JP6854997B2 - Network communication system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a network communication system, and more particularly to a network communication system to which a large number of terminal devices having a communication function can be connected.

With the development of communication technology, the development of network environments is accelerating, and the spread of portable terminal devices is remarkable. Mobile terminals that people wear and carry, such as smartphones and mobile phones, in-vehicle terminals such as car navigation systems, and POS terminals and handy devices that have data collection functions used for inventory management and shipping management. There are a wide variety of terminal devices that can be connected to the network, such as terminals, home appliances with communication functions, and wearable terminals such as glasses and watches, and are used in various scenes these days.

Furthermore, a huge collection of information called big data has come to be widely used not only for business activities but also for personal daily life via communication networks.

Under such an environment, a server for providing information and services to the above-mentioned terminal device (client terminal) via a communication network is widely used. Servers are used in various ways, such as Web servers, mail servers, file servers, database servers, security servers, etc., depending on their functions and uses, but all of their basic functions are the collection, storage, and provision of information. It has three elements in common.

The network communication system including the above-mentioned server and terminal device is bidirectional so that the answer to the request from the terminal (client) side can be provided from the server to each terminal via the network communication line. A transmission / reception method is adopted, and it is constructed so that many terminals can transmit / receive to one main server. In addition, a system in which a relay server is interposed between a main server and a mobile terminal to make a relay connection has also been generalized.

Here, in a system that connects a server and a terminal via a communication network, communication traffic countermeasures and ensuring information security are often regarded as problems. In particular, it is customary to store highly confidential corporate information and information that would be a problem if lost due to a disaster, etc., on a backup server separate from the main server.

Here, when saving a large amount of information stored in the main server to the backup server, it is necessary to be careful not to put a load on the network line as much as possible. As this load reduction method, for example, a server distribution technique as described in Patent Document 1 is known. In other words, it attempts to avoid communication traffic problems by distributing multiple servers in geographically different regions, dividing the information to be backed up, and individually transferring it to each of these distributed servers. Is.

On the other hand, regarding terminal devices, not only the function of receiving information sent from the server and displaying and playing it back as images and sounds, but conversely, the information acquired on the terminal side is sent to the server as image data and voice data. Many have the function of transmitting. The information acquired on the terminal side includes information input by the terminal user, information collected using the camera function and microphone function built into the terminal, and various sensor functions such as GPS and vibration. It can be defined as all the information that can be sent from the terminal to the network.

There are roughly two methods for transmitting the information acquired by the terminal to the main server. One is a method in which the terminal itself transmits information to the main server via the network (terminal-led transmission) each time information is acquired or at a time determined in advance by a timer. The other is a method of transmitting the information stored in the terminal to the main server in response to an instruction from the main server (server-led transmission).

However, in either method, the terminal device plays only the role of simply transmitting the acquired information to the main server, so that when the amount of information to be transmitted and received increases, the work is concentrated on the main server. is there. In order to solve this problem, a technique for incorporating a server function in a terminal as in Patent Document 2 has also been proposed. Here, an example of constructing an attendance management system by incorporating a server in a mobile phone is disclosed. Specifically, a mobile phone with a server function is installed in each branch, the attendance information of each employee working at the branch is collected by this mobile phone, and the collected attendance data is collectively transmitted to the main server. .. At that time, the aim is to reduce the load on the main server by performing personal authentication of employees not on the main server but on the server built into the mobile phone.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-431142 JP-A-2007-26086

By the way, in the information-oriented society, it is clear that the cost (infrastructure cost) required for constructing a network communication system accompanied by server operation increases as the amount of information transmitted and received via the network increases. As described above, when the server distribution technology is used to ensure the security of information, it is necessary to secure a place for installing the distributed server and its maintenance cost as many as the number of servers. Furthermore, even if a terminal with a built-in server is used in order to avoid concentration of processing on the main server, the cost of preparing the terminal is unavoidable. As the amount of information handled increases, so does the cost of infrastructure.

