 20 may determine the group which should participate. In this case, as shown in FIG. 16, among the groups in which the group participating terminal 60 can participate, the group determining means 245 for determining a group to which the terminal should participate according to a predetermined algorithm, and the group determining means 245 What is necessary is just to add to the group management server 20 the decision group information transmission means 213 which transmits the information regarding the made group to a communication terminal. Also in this case, as an algorithm to be used, for example, a method of selecting a group closest to the current position of the user, a method of selecting a group at random, a method of selecting all, etc. The function of the group management server 20 shown in the figure can be realized by, for example, the hardware configuration already described with reference to FIG.

(3) Moreover, you may enable it to take over the role of a master. In other words, if the master performs an operation for withdrawal before the participation in the group is closed, other users in the area may be able to take over the master. In that case, a request for withdrawal of the master is transmitted from the group creation terminal 40 to the group management server 20 in the group that is accepting new participation. Then, the group management server 20 notifies the other group participation terminals 60 participating in the group that the master has left.
Thereafter, when a master registration request is received from a participant in the group, the group management server 20 changes the master information for the group. As a result, the user ID of the user is held in the table as a new master (see FIG. 6). Subsequent processing is the same as above.

(4) In the above-described embodiment, although communication with a person who is closer is desirable, it becomes more difficult to find a person whose preference information matches as the target range is narrowed. Therefore, in the case of creating a group, a modification example for performing grouping so that members with better conditions (for example, close to each other, close in preference) can communicate with each other will be described with reference to FIG. .

In this figure, in this modification, a condition update unit 25 is added in the group management server 20. The condition update unit 25 searches for a terminal having the same preference , and performs search condition update processing according to the search result. This update process is realized by the CPU in the group management server 20 executing a program using software or firmware. The specific contents of this update process will be described later.

FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing example of the group management server 20, the group creation terminal 40, and the group participation terminal 60 in the group communication system of FIG.
In the figure, first, tag information of each communication terminal (group participation terminal 60) is stored in the management unit 23 of the group management server 20 (step S700). This tag information is terminal user's preference information and the like. This tag information is stored in the management unit 23 in association with the terminal identifier.

  In this state, the position confirmation unit 42 of the group creation terminal 40 acquires the current position information of the terminal itself by GPS (step S701). The information acquired here is passed to the communication unit 41 (step S702). The communication unit 41 uses the wireless communication to send a group creation request signal to the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 in the position information, new participation deadline information for the group, group participation condition information, and the maximum An isolation distance and tag information are added and transmitted (steps S703 and S704). The tag information of the group creation terminal 40 may be added to a group creation request signal and transmitted to the group management server 20 or may be stored in advance in the management unit 23 of the group management server 20.

  When receiving the group creation request signal, the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 sends a position request terminal determination request for determining a terminal as a transmission destination of the position request to the determination unit 24 (step S705). The determination unit 24 performs a search process as to whether or not there is a terminal having matching tag information within a range centered on the group creation terminal 40 and having a maximum isolation distance as a radius (step S706). When this search process is performed, access from the determination unit 24 to the management unit 23 is performed, and the terminal associated with the tag information that matches the tag information added to the group creation request from the group creation terminal 40 is displayed. An identifier is acquired (step S706 ′).

  The determination unit 24 sends the search result, that is, the acquired identifier to the communication unit 21 (step S707). For the communication terminal having the received search result, that is, the identifier, the determination unit 24 transmits a search request to the terminal (that is, the group participation terminal 60) in order to acquire the current position information (step S708). This search request is received by the communication unit 61 of the group participation terminal 60. Then, the communication unit 61 of the group participation terminal 60 sends a location information request to the location confirmation unit 62 (step S709).

  The position confirmation unit 62 of the group participation terminal 60 acquires the current position information of the terminal itself by GPS (step S710). The position information acquired here is passed to the communication unit 61 (step S711). The communication unit 61 transmits a position information notification to the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 using wireless communication (step S713). Similar processing is performed in other group participation terminals (not shown), and the position information of the terminal itself is transmitted to the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 as a position information notification.

  When receiving the location information notification from each terminal, the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 sends it to the determination unit 24 (step S714). The determination unit 24 that has received the position information from each terminal performs a process of determining whether or not a group can be created by the group creation terminal 40 and the group participation terminal 60 (step S715). In this case, whether or not there are more than a specified number of group participation terminals with matching tag information within the range centered on the group creation terminal 40 and the radius of the maximum isolation distance (that is, the target number of communication terminals with matching preference information). Determine whether. This prescribed number is, for example, “3”. A group can be created when there are more than a specified number of group participating terminals with matching tag information within the radius of the distance, and a group cannot be created when the number is less than the specified number.

If the group can be created as a result of the determination in step S715, the group is created by storing the identifier of the group participating terminal with the matching tag information in the management unit 23 in the group management server 20 (step S715). → S716).
On the other hand, if it is determined that the group cannot be created, the determination unit 24 notifies the condition update unit 25 of the fact (steps S715 → S717). Receiving this notification, the condition update unit 25 performs a condition update process for updating the conditions for the search process by the determination unit 24 (step S718). For example, the maximum isolation distance and the preference condition are changed to be a new search condition. After the condition update process is completed, the process returns to step S706, and the same process as described above is repeatedly performed. By repeatedly performing the same processing as described above, it is determined again whether a group can be created.

  The condition update process is performed by changing at least one of the maximum isolation distance and the preference condition. In this example, it is assumed that the preference information has a hierarchical structure. For example, when there are four hierarchical structures from the first hierarchy to the fourth hierarchy, and the first hierarchy is “sports”, the second hierarchy is an event such as “baseball”, the third hierarchy is the team name, and the fourth hierarchy is The names of players belonging to the team. The number of hierarchies is not limited to four, but may be more or less.

