JP5534060B2 - Search mediation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technique for searching a plurality of databases with different founders.

In recent years, it has been required to share information on logistics management and article location management across companies. As represented by ebXML (electronic business XML), basic information acquisition mechanisms, information sharing / exchange frameworks, and common items of information to be exchanged are being developed. Using this common information sharing / exchange framework, it is possible to start a smooth business operation by allowing existing or potential business partners to search a database that stores business information as needed. is there. On the other hand, a system for mediating data storage destinations has already been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

Disclosing information managed by the company has the advantage that new customers can be cultivated thereby. However, if the information is unconditionally disclosed, there is also a problem that it reveals the hand to the competitor. This is not only the contents of the information, but also the location of the database itself should be made known to potential customers, but it should be kept secret to inconvenient partners such as competitors in order to prevent industrial espionage and cracking interference. You will have inconsistent demands. Today, as standardized data sharing and exchange methods are becoming popular, the benefits of this are linked to a common foundation, and there is a potential opportunity for new, more advantageous business relationships that have never been met before. ing. However, it is still difficult to detect the presence and location even if it is shared as a base.

On the other hand, search engines have been widely used and contributed greatly as Internet shopping services for general consumers other than business-to-business transactions and services that inform or introduce extremely ordinary content services that do not involve business transactions. The UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration) method is also used in part for the purpose of announcing the supply of inter-company information XML Web services on the Internet. Anonymous search engine use is a convenient and desirable service form that allows the searcher to obtain the location of the information requested in one stop in a batch, but for that purpose providing a copy in advance on the assumption of anonymous access Due to the limitations due to the confidentiality of the business information described above, it is difficult for providers to accept from the viewpoint of information management. UDDI is only a means of announcing the content of the service provided. Whether the information content requested by the searcher actually exists under the service provider is determined by exchanging the service usage contract and communicating. After searching and after obtaining permission, it will be forced to take a great effort to find the validity only after searching.

By the way, in order to realize sharing of logistics management and article location management across companies, it is currently assumed that an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag is used. However, as an origin of the item tracking information, it takes some cost to attach the RFID tag to each item to be managed. Therefore, the supplier of goods or the provider of logistics management information presses the burden of attaching such an RFID tag on the article supplier / distribution management information provider side, and then attaches the tag to the benefit recipient of the logistics management system. There is a situation that the spread of the information sharing / exchange mechanism represented by ebXML is hindered by fear that the burden cost cannot be distributed and distributed.

JP 2006-146293 A

Therefore, the present invention provides a logistics management information provider, in particular, a tag issuer, who is an article supplier who bears the RFID tag pasting cost, to appropriately set the ID tag pasting cost from the benefit recipient of the logistics management system. It is an object to provide a search mediation system that can be collected.

The most basic first aspect of the first invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is:
A system that mediates search when searching a plurality of databases with different founders from a user terminal,
A request accepting means that accepts an externally defined request and causes each process according to the request;
First searcher information storage means for recording information required for searcher authentication processing;
An issuer information storage means for recording information necessary for the authentication process of the identifier issuer;
A monitoring identifier storage means for receiving an identifier issuance notification from an identifier issuance notifier and storing an identifier number of an identifier for which the number of usages should be counted;
Search request means for making a search request to each database based on the search request from the search requester terminal, and obtaining a result;
Monitoring identifier counting means for counting the number of identifiers for which the number of usages included in the search results obtained from each database is to be counted for each issuer of identifiers,
Search result providing means for providing the search result to the search requester terminal;
Content fee aggregation means for calculating the distribution amount to the identifier issuance notifier by calculating the distribution amount to the identifier issuance notifier based on the number of identifiers collected for each identifier issuance notifier,
Billing / distribution means for creating and recording the distribution amount calculated by the content fee aggregation means as a record associated with identification information of each identifier issuer ,
A search mediation system comprising:

The invention according to claim 2 is the second preferred aspect of the search mediation system according to the first aspect, wherein the system according to the first aspect comprises:
The monitoring identifier storage means examines the validity of the notification issuer of the issued issue notification, and only when it is recognized that the notification is from a registered issuer, the usage number is counted as the identifier number of the identifier to be counted. It is characterized by memorizing a number.

The monitoring identifier storage means inquires of a predetermined certification authority for identification information for identifying the issue notification person when checking the validity of the notification issuer of the received issue notification, and the inquiry result is stored in the issuer information storage means. More preferably , the determination is made by collating with the recorded contents .

A second invention for solving the problem is a software program that causes a computer to operate as the search mediation system according to the first invention.

According to the first invention of the present application, a search mediation system is mediated between a database set up by a searcher and an information provider, and an ID tag or the like is attached to a product and shipped from a manufacturer (identifier issuer). When an identifier information issuance notification is received and there is data having a corresponding identifier in the search results, a reward corresponding to the number of cases can be returned to the identifier issuer. The goods supplier who bears the cost etc. can recover the burden cost appropriately.
According to the second invention of the present application, the search mediation system according to the first invention of the present application can be realized by incorporating the program into a general-purpose server computer. According to the third invention of the present application, the identifier issuer can easily notify the search mediation system which is the first invention of the issue notification of the identifier in service. In addition to the manufacturer, the identifier issuer is also assumed to be a logistics company that prepares a plurality of commodities into a freight and affixes the freight ID tag.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of a search mediation system according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the 1st searcher information storage table 810 and the 2nd searcher information storage table 210. FIG. It is a figure which shows a granularity process rule table | surface. It is a figure which shows the hierarchical structure of the merchandise location which is one item of merchandise information. It is a figure which shows the class definition table memorize | stored in the provision condition memory | storage means. It is a figure which shows the class correspondence table classified by searcher category memorize | stored in the provision condition memory | storage means. It is a figure which shows an example of the information memorize | stored in the database 30a. It is a figure which shows a searcher-opener correspondence table. It is an example of the information provision unit price table set to the database 30a. This is a proportional relationship between the demand granularity of the searcher and the default granularity of the information provider. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a disclosed granularity determination process that is a function of the information granularity processing means 17. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a granularity negotiation process that is a function of the information granularity processing means 17; It is an outline | summary flowchart at the time of the search of 1st Embodiment. It is an outline flowchart at the time of registration processing of a 1st embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an identifier issuing system 40. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an identifier utilization system 50. It is a table of monitoring target identifiers. It is a whole block diagram of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a processing flow explanatory diagram of validity verification of identifier issue notification. It is an example of the issuer information table 820 which is registration information of an identifier issuer.