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to realize a network communication system capable of ensuring communication traffic countermeasures and information security at low cost.

Further, even if the processing load of the main server is reduced by incorporating the server function in the mobile phone as disclosed in Patent Document 2, all the information collected and processed by the mobile phone must be sent to the main server. Information cannot be utilized. That is, the built-in server referred to in Patent Document 2 is, so to speak, a distributed processing type server subordinate to the main server, which is only in charge of a part of the processing instead of the main server. In other words, the relationship between the main server and the mobile phone is nothing but the relationship between the master and the slave. As a result, the information processed and collected by the mobile phone cannot be used directly without going through the main server, and the information user must access the main server, so all the information is available at the time of use. Otherwise, it would be a useless system. This usage loss not only causes great inconvenience to users, but also becomes a factor that hinders the freshness of information. Therefore, it is a second object of the present invention to provide a network communication system that can reduce the processing load of the main server and avoid usage loss.

In addition, for information users, the accuracy and ease of operation of the information used is important. However, in the case of a conventional server system constructed so that the information acquired by the mobile terminal is sent to the main server one by one and the information is provided to the user from the main server, the information cannot be obtained from the terminal in a timely manner. Alternatively, if the operator of the terminal forgets to send the information, there is an inconvenience that accurate information cannot be provided to the user. For this reason, the terminal operator must constantly pay attention to whether or not the information has been correctly transferred to the main server or whether or not the information has been forgotten to be sent, which has the disadvantage of placing a heavy burden on the terminal operator. there were. Therefore, it is a third object of the present invention to provide a network communication system capable of reducing the burden on the terminal operator.

Further, as described in Patent Document 2, even if the load on the main server can be reduced by incorporating the server on the terminal side, as described above, the other party to which the terminal sends information is the main. It is only a server, and there is no other way but to use that information via the main server. Therefore, since all information users have to make requests to the main server, the drawback that access is concentrated on the main server cannot be eliminated.

Furthermore, in the conventional network communication system constructed with the main server as the information provider, it is necessary to store all the information in this main server. Therefore, the larger the amount of information to be handled, the larger the capacity of the main server is required, which causes a problem that it costs a lot to increase the number of servers. A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a network communication system capable of alleviating the concentration of access to the main server and reducing the cost of adding a server.

On the other hand, from the viewpoint of the accuracy of information and the availability of expected information, which are important for information users, it is difficult to easily and accurately obtain the latest expected information with a conventional system. .. For example, unlike information that is widely provided to the general public, such as traffic jam information and weather information, more local information, such as parking space availability and toilet usage, can only be confirmed on-site. Such information could not be obtained easily and accurately. Even if you use various search methods, it is quite possible to reach the desired information from publicly available information (for example, bulletin boards used by an unspecified number of people, information provision sites specialized for the region, etc.). There is a problem that it takes a lot of time and effort, and there is a lot of miscellaneous information and it is not reliable. On the other hand, even if a request is made to a person who can provide correct information by using the mail service of the terminal device, the person who receives the request bears the burden of having to respond to the request each time.

A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a network communication system capable of quickly and easily obtaining information obtained in the field when necessary without imposing a burden on the information provider.

Furthermore, mobile terminals (smartphones, car navigation systems, handy terminals, wearable terminals, etc.) equipped with the above-mentioned communication functions are undergoing drastic model changes, and when the latest model is obtained, the old model used up to that point can be traded in. , Had to be left unused or discarded. This is not preferable from the viewpoint of eco-friendliness.

A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a new network communication system capable of effectively utilizing these old terminals.

Further, in a conventional communication network system, all terminals connected to the network are vulnerable to hacking and tracking, and the risk of information leakage and falsification cannot be ignored. Therefore, a seventh object of the present invention is to provide a network communication system capable of reducing the risk of information leakage and information falsification in a terminal.