For the preference information having such a hierarchical structure, for example, according to the following algorithms (a) to (e), the search is performed again after updating the maximum isolation distance and preference conditions. Hereinafter, these algorithms will be described.
(A) Search by raising the hierarchy mechanically The distance is fixed, and the search is made by raising the hierarchy sequentially from the lowest level. For example, as a result of searching for a specific player name (that is, the lowest layer), if the number of communication terminals with the same preference information does not exist more than the specified number, the search is performed by increasing the hierarchy in the order of team name, baseball, and sports. Do it sequentially. The search algorithm will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, first, the distance is set to a fixed value, and the preference information hierarchy is set to the lowest layer (step S801). Search processing is performed under these conditions (step S802). As a result of the search, if the number of communication terminals with the same preference information does not reach the prescribed number (if it is not greater than the prescribed number), the preference information hierarchy is increased by one level (steps S803 to S804). The search process is performed again under the search conditions updated in this way (step S802). Thereafter, the search condition update and the search process are repeated.
As a result of the search, when the number of communication terminals with the same preference information reaches a specified number, a group is created by these communication terminals (steps S803 → S805).

(B) Search by sequentially changing the distance and hierarchy If the distance is increased and the number of communication terminals having the same preference information does not reach the specified number, the search is performed after increasing the hierarchy of preference information and reducing the distance again. The search algorithm will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in the figure, first, the distance is set to the initial value, and the preference information hierarchy is set to the lowest layer (step S901). Search processing is performed under these conditions (step S902). As a result of the search, if the number of communication terminals with the same preference information does not reach the specified number (if not more than the specified number), it is determined whether the set distance has reached a predetermined value (steps S903 → S904). If the set distance has not reached the predetermined value, the distance is increased (steps S904 → S905), and then the search process is performed again (steps S905 → S902). Subsequently, the search condition (distance setting value) is updated and the search process is repeated. When the set distance reaches a predetermined value, the distance is set to an initial value, and the preference information hierarchy is increased by one level (steps S904 → S906), and then the search process is performed again (steps S906 → S902). ). Thereafter, the search process is repeated by updating the distance and hierarchy in the same manner.

As a result of the search in step S902, when the number of communication terminals with the same preference information reaches a specified number, a group is created by these communication terminals (step S903 → S907).
In the case of (b) described above, since the priority of the preference information is increased, the search is repeatedly performed while changing the distance value with the lower priority. On the contrary, in the case of (a) described above, since the distance priority is increased, the search is repeatedly performed while changing the hierarchy of the preference information. It may be possible to instruct from the group creation terminal which priority of preference information and distance is to be increased. In order to realize this, instruction information as to which priority is to be increased may be added to the group creation request from the group creation terminal (step S704 in FIG. 18) and transmitted.

(C) Create an approximate curve and set the predicted distance. Search after increasing the distance several times and checking the number of people gathered (that is, the number of communication terminals with the same preference information), and the relationship between the distance and the number of people. Prediction is performed by creating an approximate curve, and the target number of people constituting the group (that is, the target number of communication terminals with the same preference information) is extended to a distance that can be achieved. The search algorithm will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in the figure, first, the distance is set to an initial value, and the preference information hierarchy is set to a fixed value (step S101). Search processing is performed under these conditions (step S102). If, as a result of the search, the number of communication terminals with the same preference information does not reach the specified number (if not more than the specified number), the number of communication terminals with the same preference information is stored together with the set distance value. (Steps S103 → S104).

The processing from step S102 to step S104 is performed until the distance value is increased and the number of increases reaches a specified value (steps S104 → S105 → S106...). When the number of distance increases reaches the specified value, the relationship between the distance and the number of people gathered based on the stored number of communication terminals with the same preference information and the set distance value An approximate curve is created (steps S105 → S107). Then, based on the created approximate curve, the relationship between the distance and the number of people gathered is predicted, and a distance stretched to a distance that can achieve the target number of people is set (step S108). After this distance is set, further search processing is performed (steps S108 → S102).
As a result of the search, when the number of communication terminals with the same preference information reaches a specified number, a group is created by these communication terminals (steps S103 → S109).

(D) Search using past statistical information Using statistical information indicating how far the communication terminals having the same tag information (that is, communication terminals with the same preference information) have extended their distance to reach the specified number Set the distance. Then, the search process is performed at the set distance. As a result of the search, when the number of communication terminals with the same preference information reaches a specified number, a group is created by these communication terminals.

(E) Search by setting a distance based on the population density From the population density of communication terminals having the same tag information (that is, communication terminals having the same preference information), the target number of people constituting the group (that is, communication having the same preference information) The area necessary to achieve the target number of terminals) is calculated, and based on this, the distance that can achieve the target number of persons is calculated, and this is set as the maximum isolation distance. Then, the search process is performed at the set distance. As a result of the search, when the number of communication terminals having the same preference information reaches the target number, a group is created by these communication terminals.

  As described above, by searching for communication terminals having the same preference information and updating the search conditions according to the search result, grouping can be performed with a person who matches the preference information in the near field. Even if the preference information does not match, or even if the number of people required, that is, the specified number is not gathered, the probability of grouping can be increased by gradually expanding the target range.