First Embodiment
(Outline) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a search mediation system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is a searcher terminal, 20 is a search mediation system, and 30a to 30c are independent database systems (hereinafter simply referred to as databases). Searcher terminal 10 and search mediation system 20 are connected by network 2. The search mediation system 20 and the databases 30 a to 30 c are connected to the network 3. The networks 2 and 3 may be the same. An identifier issuing system 40 and an identifier using system 50 are further connected to the network 3 (or network 2).

The searcher terminal 10 is a terminal device used by a user who performs a search, and is realized by a general-purpose computer that can access the search mediation system 20 via a network. The search mediation system 20 is a server computer having a function of searching a database on the network in response to a search request from the searcher terminal 10 and returning a search result to the searcher terminal 10. 81, second searcher information storage means 21, provision condition storage means 22, request reception means 23, search request means 24, information granularity processing means 17, search result provision means 26, content fee aggregation means 27, charging / distribution means 28 have.

The first searcher information storage unit 81 stores information necessary for authentication processing of a searcher who uses the search mediation system 20 in a storage area managed by the searcher information storage unit 81. The first searcher information storage unit 81 may include a return address of a search result by the search mediation system 20. The second searcher information storage unit 21 stores information related to the searcher necessary for performing the information granularity processing described in detail later in a storage area managed by the searcher information storage unit 21. The provision condition storage unit 22 stores the provision conditions of the databases 30a to 30c in a storage area managed by the provision conditions. The request receiving unit 23 receives various requests from the outside such as a search request from the searcher terminal 10 and a user registration request from the searcher and identifier issuer, and requests such as a search request to the database and recording of the identifier issuer information. It has a function to cause each processing according to. The search request unit 24 has a function of making a search request to the databases 30a to 30c in accordance with the search request received from the searcher terminal 10 and acquiring a search result for the request.

The issuer information storage means 82 stores information necessary for authenticating an identifier issuer that can send an identifier service notification, that is, a notification of an identifier number for which the number of usages should be counted, in a storage area managed by the issuer information storage unit 82. The monitoring identifier storage unit 18 receives an identifier issuance notification, checks the validity of the notification issuer with reference to the issuer information storage unit 82, and is instructed if it is a notification from a registered issuer. The identifier number is stored in a predetermined storage area as an identifier number (this is referred to as a monitoring identifier) for which the number of usages is to be counted. The monitoring identifier totaling unit 19 totals the number of monitoring identifier occurrences for each identifier issuer in one search process. The identifier issuer may set in the issuer information storage unit 82 a unit price per number of occurrences of the identifier that the notification notification is issued to the search mediation system 20. In this case, this unit price is applied when calculating the distribution amount to the identifier issuer.

The information granularity processing means 17 refers to the searcher information stored by the second searcher information storage means 21 and the provision conditions stored by the provision condition storage means 22, and among the search results acquired from the databases 30a to 30c, Only search results that can be disclosed to the searcher are extracted, or data is replaced to obtain search result data. The search result providing means 26 has a function of providing the search result data to the searcher terminal 10 that is the search request source.

The content fee aggregation means 27 has a function of calculating an information provision fee and a processing fee based on the granularity and number of cases of the provision information aggregated by the search result providing means 26, and calculating charging / distribution to the searcher and the database. doing. In addition, the distribution amount for each identifier issuer is calculated based on the number of occurrences of the monitoring identifier for each identifier issuer totalized by the monitoring identifier aggregation means 19. The billing / distribution means 28 retrieves a record of the amount charged for the search use fee to the searcher, a record of the distribution amount of the information provision fee to the databases 30a to 30c, and a record of the distribution amount for the contribution of the identifier issuer. It is created as a record associated with the identification information of the subscriber, information provider, and identifier issuer. This record is notified to the searcher by the method such as mailing or telecommunication method such as e-mail, and the database opener and the identifier issuer are notified of the distribution amount. (Dotted broken lines 4, 5, and 8 in FIG. 1 indicate this notification.)

The databases 30a to 30c are databases that are managed by different companies and permit access from the search mediation system 20. The databases are independent of each other and do not cooperate with each other unless the search mediating system 20 is used. In FIG. 1, the network 2 that connects the searcher terminal 10 and the search mediation system 20, and the network 3 that connects the search mediation system 20 and the databases 30a to 30c may be the same or different. The searcher terminal 10 can reach the databases 30a to 30c as potential communication paths, but the location as the communication destination is not known, and the searcher terminal 10 is known from the viewpoint of the databases 30a to 30c. Direct access is not allowed because there is no relationship. Since the databases 30a to 30c record important information managed by the company, only the search mediation system 20 is permitted to access. In this way, the searcher terminal 10 cannot directly access the databases 30a to 30c, and the search mediation system 20 is always mediated. Conversely, by using this mechanism, the searcher need not specify the location of the databases 30a to 30c. In practice, it is not necessary for the searcher to request and negotiate individually with the openers of the databases 30a to 30c to conclude an access permission contract.

The search mediation system 20 is connected to a network, and includes a control unit including a CPU and a main storage device, a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk, a communication control unit responsible for electrical and logical connection with an external network, and the like. This is realized by incorporating a dedicated program into the configured server computer. Also, a data storage area for information stored and managed by each of the first searcher information storage unit 81, the second searcher information storage unit 21, the provision condition storage unit 22, and the issuer information storage unit 82 Is secured in a mass storage device such as a hard disk. Here, the dedicated program is interpreted by the CPU and executed on the server computer, whereby the search request means 24, the first / second searcher information storage means, the monitoring identifier counting means 19, and the monitoring identifier storage means 18 A computer program that operates as information granularity processing means, search result providing means 26, content fee totaling means 27, billing / distribution means 28, provision condition storage means 22, and issuer information storage means 82.

When the Internet is adopted as a network connecting the searcher terminal 10 and the search mediation system 20, the search mediator system 10 has the function of an XML Web service server, so that the searcher terminal 10 has the XML Web service. Can be used to access the search mediation system 20. In order for the search mediation system 20 to have the function of an XML Web service server, for example, software called Apache axis (registered trademark) is incorporated in a computer that implements the search mediation system 20. For example, the request receiving means 23 is realized by the cooperation of the communication control unit, which is a part of the hardware of the server computer, and the function of the XML Web service server realized by Apache axis.