It should be noted that many of the objects of the present invention described above appear to be different from each other, but all of them can be achieved by applying the novel technical idea of the present invention. Here, the novel technical idea of the present invention is that a part of the built-in memory area of a terminal device having a communication function and capable of network connection is allocated as a dedicated memory area, and an aggregate of the dedicated memory areas of each terminal device. Therefore, one virtual collective memory space having the same function as the memory for the server is constructed and utilized as a memory space that moves with the movement of the terminal. By controlling the access of this dynamic collective memory space and the terminal in the communication network according to the purpose, information backup at low cost, relaxation of access concentration to the main server, and reduction of the burden on the terminal user are reduced. It is possible to construct a new network communication system that achieves the above-mentioned objectives such as reduction of server cost and reduction of information leakage risk.

Furthermore, according to the technical idea of the present invention, the virtual collective memory space created by using many terminal devices connected to a network has an unprecedented storage capacity that increases as the number of terminals increases. It will be a network system with a completely new configuration, and it will be possible to ensure the safety of information and provide ease of operation without inviting additional hardware.

In addition, the memory built into the conventional main server and distributed server connected to the network is both stationary memory, and just waits for the information sent via the network at the same location. It has only the functions that it has. On the other hand, the collective memory space of the present invention has a dynamic search function for collecting information by itself together with the terminal. Here, there is a big difference in the technical idea from the conventional one. Furthermore, each terminal that creates this virtual collective memory space is a completely new way of thinking network communication equipped with an artificial intelligence function that is useful to each other and can collect the latest information and exchange and share information with each other. It can be called a system. Regarding the mobile phone with a server function described in Patent Document 2, although it has a function of performing personal authentication and storing attendance information, this terminal server communicates only with the main server of the central management center until it gets tired. It is only intended to be done, and no consideration is given to information exchange or information sharing between terminals. So to speak, it is only positioned as a slave server of the central management center that functions as a master, and it is clear that it is different from the terminal with artificial intelligence of the present invention that itself functions as a master. The features of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned objects are as follows.

The present invention according to claim 1 is a network communication system including a plurality of terminal devices having a communication function, a server, and a communication network for transferring information between the plurality of terminal devices and the server. A feature is that a part of the memory area built in each of the plurality of terminal devices is allocated as a dedicated memory area, and an access control unit for prohibiting access to the dedicated memory area from its own terminal is provided for each. To do.

The present invention according to claim 2, which is subordinate to claim 1, divides the information stored in the server and distributes and stores the divided information in each dedicated memory area of the plurality of terminal devices. It is a feature.

The invention according to claim 3, which is subordinate to claim 2, is characterized in that the divided information distributed and stored in each dedicated memory area of the plurality of terminal devices has additional information for associating the divided information with each other. It is to be.

Further, claim 4 is a network communication system subordinate to claim 1, wherein the access control unit permits only access from a predetermined device other than its own terminal device.

Claim 5 is subordinate to claim 4, and is characterized in that the predetermined device is another terminal device that can be connected to the same communication network as the own terminal device.

The present invention according to claim 6 is a network communication system including a plurality of terminal devices having a communication function and a communication network that can be connected to the plurality of terminal devices, and is built in each of the plurality of terminal devices. A part of the memory area is allocated as a dedicated memory area to form one collective memory space composed of the dedicated memory area of each terminal device, and the plurality of terminal devices mutually use the collective memory via the communication network. It provides a new network communication system characterized by having access to space.

The present invention according to claim 7 is subordinate to claim 6, and is characterized in that at least one relay server is connected to the communication network.

Further, according to the invention of claim 8, in the network communication system of claim 7, the relay server is provided with a request box and an answer box, and each terminal device is described in both the request box and the answer box. A terminal device that is accessible via a communication network and wants to request information provision sends the request contents to the request box, and the terminal device that accesses the request box stores the answer to the request in its own dedicated memory area. If so, the answer is transmitted to the answer box of the relay server via the communication network.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the network system according to the eighth aspect, the answer transmitted to the answer box of the relay server is transmitted to the terminal device making the request via the communication network, or The terminal device is characterized in that it accesses the answer box and obtains an answer by itself.