(5) As a modification of the above (4), the condition update unit may be provided in the group creation terminal instead of being provided in the group management server. In order to realize this, the condition update unit 45 is provided in the group creation terminal 40 as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 23, the group creation terminal 40 performs a condition update process. That is, as a result of the search in step S715, when the number of communication terminals with the same preference information does not reach the specified number, this is notified to the group creation terminal 40 (steps S717a, S717b, S717c). When the search conditions are updated by manual input or the like in the group creation terminal 40 (step S718), the search conditions are transmitted to the group management server (steps S719a, S717a, S719c, S719d). In order to update the search condition, for example, the contents of the preference information and part of the distance information may be manually input.

The group management server 20 that has received the updated search condition performs a search process according to the condition (step S720). As a result of the search in step S720, if the number of communication terminals with the same preference information does not reach the specified number, the same processing is repeated (steps S715 ′, S717a ′ to S717c ′, S718 ′).
Note that steps S701 to S714 in FIG. 23 are the same as those in FIG. 18 already described, and thus illustration and description thereof are omitted.

(6) By the way, in the search condition update process (step S718) in FIG. 23, instead of manually inputting the search condition, the search condition options are displayed and presented on the screen of the group creation terminal 40 and selected. You may be able to do it. In this case, for example, choices regarding the content of the preference information itself and the distance value may be created in the group management server, presented to the group creation terminal, and selected by the user. Further, the superordinate concept of the layered preference information may be acquired in advance from the group management server, and the group creation terminal may create options.

  An example of this option will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a screen display example in the case where the user selects in detail the hierarchical preference information. In the first screen display SS1 in FIG. 5A, the user is allowed to select a search condition that can be changed. In this example, “Please select what you can change” is displayed, and in addition, “Distance (current: within 200 m)” and “Preference (current: Tsugaru apple lover)” are displayed as options. Yes. When one of the first screen displays SS1 is selected, the process proceeds to the next screen display. For example, when an option related to preference, that is, “preference (currently: Tsugaru apple lover)” is selected by the user, the screen display SS2 is changed to the next screen display SS2.

In the screen display SS2 of this example, “Please select a preference to spread” is displayed, and five options are displayed. That is, “Up 1 level (likes apples)”, “Up 1 level (likes Tsugaru)”, “Up 2 levels (likes fruits)”, “Up 2 levels (likes Aomori)”, “Up 3 levels (likes Tohoku)” "Is displayed. That is, in this example, “apple lover” and “Tsugaru lover” are set as a hierarchy above “Tsugaru apple lover”. “Fruit lover” is set as the hierarchy above “apple lover”, “Aomori lover” is set as the hierarchy above “Tsugaru lover”, and “Tohoku lover” is set as the hierarchy above it. For this reason, a re-search is performed in the group management server 20 on condition that the displayed option is selected by the user.
In the screen display SS1, when an option regarding distance, that is, “distance (current: within 200 m)” is selected, the screen shifts to a screen display that gives an option for the numerical value of the distance.

On the other hand, FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a screen display example when the user easily selects. The first screen display SS1 in FIG. 5B is the same as the first screen display SS in FIG. When one of the first screen displays SS1 is selected, the condition is changed in the group management server 20, and the group management server 20 searches again for the changed condition. For example, when an option related to preference, that is, “preference (currently: Tsugaru apple enthusiast)” is selected by a user, “Apple lover” or “Tsugaru enthusiast”, which is one level above, is set as a new search condition, and the group A re-search is performed in the management server 20. Further, “Fruit lover” or “Aomori lover”, which is two levels higher, may be set as a new search condition, and the group management server 20 may perform a re-search.
As in the case of FIG. 6A, when an option related to distance, that is, “distance (currently within 200 m)” is selected in the screen display SS1, the screen shifts to a screen display that gives an option for the numerical value of the distance.

  In the case where options are given as described above, the number of persons that increase when the option is selected (that is, the number of persons who are expected to increase) may be displayed on the screen as a matter that is a determination factor for selection by the user. In this way, it is considered that the user can appropriately select an option. In this case, the number of people to be increased may be calculated in advance in the group management server 20 with reference to past statistical information, and the calculation result may be transmitted to the group creation terminal together with options.

(7) Further, options corresponding to the scale of the group to be created may be presented. For example, options for creating a group with 30 or more communication terminals and conditions for creating a group with 50 or more communication terminals are created in the group management server and presented to the group creation terminal. You can make it choose. In this case, the search condition is updated according to the selected option, and a search based on the updated search condition is performed.

(8) In the above description, the case has been described in which the increased number of people with respect to the option is calculated with reference to past statistical information or the like.
In this case, a search request may be transmitted in advance to the group management server, and the search result may be acquired from the group management server. This process will be described with reference to FIG. That is, as shown in the figure, the determination unit 24 of the group management server 20 performs a process of determining whether a group can be created by the group creation terminal 40 and the group participation terminal 60 (step S721). If it cannot be created, a re-search is performed (step S722). Based on the result of this re-search, the determination unit 24 creates an option (step S723). Then, information regarding the option and the number of persons that increase when the option is selected is transmitted to the group creation terminal 40 (steps S724a, S724b, and S724c).

  In the group creation terminal 40 that has received the information on the options and the number of people that will increase when they are selected, processing such as displaying them on the screen is performed, and the options and the increased number of people are presented to the user (step S725). When the presented option is selected by the user (step S726), the selected option is transmitted to the determination unit 24 of the group management server 20 (steps S727a, S727b, and S727c).

The group management server 20 that has received the selected option performs a re-search on the selected option (step S728), and then determines whether a group can be created (step S729). If the group can be created as a result of the determination in step S729, the group is created by storing the identifier of the group participating terminal with the matching tag information in the management unit 23 in the group management server 20 (step S729). → S730).
On the other hand, if the group cannot be created as a result of the determination, the process is repeated as described above.
As described above, by actually performing a search and presenting the result together with options to the user, it is possible to present the user with more accurate and reliable options than referring to statistical information regarding the possibility of group creation.