(Identifier issuing system)
Reference numeral 40 denotes an identifier issuing system. There is no duplication, depending on the application, issue number management means 41 for generating continuous identification numbers, issue management means 42 for creating and storing issue records, or registering them externally, and the identification numbers that have been issued are actually things. Is provided with an issuing device 43 that is integrated with the device. FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the identifier issuing system 40. In addition to the above means, issuer notification receiving means 45 for receiving a reward distribution accompanying the circulation of identifier usage records from the search mediation system 20 is also provided. The identifier issuing system 40 notifies the search mediation system 20 of the identification number issued (monitoring request), so that the identifier issuance is performed when the monitoring target identification number is included in the simultaneous search result by the search mediation system 20 thereafter. The founder of the system 40 (= identifier issuer) can receive a reward corresponding to the number of cases. A broken line 6 with an arrow in FIG. 1 indicates notification (monitoring request) of the identification number that has been issued.

The identifier issuance system 40 has a network communication function based on a predetermined communication protocol, and a computer in which a dedicated program for operating the computer as numbering management means 41, issue management means 42, and issuer notification reception means 45 is installed in the storage device. And a device that operates as the issuing device 43 under computer control.

The numbering management means 41 is given a unique identifier as a type, and in the case of the same type, a case such as a certain article or slip recognized by the same type identifier has no or no duplication and a serial number or An identification number that is not duplicated and has a missing number specified is issued, and the issued number is recorded in a storage device as data in a specified table format. It does not sense whether it is physically or electromagnetically integrated with the target object (this is called service). The issue management means 42 manages the service.

The issue management means 42 requests the issue number management means 41 to designate the type identifier of the target thing and issue an identifier to the individual thing, and also issues the identifier thus issued to the issue thing. It is a mechanism that gives instructions to physically or electromagnetically associate and report the completion. It also has a function for notifying other information systems that an identifier has been issued and that the identifier that has been issued is combined with a subject matter, that is, the commissioning. This function functions as a means for notifying and requesting the search mediation system 20 to monitor the exchange of the record that observed the identifier issued by the issue management means 42. In addition, the operation records to be notified may be held by themselves, or may not be prepared by themselves, and these records may be placed outside another external recording device, for example, the database 30b in FIG.

In response to an instruction from the issue management device 42, the issue device 43 writes the individual number A of the identifier issued by the number management device 41 to the physical identifier carrier 44, or machine-reads the individual number A of the identifier. A possible character or code is printed on the identifier carrier 44 so that the individual number is physically present and movement can be initiated. The types of physical carriers and writing methods include all those within the scope of automatic recognition technology. RFID that changes the internal memory state by electromagnetic induction and communicates the contents by wireless communication may be used. It can be printed as a one-dimensional or two-dimensional bar code on paper, or it can be printed as a readable character string for OCR acquisition or visual reading with the naked eye, and fixed to a specific physical method. Is not to be done. The issuing device 43 is realized by, for example, an RFID writer or a barcode printer. In order to integrate the physical carrier and the article that is the original object of the individual number, the issuing device 43 must also have a function of attaching the physical carrier to the article, if necessary. Accordingly, the issuing device 43 may include a device that physically fixes the identifier carrier to the article, such as a labeling machine (labeler). On the other hand, the individual number A is not only a physical thing such as an article such as a cargo or a handwritten or printed document. It is also put into service for electronic data held and communicated electromagnetically. In this case, the issuing device may be realized as a partial function of a normal computer device and an electronic document creation program operating on the computer device.

(Identifier usage system)
Reference numeral 50 denotes an identifier utilization system. An identifier reading device 51, an identifier use recording unit 52, and an identifier user notification receiving unit 53 are provided. FIG. 16 is a configuration block diagram of the identifier issuing system 50. The identifier utilization system 50 operates the identifier reading device 51 to obtain a work record accompanied with handling of articles and electronic data, and operates the identifier utilization recording means 52 to identify the identifier in a fixed format in a specific database, for example, 30a. Register usage records. A broken line 7 with an arrow in FIG. 1 indicates a registration request for the identifier use record.

The identifier utilization system 50 includes an identifier reader 51, a network communication function based on a predetermined communication protocol, an interface function for sending a control signal to the identifier reader 51 and receiving the read signal (read data), and a storage device. It can be configured and realized by a computer in which a dedicated program for operating the computer as the identifier use recording means 52 is installed in the storage device.

The identifier reading device 51 is a device for detecting the identifier it carries from the identifier carrier. As a physical form, this is a device that automatically recognizes an identifier converted into an optical signal including a radio wave signal and a character string, or a device that purely detects only an identifier from communication data of an electronic document. Or As a specific example, to obtain the individual number of the identifier, the RFID tag is read wirelessly using an RFID reader. Alternatively, a one-dimensional or two-dimensional symbol is read using a barcode reader. Alternatively, it is a device that reads a character string using an OCR camera. The identifier reading device 51 collects information by being directly related to the business handling the identifier for which the device is installed.

The identifier usage recording unit 52 receives a notification that the identifier A is detected from the identifier reading device 51, acquires background information of the identifier handling job associated with the identifier reading device 51, and the time and place of the job occurrence Integrating fact information such as, and creating identifier usage record information. The background information of the identifier handling work includes the installation location of the identifier utilization system 50 and the work contents (for example, the work at the place where the reading function of the identifier utilization system 50 is arranged, such as “arrival inspection”, “assembly process”, “shipment inspection”, etc. Information indicating information). The identifier usage recording means 52 registers the generated identifier usage recording information in a predetermined database (30a or the like) via a network.

(data structure)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of searcher information stored by the first searcher information storage unit 81 and the second searcher information storage unit 21. A person who wants to perform a search using this system must register information about the searcher himself as searcher information in advance. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, as searcher information, a searcher ID, a login password of the searcher, and public key data are stored in the first searcher information storage table 810 managed by the first searcher information storage unit 81. In the second searcher information storage table 210 managed by the second searcher information storage means 21, the searcher name, type of business, location, annual sales scale, searcher information disclosure condition, demand granularity, negotiation policy, arrival policy, and Other information is registered. Each searcher is issued a searcher ID for specifying the searcher, and is registered in the first searcher information storage table 810 and the second searcher information storage table 210 in association with the above information. The searcher information disclosure condition defines the conditions for disclosing the searcher information to the database opener. The searcher information disclosure conditions are set for each item of the searcher information and the settings according to the type of business of the opener. It is possible. In the item of demand granularity, the information granularity desired by the searcher is registered for each information item. The item of the negotiation policy is the price that the searcher offers to pay as a price to obtain finer granularity information when the disclosure granularity set by each database founder does not reach the demand granularity set by the searcher Pre-conditions for delivery are registered. This searcher information disclosure condition can set a plurality of contents for one searcher as long as no contradiction occurs. The reaching policy defines a negotiation end policy (how to make a compromise) when the searcher and the database opener do not agree on the granularity of the disclosed information.