The invention according to claim 10 is subordinate to claim 9, and if there is no answer to the request in the answer box, the terminal device making the request receives a message to convey "no answer" after a lapse of a predetermined time. It is characterized by that.

The network system according to claim 11 is dependent on the system according to claim 8, wherein the information obtained at the place where the terminal device is moved is stored in the dedicated memory area of the terminal device. It is a network communication system.

The invention according to claim 12 is subordinate to claim 8, and is characterized in that the answer box is associated with data relating to the answer acquisition place and / or the answer acquisition time together with the answer content. ..

The invention according to claim 13 is the network communication system according to claim 8, wherein a main server is further connected to the communication network, and information stored in a request box and an answer box of the relay server. Provides a network communication system characterized in that it is transferred to the main server after a lapse of a predetermined period and stored as past information in the main server.

In the above invention, the "terminal device" is a mobile terminal, a tablet terminal, a POS terminal, a cash register terminal, a financial terminal, or a handy terminal as long as it has a communication function that can be connected to a network and has a built-in memory. , Car navigation, wearable terminals, etc., can be applied to any terminal that can be moved or carried.

Further, the "dedicated memory area" refers to a memory area used only for the implementation of the present invention, and in particular, is separated from other memory areas by design or specifications as a special area in advance at the time of terminal manufacturing. It can be defined as a specified area or an area in which the required memory capacity in the built-in memory by starting an application program is specified by software and information can be written and read. .. Further, whether to allow the dedicated memory area to be accessed from its own terminal or to prohibit access may be appropriately determined according to the intended use. For example, in order to carry out the invention according to claims 1 to 5, it is desirable to prohibit access. On the other hand, in the inventions of claims 6 to 13, access may be made.

Next, the effects obtained by the invention described in each claim will be described.

First, according to the invention of claim 1, after considering the aggregate of the dedicated memory areas of each terminal device as one large virtual collective memory space, each dedicated memory area cannot be accessed from its own terminal device. Therefore, it is possible to utilize this collective memory space as a highly secure non-intrusive memory space. Moreover, since the memory capacity of this collective memory space naturally increases in proportion to the increase in terminals, extremely low-cost network communication that does not require replenishment of hardware equipment such as server expansion even if the amount of information handled increases. It has the special effect of being able to provide a system. Furthermore, since this collective memory space can be used as a dynamic memory space that changes its location as each terminal device moves, it can be widely used as an unprecedented new business creation tool.

The invention according to claim 2 relates to a novel network communication system in which the above-mentioned inviolable collective memory space can be used as a backup memory space for important information. It is possible to provide an extremely economical backup system that does not require securing or expansion of installation locations and does not require cost for maintenance of them.

According to the invention of claim 3, the amount of information that can be assigned to each terminal device is smaller than that of the conventional backup dedicated server, but the security reliability can be improved and the information can be improved by finely dividing the information. It is possible to obtain the effect that the loss can be suppressed to a low level. As additional information for associating the divided information, for example, a table for associating the divided information with the IP address of the terminal device that stores this information is provided in the main server, or is given in advance by the main server when the information is divided. You can also use the serial number etc.

In the invention according to claim 4, the dedicated memory area of each terminal device cannot be accessed from its own terminal device, and only access from a predetermined device other than its own terminal is permitted. Therefore, even if the terminal device is carried or moved, even if it is lost, there is no concern that the information will be easily stolen by another person, which is an effective information protection effect.

In the invention according to claim 5, since the dedicated memory area of an arbitrary terminal can be accessed only from another terminal, for example, important information about another terminal (for example, of another terminal user). By storing (personal information, confidential information, etc.) in the dedicated memory area of the terminal, the risk of leakage of important information can be reduced. That is, it is possible to achieve an excellent effect that the confidentiality of each other's important information can be enhanced between the terminal devices.