(9) The above describes the case where the position acquired by the GPS function is used as the position information of the communication terminal. However, the position of the wireless LAN (Local Area Network) access point device (hereinafter abbreviated as AP) or the base station Can be used as position information of the communication terminal.
Since unique identification information is given to the AP, this identification information specifies an AP in a state where the communication terminal can communicate. That is, the AP identification information can be handled as the location information of the communication terminal. Two communication terminals that can communicate directly with the same AP are considered to be located within a certain distance centered on the position of the AP, and this can be used for group creation. .

  Even if each of the two communication terminals can communicate directly with different APs (that is, even when the identification information of the APs that can communicate directly does not match), the group management server recognizes that the positions of these APs are close. If so, a group may be created for these communication terminals. In this case, the group management server recognizes information about APs that are close to each other, and the group management server performs management such as group creation.

  In addition, since unique identification information is given to a radio base station apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a radio base station) for realizing communication by a cellular phone, the identification information is stored in an area where the cellular phone is located ( That is, the location location) is specified. That is, when the communication terminal is a mobile phone, the identification information of the radio base station can be handled as the position information of the communication terminal. Two communication terminals that can communicate directly with the same radio base station are considered to be located within a certain distance centered on the position of the radio base station, and this is used for group creation. can do.

  Even if each of the two communication terminals can communicate directly with different radio base stations (that is, even when the identification information of the radio base stations capable of direct communication does not match), the group that the positions of these radio base stations are close If the management server recognizes, a group may be created for these communication terminals. In that case, the group management server recognizes information about the radio base stations located close to each other, and the group management server performs management such as group creation.

As described above, if the position of the AP or the position of the wireless base station is used as the position information of the communication terminal, the power consumption can be reduced as compared with the case of using the GPS function. Can be suppressed. A communication terminal that does not have a GPS function can be used as the group creation terminal or the group participation terminal described above.
Specific processing contents will be described with reference to FIG. This figure is a sequence diagram showing signal exchange between the group creation terminal 40, the AP 30 used by the group creation terminal 40 for communication, and the group management server 20.

  In the figure, the AP 30 is used for communication with the group management server 20 by the communication unit 41 of the group creation terminal 40 (steps S1001 and S1002). When the signal from the group creation terminal 40 is received by the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20, the management unit 23 extracts ID information that is identification information of the AP from the signal (step S1004). The ID information extracted by the management unit 23 can be handled as the position information of the group creation terminal 40 as described above.

This position information is sent from the management unit 23 of the group management server 20 to the group creation terminal 40 via the communication unit 21 and the AP 30 in this order (steps S1005, S1006, and S1007). This position information is sent from the communication unit 21 of the group creation terminal 40 to the position confirmation unit 42 (step S1008).
The position confirmation unit 42 determines whether or not the received position information matches the previous position of the terminal itself (that is, the ID information of the AP used) (step S1009). As a result, if it is determined that the position matches the previous position, the position is not changed, and the process ends as it is (steps S1009 → S1010).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the position does not coincide with the previous position, the position has been changed, and position registration processing to the group management server 20 is performed (steps S1009 → S1011). Accordingly, a location registration signal for registering location information is sent to the management unit 23 via the communication unit 41 of the group creation terminal 40, the AP 30, and the communication unit 21 of the group management server 20 in order (steps S1012 and S1013). , S1014). Then, in the management unit 23, new position information is registered and managed (step S1015).

By always performing the above processing, it is not necessary to use the GPS function in the group creation terminal 40, and the consumption of the battery as the power source of the terminal can be suppressed. A communication terminal that does not have a GPS function can be used as a group creation terminal.
Similarly, for the group participation terminal 60, as shown in FIG. 27, the AP 30 is used for communication with the group management server 20 by the communication unit 61 (steps S1101 and S1102), and the ID information of the AP 30 is extracted and the group is extracted. By being treated as the position information of the participating terminal 60, the position information is registered and managed in the management unit 23 (steps S1103 to S1115). By always performing the above processing, it is not necessary to use the GPS function in the group participation terminal 60, and the consumption of the battery as the power source of the terminal can be suppressed. A communication terminal that does not have a GPS function can be used as a group participation terminal.

  When a radio base station is used instead of the AP, as shown in FIG. 28, the radio base station 50 is used for communication with the group management server 20 by the group creation terminal 40 (steps S1211, S1102). 50 ID information is extracted and handled as the position information of the group creation terminal 40, whereby the position information is registered and managed in the management unit 23 (steps S1203 to S1215). By always performing the above processing, it is not necessary to use the GPS function in the group creation terminal 40, and the consumption of the battery as the power source of the terminal can be suppressed. A communication terminal that does not have a GPS function can be used as a group creation terminal.

  As for the group participation terminal 60, as shown in FIG. 29, the radio base station 50 is used for communication with the group management server 20 by the communication unit 61 (steps S1301 and S1302), and ID information of the radio base station 50 is extracted. By being handled as the position information of the group participation terminal 60, the position information is registered and managed in the management unit 23 (steps S1303 to S1315). By always performing the above processing, it is not necessary to use the GPS function in the group participation terminal 60, and the consumption of the battery as the power source of the terminal can be suppressed. A communication terminal that does not have a GPS function can be used as a group participation terminal.