In the search mediation system 20, the “granularity” of information obtained by searching each database according to the relationship between the searcher and the database founder can be controlled and provided to the searcher. That is, the information granularity processing means 17 has a granularity processing rule table determined by each database founder as shown in FIG. 3, and the value of each item recorded in the database is set according to the disclosed granularity level. It is converted into a value represented by roughness defined for each item and provided to the searcher. The disclosure granularity level of each item in the database at the time of a certain search request is determined according to a class correspondence table and a class definition table, which will be described later. As shown in FIG. 3, in the granularity processing rule table, for each item, the degree of accuracy with which information is provided in a maximum of seven levels from level A to level d is defined. In order to execute the granularity process, a conversion rule of “value” corresponding to the granularity level is determined for each DB item. This is because, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the expression vocabulary or conversion rule of “value” corresponding to each granularity level is hierarchically defined in advance from the coarsest level D to the finest level A. There is nothing else.

An example of information recorded in the database 30a is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, information of one record is recorded in the database 30 a according to items of recording time, product ID, product location, inventory quantity, purchase source (product supply source), and delivery destination. This one record usually corresponds to data when the reader reads the RFID tag once. Therefore, when the reader reads a plurality of tags at a time, a plurality of product IDs, which are recorded contents of the read tags, are recorded in the item of product ID. Further, in this case, the number of cases when the content fee aggregation means 27 calculates as the information provision fee is counted not as one case but as the number of product tags. The merchandise location is recorded in a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. The databases 30a to 30c are independent from each other, and the databases 30b and 30c may be different from the structures shown in FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure (used vocabulary and conversion rules when displaying at each granularity level) of the item “product location”. The item “product location” has four levels of granularity from level A to level D. For example, when the value of the item “product location” is displayed at level A, “storage area a”, “storage area b”, etc. Displayed by value. In level B, the value of the item “product location” is displayed as “building / facility a”, “building / facility b”, and the like. That is, a set of values (vocabulary) that can be taken at each granularity level is defined in advance. In addition, the value displayed in any one of “Storage Area A”, “Storage Area B”, and “Storage Area C” at Level A should be displayed at Level B with the granularity level raised by one layer. Converted to “building / facility a”. That is, “building / facility a” is a replacement vocabulary for “storage area a”, “storage area b”, and “storage area c”. The hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 4 shows what values of lower level values are replaced at higher levels, that is, conversion rules.

In order to reduce the information granularity, an operation load of data processing by the search mediation system 20 is required. Originally, in order to protect the confidentiality of information and economic value due to personal circumstances, each database should perform conversion processing on its own, and the search mediating system 20 is acting as a proxy for processing, and the cost for this granularity reduction processing It is reasonable that the database provider who provides the information bears the burden. For this reason, the granularity reduction processing cost is accumulated in the content fee aggregation means 27 for each vocabulary process or as a comprehensive process regardless of the number of processes or the number of processes indiscriminately. The information granularity reduction processing cost accumulated by the contents fee aggregation means as a periodic aggregation such as every time the search and response is completed or monthly etc. is also distributed to each database founder for the information providing consideration compensation accumulated by the same means It is sent to the billing / distribution means 28 in a form offset from the amount, and is recorded in association with the identification information of the information provider by the function of the means 28. By being settled by electronic or conventional commercial transaction means based on this record, each of the databases 30a-c can provide the information granularity for each item of information provided, the reduction processing cost, and the compensation as the sum of the number of items. Can receive distribution.

In the storage area managed by the provision condition storage unit 22, the class definition table, the class correspondence table for each searcher category, and the information provision unit price table are recorded for the provision conditions. In this embodiment, the provision conditions are determined by the class definition table and the class correspondence table for each searcher category. FIG. 5 shows an example of a class definition table, FIG. 6 shows an example of a class correspondence table for each searcher category, and FIG. 9 shows an example of an information provision unit price table. In the class definition table, the level of disclosure of each item of information held in the database is set for each class. A class is a set of disclosure granularity levels when the disclosure granularity level for each item in the database is defined for all items. In the example of FIG. 5, class 1, class 2,... May be considered as names given to various sets of such disclosure granularity levels. That is, a set of disclosure granularity levels is specified by class 1, class 2,. This class definition table allows the database founder to easily set the disclosure granularity level of each item without setting each item individually when setting how much information is disclosed. .

When these searchers using this mechanism and the database share a common data exchange format standard, the format of the original original record and the provided data after the conversion process may not match due to the information granularity processing. there is a possibility. Alternatively, the database may have data in a format different from the common format. In this case, the search result providing means 26 can also create data that has been changed to a format different from the notation format of the original record and provide it to the searcher.

In the example of FIG. 5, class 1 is the strictest, and the content becomes more gradual as the class number increases. Class 1 cannot disclose the existence of a database, nor can it disclose the type of business of the person who established the database. In the case of class 1, since the existence of the database cannot be disclosed, the items of information recorded in the database cannot be disclosed. Class 2 can disclose the existence of a database, but cannot disclose the type of business of the founder, and the inventory quantity and product location are disclosed at level D. As for levels, level A provides the most detailed information, and as levels B, C, and D, rough information is provided. Accordingly, Class 2 provides information in a very vague manner with respect to both the number of stocks and the location of goods. From Class 3 onwards, both the existence of the database and the type of business of the founder can be made public, and each item will be disclosed at a more detailed level as the class number increases with regard to inventory quantity and product location. I understand that.

Furthermore, information provision unit prices corresponding to the granularity are set for these items. In general, the content of information items provided at a finer granularity is more useful in terms of accuracy and precision of information, and has a higher economic value as a business secret. The price can be set higher than the price, but a flat price can be arbitrarily set according to the intention of the provider. FIG. 9 is an example of the information provision unit price table of the database 30a. For example, the item: product ID is set at 100 yen per case when provided at level A (recorded contents as it is), but is set at 10 yen per item when received at level c (product classification). ing.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a class correspondence table by searcher category. The searcher category is a category for identifying a searcher determined by the database operator for the convenience of the database operator. The searcher category is usually determined by multiplying a category arbitrarily defined by the database founder based on the searcher attribute information registered as searcher information, with two combinations of whether the searcher is an identity disclosure searcher or not. . “Identity” in an identity non-disclosure searcher or an identity disclosure searcher means information sufficient to specify the searcher, and in this embodiment is a searcher name. The class correspondence table for each searcher category shown in FIG. 6 is for one database, and the same one is set for each database. The setting of the class can be arbitrarily set by the founder, but normally, as shown in FIG. 6, it is strict for non-disclosure searchers. It is also possible to specify a searcher name directly as a category and set a class.