(10) In (9) above, the group management server handles and manages the AP identification information and the radio base station identification information as position information of the communication terminal. This location information and group management may be performed not by the group management server but by the AP or the radio base station. In this case, a management unit that performs group creation processing and management of communication terminals participating in the group needs to be provided in the AP.

A procedure when the AP performs a group creation process will be described with reference to FIG. This figure is a sequence diagram showing signal exchange between the group creation terminal 40 and the AP 30.
In the figure, when a group creation request is transmitted from the communication unit 41 in the group creation terminal 40 to the AP 30, it is received by the communication unit 31 in the AP 30 (step S1401). In the AP 30, a group creation request is input from the communication unit 31 to the management unit 32 (step S1402), and a group is created (step S1403). The group creation process is the same as described above. Thereafter, group management by the AP is started (step S1404).

  FIG. 31 is a sequence diagram showing signal exchange between the group participation terminal 60 who desires to join the group and the AP 30. In the figure, when a transmission process is performed in the communication unit 61 in the group participation terminal 60 that wishes to participate in a group (step S1501), a search request for the group is transmitted to the AP 30 (step S1502). . This search request is received by the communication unit 31 in the AP 30 and sent to the management unit 32 (step S1503).

  Then, in the management unit 32, the stored group list is read (step S1504). This read content is transmitted to the group participation terminal 60 as a search response (steps S1505 and S1506). In the group participation terminal 60 that has received this search request, a storage request is sent from the communication unit 61 to the storage unit 63 (step S1507), and information relating to the group list is stored in the storage unit 63 (step S1508). Through the above processing, the group participation terminal 60 can acquire group information.

  When the group creation terminal 40 moves and becomes communicable with an AP different from that at the time of group creation, the newly communicable AP manages the group. That is, the AP that manages the group is changed. This process will be described with reference to FIG. This figure is a sequence diagram showing signal transmission / reception in the group creation terminal 40, the group management server 20, the AP 30 and the AP 30 '. In the figure, location information (that is, ID information of the AP being used) is transmitted from the communication unit 31 of the AP 30 to the group creation terminal 40 (step S1601). This position information is sent from the communication unit 21 of the group creation terminal 40 to the determination unit 43 (step S1602).

Based on the received position information, the determination unit 43 determines whether the AP with which the terminal is communicating has been changed (step S1603). In this case, it is determined whether the position information received from the communication unit 31 of the AP 30 matches the previous position of the terminal itself (that is, the ID information of the AP that was originally used).
As a result, if it is determined that the position matches the previous position, the position is not changed, and the process ends as it is (steps S1603 → S1604).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the position does not match the previous position, the position has been changed, and change registration processing to the group management server 20 is performed (steps S1605 → S1606, S1607). As a result, the management unit 23 of the group management server 20 performs AP change processing (that is, location change registration) (step S1608).

  Thereafter, processing for starting group management by the AP 30 ′ newly used by the group creation terminal 40 is performed. In this process, first, a request for extracting the management content of the AP 30 that was originally used is transmitted (step S1609). This request is sent to the management unit 32 via the communication unit 31 in the AP 30 (steps S1609, S1610, S1611). In the management unit 32, the management content related to the group created by the group creation terminal 40 is extracted (step S1612). The extracted management content is sent to the management unit 23 of the group management server 20 (steps S1613, S1614, S1615).

In the management unit 23 of the group management server 20, notification processing to the AP 30 and AP 30 ′ is performed (step S1616). First, notification processing is performed toward the AP 30 ′ newly used by the group creation terminal 40 (steps S1617, S1618, and S1619). Thereby, management regarding the group is started in the AP 30 ′ (step S1620).
Simultaneously with or before or after the notification process, the notification process is performed toward the AP 30 originally used by the group creation terminal 40 (steps S1617, S1621, and S1622). Thereby, in AP30, the management regarding the group is completed (step S1623).

  The configuration of the group communication system described with reference to FIGS. 30 to 32 is, for example, as shown in FIG. The group communication system shown in the figure has a configuration in which APs 30 and 30 'are provided between the group management server 20 and communication terminals 40 and 60 which are mobile devices. The AP 30 includes a communication unit 31 and a management unit 32. The AP 30 ′ includes a communication unit 31 ′ and a management unit 32 ′.

  Although the above has described the case where the AP manages the group, it is obvious that the radio base station can manage the group. In that case, in the process described with reference to FIGS. 30 to 32, a radio base station is used instead of the AP, and the same process as described above is performed. A configuration in the case where the same processing as described above is performed using the radio base station is as shown in FIG. 34, for example. The group communication system shown in the figure has a configuration in which radio base stations 50 and 50 'are provided between the group management server 20 and communication terminals 40 and 60 which are mobile devices. The radio base station 50 includes a communication unit 51 and a management unit 52. Further, the radio base station 50 'includes a communication unit 51' and a management unit 52 '. The communication units 51 and 51 'have a function corresponding to the communication unit 31 in FIGS. The management units 52 and 52 'have a function corresponding to the management unit 32 in FIGS.

(Group management method)
Incidentally, in the group communication system described above, the following group management method is realized. That is, based on the position information of the group participation terminal 60, a participation possible area determination step (corresponding to step S305 in FIG. 11) for determining a participation possible area that is an area where the terminal can participate in the group, and at least Based on the location information of the group participation terminal 60, new participation deadline information indicating the time limit for participation in the group, and the area available for participation, a group that exists in the participation possible area and is within the time limit for participation A group management method including a group selection step (corresponding to step S309 in FIG. 11) for selecting is realized.
According to this method, group communication between communication terminals that are close to each other in distance can be realized even when they are not completely close to each other at the same time.

(Communication terminal control method)
Moreover, in the group participation terminal 60 mentioned above, the following control methods are employ | adopted. That is, it is a control method of the group participation terminal 60 that performs group participation processing for participating in the group of the group participation terminal 60, and a position information acquisition step (in step S301 in FIG. 11) for acquiring position information regarding the position of the own terminal. And a group search request transmission step (step S303 in FIG. 11) for transmitting a group search request including the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step in order to search for a group in which the user of the terminal can participate. Acquired by the participation group information acquisition step (corresponding to step S311 in FIG. 11) and the participation possible group information acquisition step of acquiring participation group information related to the group in which the user of the terminal can participate. Save step to save the available group information Control method including the support) is employed in step S313 in FIG. 11.

According to this control method, it is possible to acquire joinable group information related to joinable groups according to the position of the user.
Further, in the group creation terminal 40 described above, the following control method is employed. That is, it is a communication terminal control method for performing group creation processing for creating a group of the group creation terminal 40, and a location information acquisition step for acquiring location information regarding the location of the terminal itself (corresponding to step S403 in FIG. 10). Transmitting means (corresponding to step S404b in FIG. 10) for transmitting the position information and group creation request acquired in the position information acquisition step to a device that manages the group, and acquired in the position information acquisition step. A control method including a determination step (corresponding to step S411 in FIG. 10) for determining the necessity of transmitting the position information to the device managing the group is adopted. According to this method, the management apparatus can grasp the position of the group creation terminal 40 used by the master.

(Summary)
As described above, in the present invention, based on the location information of the communication terminal, the new participation deadline information indicating the time limit for participation in the group, and the participation available area, , Select a group within the time limit for participation and notify the communication terminal, so even if you are not completely near the same time, you can communicate with the group, and even after leaving the place Group communication can be continued.
In addition, users who were in the same place but were not at the same time (different time zones were present) can communicate with each other. If it is at the same place at almost the same time, it is considered that there is a sense of unity of the user, so the present invention can be used for exchange of loot information at a bargain venue.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used to generate a group using user location information and to realize a community based on the generated group.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the group communication system by embodiment of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the function structural example of a group management server, (b) is a figure which shows the hardware structural example for implement | achieving the function of (a). (A) is a figure which shows the function structural example of a group creation terminal, (b) is a figure which shows the hardware structural example for implement | achieving the function of (a). (A) is a figure which shows the function structural example of a group participating terminal, (b) is a figure which shows the hardware structural example for implement | achieving the function of (a). It is a sequence diagram which shows the process at the time of the group creation in the group communication system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a group management table. It is a figure which shows the example of an initial registration process of user ID information. It is a figure which shows the example of user ID information registered into a group management server. It is a figure which shows the example of a change registration process of user ID information. It is a figure which shows the example of a creation process of the group for performing group communication. It is a figure which shows the process example at the time of a group search. It is a figure which shows the example of a title display according to distance. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of the area which can participate. It is a block diagram which shows the modification of the group communication system of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the modification of a group participating terminal. It is a block diagram which shows the modification of a group management server. It is a block diagram which shows the modification of the group communication system of FIG. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing example of a group management server, a group creation terminal, and a group participation terminal in the group communication system of FIG. 17. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the algorithm of the process which raises a hierarchy mechanically and searches. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the algorithm of the process which changes and changes a distance and a hierarchy in order. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the algorithm of the process which creates and approximates the distance which created and estimated the approximated curve. It is a block diagram which shows the modification of the group communication system of FIG. FIG. 23 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing example of a group management server, a group creation terminal, and a group participation terminal in the group communication system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display about the choice of search conditions. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process in the case of transmitting the result of having actually performed the search with the option. It is a sequence diagram which shows signal transmission / reception in the case of utilizing the position of an access point apparatus as position information of a group creation terminal. It is a sequence diagram which shows signal transmission / reception in the case of utilizing the position of an access point apparatus as position information of a group participating terminal. It is a sequence diagram which shows signal transmission / reception in the case of utilizing the position of a wireless base station apparatus as position information of a group creation terminal. It is a sequence diagram which shows signal transmission / reception in the case of utilizing the position of a wireless base station apparatus as position information of a group participating terminal. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure in case an access point apparatus performs a group creation process. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure in case an access point apparatus performs the process in the case of group participation. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure in case an access point apparatus performs management about a group. FIG. 33 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a group communication system when an access point device performs the processes of FIGS. 30 to 32. In FIG. 33, it is a block diagram which shows the structure of a group communication system in case a radio base station apparatus performs the process of an access point apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

20 group management server 21 communication unit 22 community unit 23 management unit 24 determination unit 25 condition update unit 40 communication terminal 41 communication unit 42 position check unit 43 determination unit 44 input unit 45 condition update unit 60 communication terminal 61 communication unit 62 position check unit 63 storage unit 64 display unit 65 input unit 66 community unit 67 determination unit 211 transmission unit 212 index information transmission unit 213 determination group information transmission unit 221 community unit 231 group management unit 232 update unit 241 participation area determination unit 242 group selection unit 243 New participation determination means 244 Index information calculation means 245 Group determination means 411 Transmission means 421 Position information acquisition means 431 Determination means 441 Area information designation means 611 Group search request transmission means 612 Participable group information acquisition means 613 Transmission means 14 Position information transmission means 621 Position information acquisition means 631 Storage means 641 Presentation means 642 Display means 643 Display control means 651 Input means 652 Area information designation means 661 Community means 671 Group determination means A, A ′ Possible participation areas P, P ′ , Q, Q 'center point

Claims (48)