By determining the category, the disclosure granularity class for each item that is a combination of the disclosure restrictions in FIG. 5 is determined. However, the disclosure granularity class set by the category class determined by the provider side according to FIG. 6 based on the searcher category is the demand granularity recorded in the second searcher information storage means 21 shown in FIG. A situation that does not satisfy the information granularity for each item that the searcher desires normally occurs. The search result providing means 26 has a function of negotiating with the information provider side in order to obtain disclosure at a finer granularity based on the demand granularity, negotiation policy, and arrival policy set by the searcher in such a case. I have. This will be described in detail when the processing operation of the system is described.

FIG. 17 shows a table of monitoring target identifiers. This is because when the search mediation system 20 is requested to monitor the exchange of the record observed by the identifier issued by the identifier issuance system 40 (the issue management unit 42), the search management system 42 uses the search mediation system. 20 is a table of monitoring target identifiers notified to (registered request) 20 and registered in a storage area managed by the monitoring identifier storage unit 18 of the search mediation system 20. One line in FIG. 17, that is, (identifier / individual number, issue date / time, issue location ID) corresponds to the content of one identifier issue notification that is issued by the issue management means 42 to the search mediation system 20. The identifier / solid number is a number newly put into service by the issuing device 43. The identifier / individual number is composed of three parts (manufacturer code), (product type code), and (individual number), and is displayed as 36987-12364-956814 by connecting with a hyphen. The upper digits of (Manufacturer code)-(Product code) can be made to match the current JAN code. The issue date and time is data representing the date and time when the issue device 43 newly fixes the number to the article. The issue location is information for specifying the location where the identifier issuing system 40 exists.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining an example of identifier issuer registration information recorded in the issuer information table 820 managed by the issuer information storage means 82. The name of the identifier issuer, the JAN company code or JIPDEC standard company code authorized by the issuer of the international code (eg GS1), the address of the identifier issuer, contact information, PKI public key number, etc. Including. These pieces of information are associated with an issuer ID, which is a user ID on the system provided by the search mediation system 20 to the identifier issuer, to obtain registration information of one identifier issuer. When notifying the identifier number that the identifier issuer has newly put in service, the issuer ID (or issuer name) is added to the identifier number and notified to the search mediation system 20.

(Processing operation)
Next, the processing operation of the system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, as a preparation stage, the search mediation system 20 accepts and registers various setting information from an identifier issuer, a searcher, and an information provider (database creator). FIG. 14 is a schematic flowchart at the time of registration processing of the present invention. The searcher and the information provider set necessary information in the search mediation system 20, respectively. The searcher registers the searcher name, type of business, location, searcher condition disclosure information, demand granularity, etc., which are information necessary for registration as a searcher. These are registered in the first searcher information storage table 810 and the second searcher information storage table 210 (S20). The information provider registers the provision conditions of the database in addition to the information necessary for registration as the information provider (S30).
The identifier issuer performs a registration procedure as an identifier issuer (S10). Further, the identifier number newly in service is notified to the search mediation system 20 through the identifier issuing system 40 as needed (S12). The notified identifier number is registered in the provision condition storage means 22 in the format as shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for schematically explaining the search operation of the search mediation system 20. The subsequent operation flow will be described with reference to FIG. A user registered as a searcher in the search mediation system 20 accesses the search mediation system 20 from the searcher terminal 10 and transmits a search request (FIG. 13, S22). At this time, when the request receiving means 23 checks the request contents and confirms that the request is a search request, the request receiving means 23 refers to the contents registered by the first searcher information storage means 81 to authenticate the searcher, and is registered in advance. Identify which searcher you are. This may be performed, for example, by registering a password in the first searcher information storage table 810 and requesting the searcher ID and password from the accessing user. In order to more reliably identify the searcher and protect the communication, the sender certificate obtained by encrypting the hash value of the search expression document transmitted by the searcher with the secret key issued to the searcher terminal 10 is sent in advance. It is also possible to decrypt with the paired public key and collate with a value obtained by the same hash method as that at the time of transmission from the sent search expression. At the same time, the search formula text is also encrypted and transmitted with the public key issued by the search mediation system 20, and decrypted with the received secret key of the search mediation system 20, so that communication on the network can be protected. As a result, the identity of the searcher self-reported is identified as the registered original user.

When the searcher ID is specified, the request reception unit 23 leaves the subsequent processing to the search request unit 24. The search request means 24 refers to the second searcher information storage table 210 with the searcher ID and acquires the searcher attribute information. Here, the business type and searcher information disclosure conditions are acquired as attribute information. Subsequently, the searcher category-specific class setting table (FIG. 6) and the class definition table (FIG. 5), which are the tables recorded by the provision condition storage means 22 with the acquired attribute information, are referenced and disclosed to the searcher. Get possible database addresses. For example, in the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, for the industry non-disclosure searcher, since it corresponds to the class 1, the existence of the database cannot be disclosed, and therefore no address is acquired. In the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, in other cases, the database address is acquired. In this way, the search request unit 24 acquires the address of the database that can be disclosed to the accepted searcher.

Subsequently, the search request unit 24 requests the search for all databases from which addresses have been acquired so as to search the contents according to the search request received from the searcher terminal 10 (FIG. 13, S710). Therefore, when the searcher's attribute does not meet the provision condition of the database (that is, when the searcher cannot make it public), the address for the database is not acquired, and thus the search request is not made. As a result, useless search processing and invalid traffic on the way are suppressed in advance in order to obtain a search result that is determined in advance to be invalidated and discarded in the search mediation system 20. When all the addresses of the databases 30a to 30c have been acquired, a search request is transmitted to the database 30a, the database 30b, and the database 30c.

If the data sharing / exchange method is standardized and all of the databases 30a to 30c requested to be searched conform to this, each database 30a to 30c is searched with the same content in this common format. Is requested. On the other hand, for a database that does not conform to this standard method, it is entrusted after converting it to a communication procedure and search expression format that can be communicated with the database. For this, use a conversion comparison table designed by acquiring the specifications of the database in advance, or apply transformation rules based on XSLT (XML Stylesheet Language Transformations).