Based on the location information of the communication terminal, a participation area determination means for determining a participation area that is an area in which the communication terminal can participate in the group;
Based on at least the location information of the communication terminal, new participation deadline information indicating a time limit for participation in the group, and the area available for participation, a group that exists in the participation possible area and that is within the time limit for participation can be selected. A group selection means to select;
A management device comprising:   Transmitting means for transmitting to the communication terminal the participation area information that is information related to the participation area determined by the participation area determination means and the participation group information that is information related to the group selected by the group selection means. The management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The transmission means transmits, to the communication terminal, a group name, the number of display characters of which is controlled according to the distance from the communication terminal to the group, based on the group information that can be participated. The management device according to claim 2.   Of the groups that can participate in a communication terminal, group determination means for determining a group to which the communication terminal should participate according to a predetermined algorithm, and determined group information for transmitting information on the group determined by the group determination means to the communication terminal The management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission unit. Group management means for managing at least the new participation deadline information, the joinable area information, and participating member information regarding the participating members of the group for the group created when a group creation request is received from the communication terminal Including
The management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the group management unit registers the participating member information for the group determined by the group determination unit.   The management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising participation request acquisition means for acquiring a request for participation in the group. Group management means for managing at least the new participation deadline information, the joinable area information, and participating member information regarding the participating members of the group for a group created when a group creation request is received from a communication terminal;
New participation determination means for determining whether new participation in the group is possible based on the location information of the communication terminal included in the participation request acquired by the participation request acquisition means;
Further including
The management apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the group management unit manages, as the participation member information, information about members determined to be able to participate by the new participation determination unit. The group management means further manages attribute information of participating members,
The management device according to claim 5 or 7, wherein the group selection unit further selects a group based on attribute information of the participating members. The group management means further manages area information regarding the size of an area that can participate in the group,
The said participation possible area determination means further determines the said participation possible area based on the said area information, The Claim 1, The claim 7 or Claim 8 characterized by the above-mentioned. Management device.   The management apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising an update unit that updates information managed by the group management unit. The group management means further manages master information indicating a master who is an administrator of each group,
The management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, when a master of a group is changed, the update unit changes master information about the group.   12. The participation area determination unit determines the participation area by using, as a central point, position information of a communication terminal that requests creation of a group. The management device described.   The participation possible area determination means does not use the position information of the communication terminal that requests the creation of the group as a central point, but uses the position shifted probabilistically or deterministically within a certain range as the central point. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the management device is determined.   It further includes climax index information calculating means for calculating climax index information indicating the climax degree of each group, and climax index information transmitting means for transmitting the climax index information calculated by the climax index information calculating means. The management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13.   The management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising community means for realizing a community using a communication terminal.   A search means for searching for a communication terminal that matches a search condition, including at least preference information related to a user preference of the communication terminal and a distance from the communication terminal that requests the creation of a group. The management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 15.   The management apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising condition update means for updating the search condition. The preference information has a hierarchical structure,
After the condition update unit fixes one of the distance and the hierarchy of the preference information and sequentially changes the other to perform the search by the search unit, the other is similarly changed in a state where the fixed one is changed. The management apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the search is performed by the search means by changing the order. The preference information has a hierarchical structure,
19. The condition update unit is configured to perform a search by the search unit by setting one of the preference information and the distance to a higher priority and sequentially changing the other. The management apparatus as described in. The preference information has a hierarchical structure,
The management apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the condition updating unit performs the search by fixing the distance and sequentially increasing the preference information hierarchy from the lowest layer.   The condition update means sets a distance corresponding to the target number of terminals with the same preference information based on the approximate curve created for the relationship between the distance and the number of terminals with the same preference information within the distance range, The management apparatus according to claim 17, wherein a search is performed by the search means.   The condition update means sets a distance using statistical information indicating how far the distance has been extended in order to reach a specified number of communication terminals having the same preference information, and performs a search by the search means. The management apparatus according to claim 17.   The condition update means calculates the area necessary to achieve the target number of communication terminals with the same preference information from the population density of the communication terminals with the same preference information, and seems to be able to achieve the target number based thereon 18. The management apparatus according to claim 17, wherein a simple distance is set and a search is performed by the search means.   It further includes option creation means for presenting search condition options corresponding to the size of the group to be created to the communication terminal that requests group creation, and the condition update means updates the search conditions according to the selected option. The management apparatus according to claim 17. The management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 24;
A communication terminal that performs group participation processing for participating in a group of communication terminals, in order to search for position information acquisition means for acquiring position information related to the position of the own terminal, and a group in which the user of the own terminal can participate A group search request transmitting unit that transmits a group search request including the position information acquired by the position information acquiring unit, and a joinable group information acquiring unit that acquires joinable group information relating to a group in which the user of the terminal can participate. A first communication terminal including :
Including location information acquisition means for acquiring location information relating to the position of the terminal itself, and transmission means for transmitting the location information acquired by the location information acquisition means and a group creation request to a device that manages the group. A second communication terminal for performing group creation processing for creating a group;
A group communication system. The first communication terminal is
Further comprising area information designating means for designating area information regarding the size of the area that can participate in the group;
The group communication system according to claim 25, wherein the group search request transmission unit further transmits the area information. The first communication terminal is
27. The group communication system according to claim 25 or 26, further comprising storage means for storing the participation group information acquired by the participation group information acquisition means. The joinable group information acquisition means acquires the swell index information indicating the swell degree of each group together with the joinable group information,