In each of the databases 30a to 30c, when a search request is received, the search request is received after authenticating that the request is from the search mediation system 20 (S32 in FIG. 13). Then, each database searches its own database according to the received request contents, and obtains a search result. If a search result is obtained, each database 30a-30c will each transmit a search result to the search mediation system 20 (FIG. 13, S34). The search result returned at this time may include confidential business information that needs to be restricted from being disclosed depending on the searcher. It is possible to realize the process of recognizing the actual searcher in the reply and omitting the contents to be concealed by referring to the business relationship on the side of the answering databases 30a to 30c. The database system developed for in-house use needs to be modified to provide an unexpected external information management function, and the information management processing load causes pressure on the original application. May occur or you may be forced to increase your capacity in anticipation of it. In the present invention, since the search mediation system 20 performs public content extraction based on the provision conditions, it is not necessary to bear this confidential processing load on the databases 30a to 30c side.

In the search mediation system 20, the search request unit 24 acquires the search results transmitted from the databases 30a to 30c (S720 in FIG. 13). At this time, if there is a communication procedure and response format that deviates from the standard in the database to be answered, the search results are obtained with the corresponding response means, and the search formula conversion is performed from the standard inconsistent format. By applying conversion means based on the specifications acquired in advance in the same way as when performing the pre-processing, the same disclosure provision as the following other answers is provided by pre-converting the response to the equivalent of other standard methods Possible information can be extracted.

The search results returned from all the databases 30a to 30c requested to be searched can be logically considered as a group of search results for one search request. Therefore, this is referred to as “aggregated search result (for one search request)”. Since the aggregated search result is a collection of raw data searched and extracted from each database, the identifier information is specified up to the individual number. (As will be described later, each search result returned from each database is assigned a search identifier, and the search results that share this constitute one aggregated search result. ”Does not necessarily mean that the search results obtained from each database are physically aggregated.)

The monitoring identifier totaling unit 19 refers to the monitoring target identifier table shown in FIG. 17 and acquires all the monitoring target identifiers. Then, from the aggregated search results, the number of items corresponding to the monitoring target identifier is totaled for each identifier issuer. Since this aggregation process can be easily realized by a computer program as a common calculation process, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. This result is temporarily recorded in a predetermined storage area of the search mediation server 20 as data related to the search number for specifying the search request by the searcher (FIG. 13, S725).

Next, the granularity negotiation process (FIG. 13, S730) between the searcher and each information provider will be described. The information granularity processing means 17 includes searcher information stored by the second searcher information storage means 21, provision conditions stored by the provision condition storage means 22, that is, a class setting table (FIG. 6) for each searcher category, The search result to be provided is extracted with reference to the class definition table (FIG. 5). For example, when the searcher ID of this search is A001, the information granularity processing means 17 refers to the second searcher information storage means 21 and “industrial industry“ drug store chain ”and the searcher information disclosure condition“ pharmaceutical industry ” "Only business type is disclosed." Then, the information granularity processing means 17 refers to the provision conditions, that is, the class setting table by searcher category (FIG. 6) and the class definition table (FIG. 5) with the acquired information.

Here, the process for the database 30a will be described. Since the searcher A001 is “disclosure of only the business type to the pharmaceutical industry”, the information granularity processing means 17 confirms the business type of the founder of the database 30a. Assuming that the founder of the database 30a is the pharmaceutical industry, the searcher information of the searcher A001 is “disclose only industry” for the database 30a. Then, the information granularity processing means 17 refers to the class correspondence table by searcher category (FIG. 6) for the non-identity searcher and the industry “drug store chain”, and acquires “class 4”. Furthermore, with reference to the class definition table (FIG. 5) with this “class 4”, “publicly available” in the presence of the database, “publicly available” in the establishment industry, product location “level C”, inventory quantity “level C”, The product ID “level B” is acquired.

On the other hand, when the granularity level of the provided information requested by the searcher A001 is obtained from the item of demand granularity in the second searcher information storage table 210, for example, the product location “level D”, the inventory quantity “level B”, the product ID It is assumed that it is “level A”. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to provide information on the product location at a disclosure granularity level higher than that requested by the searcher. However, the information provider standardizes the inventory quantity and product ID. The disclosure granularity level to be set does not satisfy the disclosure granularity level requested by the searcher. Depending on the difference between the information provider and the searcher, such a trap may occur, but in such a case, the granularity negotiation processing function in the information granularity processing means 17 functions.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the disclosed granularity determination process, which is the operation of the information granularity processing means 17. The operation so far will be described with reference to FIG. First, the searcher's disclosure conditions are read with reference to the second searcher information storage means 21, and from the searcher category-specific class correspondence table and class definition table set by the information provider, the default disclosure for each item for the searcher The particle size is determined (S100). On the other hand, referring to the item of demand granularity of the searcher in the second searcher information storage table 210, the granularity level for each core item desired by the searcher is specified (S102). Both are put together and compared (S104). When the default disclosure granularity satisfies the searcher's demand granularity level in all items, the default disclosure granularity level and the information unit price are applied (S106). In contrast, in the previous example, a table as shown in FIG. 10 is obtained. According to this table, the merchandise location satisfies the demand granularity, but the items of inventory quantity and merchandise ID do not satisfy the demand granularity. Accordingly, the granularity negotiation process operates (S200). As a result, the granularity level determined by the granularity negotiation processing result and the information unit price are applied (S106).

Next, the granularity negotiation process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Hereinafter, as in the previous example, the searcher A001 and the database will be described as 30a. First, the searcher's negotiation policy is temporarily stored with reference to the item of the searcher's “negotiation policy” in the second searcher information storage table 210 (S201). Next, the allowable maximum amount is added to the price of the determination disclosure granularity of the item in accordance with the negotiation policy (S203). In the case of the searcher A001, “20% addition” is set, so a price that is 20% higher than the information unit price of inventory quantity: C level is set. It is determined whether or not this price (a presentation price with an allowable maximum amount added or a presentation price) satisfies the unit price at the demand granularity of the item (the same amount or more) (S203). If satisfied (Yes in S205), the information is received at the demand granularity for the item, and the unit price at the disclosed granularity level is applied (S207). Here, as the contents (item values) of the negotiation policy, “addition of 20% unit price”, “acceptance of high-level granularity up to two levels”, “addition of 20 yen unit price”, and the like can be set.

On the other hand, if the unit price at the demand granularity of the item cannot be satisfied even with the suggested price (No in S205), the arrival policy of the searcher in the second searcher information storage table 210 is referred (S211). ). Reach policy is “Best”, “Unchangeable when not reached”, “Withdraw search when not reached”
One of them can be set. When the arrival policy is “best” (Yes in S213), the best granularity (the finest granularity) obtained within the offered price is set as the applicable disclosure granularity and unit price of the item (S215), and the process proceeds to S223. When the arrival policy is “not changed when not reached” (No in S213), the default granularity is set as the applicable disclosure granularity and unit price of the item (S215), and the process proceeds to S223. If the arrival policy is “withdraw search when not reached”, the search is canceled (S219), and the granularity negotiation process is immediately terminated.