The first communication terminal is
The group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 27, further comprising presenting means for presenting the swell index information to the user of the terminal together with the group information that can participate. The first communication terminal is
Display means for displaying at least the group names that can participate based on the group information that can participate, and when displaying the group name by the display means, the number of display characters of the group name according to the distance from the own terminal to the group The group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 28, further comprising display control means for controlling. The first communication terminal is
Of the groups that can be participated indicated by the participation group information stored in the storage unit, the input unit for inputting information related to the participation desired group that the user desires to participate in, and the participation input by the input unit 30. The group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 29, further comprising transmission means for transmitting information on the desired group to an apparatus that manages the group . The first communication terminal is
Among the groups that can be participated indicated by the group participation information stored in the storage unit, a group determination unit that determines a group that the terminal should participate in according to a predetermined algorithm, and information on the group determined by the group determination unit 30. The group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 29, further comprising: transmission means for transmitting the message to a device that manages the group . The first communication terminal is
32. The apparatus according to claim 25, further comprising position information transmitting means for transmitting information related to the position of the own terminal to the device managing the group according to at least one of the moving distance of the own terminal and the passage of time. The group communication system according to any one of the above. The first communication terminal is
The group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 32, further comprising community means for realizing a community with the second communication terminal. The second communication terminal further includes area information specifying means for specifying area information regarding the size of an area that can participate in the group,
34. The transmission unit according to claim 25 , further comprising transmitting the size information designated by the size information designation unit to an apparatus that manages a group. Group communication system. The management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 24;
A first communication terminal that performs group participation processing for participating in a group of communication terminals;
Including location information acquisition means for acquiring location information relating to the position of the terminal itself, and transmission means for transmitting the location information acquired by the location information acquisition means and a group creation request to a device that manages the group. A second communication terminal for performing group creation processing for creating a group;
The first communication terminal used in a group communication system including:
A group for transmitting a group search request including the position information acquired by the position information acquiring unit in order to search for a group in which the user of the terminal can participate, and a position information acquiring unit for acquiring position information related to the position of the own terminal A communication terminal comprising: search request transmission means; and participation group information acquisition means for acquiring participation group information relating to groups in which the user of the terminal can participate. Further comprising area information designating means for designating area information regarding the size of the area that can participate in the group;
36. The communication terminal according to claim 35, wherein the group search request transmission unit further transmits the area information.   37. The communication terminal according to claim 35 or 36, further comprising storage means for storing the participation group information acquired by the participation group information acquisition means. The joinable group information acquisition means acquires the swell index information indicating the swell degree of each group together with the joinable group information,
The communication terminal according to any one of claims 35 to 37, further comprising a presentation unit that presents the climax index information to the user of the terminal together with the joinable group information.   Display means for displaying at least the group names that can participate based on the group information that can participate, and when displaying the group name by the display means, the number of display characters of the group name according to the distance from the own terminal to the group The communication terminal according to any one of claims 35 to 38, further comprising display control means for controlling.   Of the groups available for participation indicated by the group participation information stored in the storage unit, an input unit for inputting information related to a participation desired group that the user desires to participate in, and the participation input by the input unit 40. The communication terminal according to any one of claims 35 to 39, further comprising transmission means for transmitting information on the desired group to an apparatus that manages the group.   Among the groups that can be participated indicated by the group participation information stored in the storage unit, a group determination unit that determines a group that the terminal should participate in according to a predetermined algorithm, and information on the group determined by the group determination unit 40. The communication terminal according to any one of claims 35 to 39, further comprising transmission means for transmitting the message to a device that manages the group.   43. The apparatus according to claim 35, further comprising position information transmitting means for transmitting information related to the position of the own terminal to the device managing the group according to at least one of the movement distance of the own terminal and the passage of time. The communication terminal according to any one of the above. 43. The communication terminal according to any one of claims 35 to 42, further comprising community means for realizing a community with the second communication terminal. The management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 24;
The first communication terminal according to any one of claims 35 to 43;
A second communication terminal that performs a group creation process for creating a group of communication terminals;
The second communication terminal used in a group communication system including :
Position information acquisition means for acquiring position information relating to the position of the terminal itself; transmission means for transmitting the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means and a group creation request to a device managing a group; and the position information acquisition means A communication terminal comprising: a determination unit that determines the necessity of transmitting the position information acquired by the method to a device that manages the group. Further comprising area information designating means for designating area information regarding the size of the area that can participate in the group;
45. The communication terminal according to claim 44 , wherein the transmission unit further transmits the area information designated by the area information designation unit to a device managing a group. Based on the location information of the communication terminal, a participation area determination step for determining a participation area that is an area in which the communication terminal can participate in the group;
Based on at least the location information of the communication terminal, new participation deadline information indicating a time limit for participation in the group, and the area available for participation, a group that exists in the participation possible area and that is within the time limit for participation can be selected. A group selection step to select;
A group management method comprising: A method for controlling the first communication terminal, which is used in the group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 34, and performs group participation processing for participating in a group of communication terminals,
A position information acquisition step for acquiring position information relating to the position of the own terminal, and a group for transmitting a group search request including the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step in order to search for a group in which the user of the own terminal can participate A search request transmission step, a participation group information acquisition step for acquiring participation group information regarding a group in which the user of the terminal can participate, and a storage step for storing the participation group information acquired by the participation group information acquisition step A control method for a communication terminal. A method for controlling the second communication terminal, which is used in the group communication system according to any one of claims 25 to 34, and performs a group creation process for creating a group of communication terminals.
A position information acquisition step of acquiring position information related to the position of the terminal itself; a transmission step of transmitting the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step and the group creation request to a device managing a group; and the position information acquisition step And a determination step of determining the necessity of transmitting the position information acquired in step 1 to a device that manages the group.

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