When the granularity and unit price for the item have been determined, it is checked whether the granularity negotiation has been completed for all necessary items (S223), and if there are any remaining items, the process returns to S203 to perform the granularity negotiation for the next item. repeat.
In this way, the information granularity processing means 17 automatically combines the searcher information stored in the second searcher information storage table 210 with the information provider conditions stored in the provision condition storage means 22. It is possible to negotiate the granularity of provided information and the provided cost. (However, if the search is withdrawn during the granularity negotiation, information acquisition from the database is cancelled.)

As a result, if it is information relating to the merchandise location, “inclusion in establishment” of the default disclosure granularity level C set by the founder of the database 30a for the searcher A001 is applied. Along with this, FIG. 4 describes the facility belonging relationship of the establishment to which the database founder that the database 30a itself supplies each time in response to an inquiry from the search mediation system 20 is notified to the search mediation system 20 in advance. By referring to the business unit composition master data with the structure shown, the attribution from the acquired product location information to the level of “included in the company (major representative) business” as the stage semantic attribute assigned to this level of attribution. By moving forward, it is possible to obtain location notation content suitable for the specified information granularity to be answered to the searcher, and by extracting this as an answer to the searcher, the actual search result is inherent It is possible to comply with the disclosure range designated by the founder of the database 30a which is different from the definition of the merchandise location. Further, the result of the granularity negotiation process is applied to the inventory quantity and the product ID. In other words, not only the convenience of the information provider but also the information provided in a form that reflects the searcher's needs to a certain extent, or the information provider / searcher's mutual information disclosure / acquisition policy is compromised And information can be acquired.

Similarly, the searcher obtains information of a level corresponding to his / her searcher information and the provision conditions of the database from other databases.

The determination of information to be disclosed will be described again. For example, consider the case where the type of business of the database 30a is the pharmaceutical industry. When the searcher A003 searches the database 30a, as shown in FIG. 2, the searcher information disclosure condition is “disclosure to retail and pharmaceutical industry”. Therefore, the searcher information of the searcher A003 is stored in the database 30a. Will be disclosed. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, since the searcher A003 is a wholesaler, it is determined as class 6 with reference to the information disclosure searcher and wholesaler in the searcher category class correspondence table of FIG. . On the other hand, when the searcher A001 searches the database 30a, as shown in FIG. 2, the searcher information disclosure condition is “disclose only the business type to the pharmaceutical industry”. In this case, since the founder of the database 30a is the pharmaceutical industry, only the business type is disclosed. Then, in the class correspondence table by searcher category in FIG. 6, it is determined as class 4 by referring to the identity non-disclosure searcher and the drug store chain. In the case of class 4, the product location is level D, the inventory quantity is level C, and the product ID is level B from the class definition table shown in FIG. Since the product location is level D, only the company name is disclosed. Since the stock quantity is level C, only the number of digits is disclosed. Since the product ID is level B, the product type code is disclosed. In this way, even if the searcher has disclosed only the type of business, that is, when limited attribute disclosure that falls between anonymous and real names is performed, an appropriate public information extraction range is set and surely Can be implemented.

The processing step of S730 in FIG. 13 has been described in detail above. In this way, the information to be disclosed is determined and the search result is provided. From the searcher information disclosure conditions in the searcher information stored in the second searcher information storage table 210, the information is shown in advance. A searcher-opener correspondence table for each opener as shown in FIG. 8 may be created. By storing the searcher-opener correspondence table as shown in FIG. 8 in a predetermined storage area, the search intermediary system 20 refers to the searcher-opener correspondence table after specifying the searcher ID. In addition, the database to be requested for search can be immediately identified, and when the content to be answered to the searcher is specified from the returned search result, the table corresponding to the class by searcher category shown in FIG. 6 is referred to. Can be performed at high speed.

Further, in the description so far, the search request means 24 does not perform a useless search before issuing a search request to each database, so that searcher information and provision conditions, that is, a class setting table for each searcher category are used. (FIG. 6) and the class definition table (FIG. 5) are checked in advance for the database of the private setting for the searcher, but the search request means 24 does not perform such processing. A process flow may be such that a search request is issued to all databases and all search results are received once. This is because the searcher information and the provision conditions are also referred to when information granularity processing is performed on the search results, and the search results from the non-public database can be discarded at that time.

(Summary of Embodiment 1)
In practice, when the search mediation system 20 selects an information provider that can accept the search request of the searcher and makes a search request to all of them in S710 of FIG. In addition, a search identifier including a unique search expression reception number is generated for each search request from the searcher (more precisely, for each search expression included in the search request). Then, the data that associates the search identifier with the address of the searcher terminal 10 or the searcher ID is created and held in the storage area that manages the search identifier managed by the searcher request means 24, and the information provider A search request is made with this search identifier. The information provider side receives the search formula (S32), searches the database, adds the search identifier to the result, and returns it to the search mediation system 20 (S34). The search mediation system 20 can later receive search results provided from all information providers who have requested the search, and can aggregate the search identifiers having the same search identifier without confusion. A search result aggregated from the searcher terminal 10 address or searcher ID associated with the search identifier can be provided to the search request source. However, normally, since a search identifier is attached to the search request source and the result is returned, it is not always necessary to collect the search result data as one data and return it. In other words, the search mediation system 20 may be a system that provides search results from each database to the search request source in a timely manner.

As a result of the granularity negotiation (S730 in FIG. 13), the basic value of the distribution amount to the information provider is determined. Further, the number of monitoring target identifiers for each identifier issuer for the aggregated search results of one search recorded in S725 is referred to, and for example, the unit price specified by the identifier issuer is referred to. The distribution amount for each identifier issuer is calculated. The total sum of the distribution amount and the total distribution amount to each information provider determined by the basic value of the distribution amount to the information provider is calculated as a burden on the searcher (FIG. 13, S750). Data provision to the searcher, billing and billing notification, distribution notification to the information provider and identifier issuer are performed (S760). The searcher receives a billing notice (S24). The information provider receives a distribution notice (S36).

<< Embodiment 2 >>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, the information granularity conversion processing of search data obtained from each database performed mainly by the information granularity processing means 17 from the search mediation system 20 of the first embodiment is omitted. FIG. 18 is a functional block configuration diagram of the search mediation system 20a according to the second embodiment. The search mediation system 20 according to the first embodiment is configured by excluding the second searcher information storage unit 21, the provision condition storage unit 22, and the information granularity processing unit 17. The configuration other than these is exactly the same as the search mediation system 20 according to the first embodiment.

The processing operation of the search mediation system 20a is different from the search mediation system 20 as follows. First of all, in S20 of FIG. 14, the searcher requests registration of only the information recorded in the first searcher information. Further, in the step of S30 in the figure, the information provider only needs to request registration for information necessary for registration as its own information provider, and it is not necessary to register the provision conditions of the database. Then, the search result providing means 26 aggregates response data having the same search identifier, forms search result data, and transmits it to the searcher terminal 10. The processing operation of the search mediation system 20a according to the second embodiment has a form in which step S730 in FIG. 13 is omitted.

Even in a search mediation system that does not involve information granularity conversion processing, step S725 is executed. For each identifier issuer, check the number of occurrences of the monitoring target identifier from the search results aggregated from the data returned by each database in response to one search request requested by the searcher. The data is temporarily recorded in a predetermined storage area of the search mediation server 20 as data related to the search number for specifying the request. This functions as a mechanism for distributing a part of the search fee borne by the search requester who is the beneficiary to the identifier issuer, so there is data with the identifier issued by the identifier issuer in the search results. In this case, a reward corresponding to the number of cases can be returned to the identifier issuer, and the problem of the present application that the article supplier who bears the RFID tag attaching cost and the like can properly recover the burden cost can be solved.

(Use of public key cryptosystem PKI)
Search mediation system 20, identifier issuance system 40, database 30a, such as notification of in-service identifier numbers transmitted from identifier issuance system 40 to search mediation system 20, search request for database sent by search mediation system 20 to database 30a, etc. , 30b..., 30b... Need to be established with a secure communication channel that is free from spoofing of the caller and tampering of communication contents. For this reason, it is desirable that the search mediating system 20, the identifier issuing system 40, the databases 30a, 30b,... Actually use a public key cryptographic infrastructure PKI and incorporate a security communication mechanism compliant with this. Not to say.

In particular, in the case of this application, someone registers as an identifier issuer by impersonating an identifier issuer or by attempting to collect compensation for an identifier held by a third party who does not have administrative authority. There should be no such thing as unfair acquisition. FIG. 19 is a diagram for particularly explaining the processing flow of the validity verification when the search mediation system 20 receives the identifier issuance notification. A desirable security measure from the above viewpoint will be described with reference to FIG.

As described above, the identifier issuer provides the search mediation system 20 with registration information (issuer name, company code (JAN code) given by the international code numbering authority, EDI ordering) as its identifier issuer. A company code (JIPDEC code), address, public key data, etc.) is transmitted (S10), and its contents are registered in the storage area managed by the issuer information storage means 82 of the search mediation system 20 with the contents as shown in FIG. (S501). Next, the identifier issuer transmits the newly commissioned identifier number as an identifier issuance notification to the search mediation system 20 (S12). The search mediation system extracts the company code portion from the identifier number, and inquires this to GEPIR (global code information providing service, which is an online service provided by the international code issuing authority GS1) (S502). You can now get this inquiry service on the Internet. Then, GEPIR returns the registration information (company name, address, etc.) of the company with respect to the company code. Therefore, the search intermediary system 20 refers to the issuer information storage means 82 and searches for the record of the registered issuer that matches the company code part that is part of the identifier number included in the identifier issue notification. The name and other registered information are collated with the information obtained from the previous GEPIR (S503). As a result, if there is no difference between the two, it is determined that the identifier issuance notification is valid, and the identifier number is recorded in the table configured in the storage area managed by the monitoring identifier storage means 18 (S504). If there is a difference between the two, it responds that it refuses to receive the identifier issuance notification.

By always performing this validity verification step, it is meaningless to notify the identifier number of another person as long as the identifier issuer information is correctly recorded.
Steps S10 and S501 may be performed not by online processing, but by a method such as sending application documents if necessary. This is because it is necessary to strictly check whether the JAN code and JIPDEC code declared by the company are really the company numbers.
In each step of FIG. 19, request transmission between the identifier issuer and the search mediation system 20, and between the search mediation system 20 and GEPIR, and the reply to the request are performed in accordance with the public key encryption infrastructure PKI Needless to say, it should be exchanged as a cipher message with an electronic certificate using a public key private key issued by.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Searcher terminal 17 ... Information granularity processing means 20 ... Search mediation system 20a ... Search mediation system 21 ... 2nd searcher information storage means 22 ... Provision condition storage means 23- ..Request accepting means 24 ... Search request means 26 ... Search result providing means 27 ... Content fee summing means 28 ... Billing / distribution means 30a-30c ... Database 40 ... Identifier issuing system 44 ... identifier carrier 50 ... identifier use system 81 ... second searcher information storage means 82 ... issuer information storage means

Claims (4)

A system that mediates search when searching a plurality of databases with different founders from a user terminal,
A request accepting means that accepts an externally defined request and causes each process according to the request;
First searcher information storage means for recording information required for searcher authentication processing;
An issuer information storage means for recording information necessary for the authentication process of the identifier issuer;
A monitoring identifier storage means for receiving an identifier issuance notification from an identifier issuance notifier and storing an identifier number of an identifier for which the number of usages should be counted;
Search request means for making a search request to each database based on the search request from the search requester terminal, and obtaining a result;
Monitoring identifier counting means for counting the number of identifiers for which the number of usages included in the search results obtained from each database is to be counted for each issuer of identifiers,
Search result providing means for providing the search result to the search requester terminal;
Content fee aggregation means for calculating the distribution amount to the identifier issuance notifier by calculating the distribution amount to the identifier issuance notifier based on the number of identifiers collected for each identifier issuance notifier,
Billing / distribution means for creating and recording the distribution amount calculated by the content fee aggregation means as a record associated with identification information of each identifier issuer,
A search mediation system comprising: The system for mediating search according to claim 1,
The monitoring identifier storage means examines the validity of the notification issuer of the issued issue notification, and only when it is recognized that the notification is from a registered issuer, the usage number is counted as the identifier number of the identifier to be counted. A search mediating system characterized by storing a number. The monitoring identifier storage means inquires of a predetermined certification authority for identification information for identifying the issue notification person when checking the validity of the notification issuer of the received issue notification, and the inquiry result is stored in the issuer information storage means. 3. The search mediation system according to claim 2, wherein the determination is performed by collating with recorded contents. A software program for causing a computer to function as the search mediation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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