Next, according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a part of the memory area built in each terminal device connected to the communication network is secured as a dedicated memory area, and a set of these plurality of dedicated memory areas is combined into one set. By constructing a memory space and allowing each terminal device to access the same collective memory space via a network, information can be sent and received (provided and obtained) without going through the main server. Is. It can be said that this is a new terminal-to-terminal information communication system that uses a collective memory space with artificial intelligence. Each terminal device can exchange information using this virtual collective memory space without going through the main server one by one. As a result, it has an excellent effect that comfortable network communication can be performed without causing inconvenient phenomena such as concentration of access to the main server, concentration of processing load, and excessive communication traffic. Moreover, as the number of terminal devices that can be connected to the network increases, the capacity of the collective memory space also automatically increases, so that there is an economic effect that no extra cost is required. In particular, it should be noted that the collective memory space referred to here means a collection of dedicated memory areas built into each terminal device, and each of these dedicated memory areas is physically located at a different location. I want to. That is, the information existing in the collective memory space does not exist collectively, but is distributed in physically different places. Therefore, in a memory space that has a peculiar property of being less susceptible to hacking and tracking, there is a marked difference in safety and robustness from the memory that stores shared files of a generally known P2P system. It is no exaggeration to say that there is.

The invention according to claim 7 is to provide a relay server on the network so that the terminal devices do not communicate directly with each other but communicate with each other via the relay server. By doing so, each terminal device can receive information from an unspecified number of terminal devices connected to the network, instead of requesting information from a specific terminal device. Therefore, it is possible to obtain desired information for all the information existing in the collective memory space constructed in the dedicated memory area, and it is possible to construct an extremely easy-to-use network communication system.

Further, according to the invention of claim 8, in a network communication system in which each terminal device can exchange information with each other via a relay server, all the request contents requested from each terminal device are relayed. Since it is aggregated in the request box provided in the server, each terminal device can easily grasp what kind of request is currently being made by accessing the relay server in real time. Similarly, since the information acquired by each terminal device is collected in the answer box of the relay server, the desired answer can be obtained only by accessing the relay server. Therefore, each terminal device does not need to access other terminal devices one by one in order to request information and obtain an answer. As a response method, each time each terminal device acquires information, the acquired information may be transmitted to the answer box of the relay server (transmitted each time), or the acquired information may be transmitted to its own dedicated memory area. When the request box is checked, it may be sent to the answer box of the relay server when it is determined that the request has an answer (send when necessary). In the former case, there is an effect that the answer can be obtained in a short time, and in the latter case, there is an effect that the storage capacity of the server (the capacity of the answer box) can be saved and the concentration of communication traffic can be avoided. ..

The invention according to claim 9 is an invention relating to receiving information from an answer box. Here, a server-driven method in which an answer is transmitted from a relay server to a terminal device and a terminal in which the terminal device obtains an answer from the relay server are used. It is possible to receive in two ways, the initiative method. Answers are put together in a file format with an answer file number corresponding to the request file number in the request box, so that each terminal device can easily obtain the desired answer in the file format. Since such file management can be executed by an inexpensive relay server instead of the main server, it is possible to obtain information without imposing a processing load on the main server. In particular, when there are many terminal devices connected to the network, the concentration of access to the main server from each terminal can be significantly eased.

In the invention according to claim 10, since the time until the reply is managed based on the timing of the information request from the terminal device, when the reply does not exist even after the predetermined time has passed, the relay server "no reply". By transmitting the message of, each terminal device can obtain the effect that the current response status can be known without repeating requests.

Further, according to the invention of claim 11, by storing the information that can be obtained at the place where the terminal device is moved in the dedicated memory area of each terminal device, the smart phone, the mobile phone, the car navigation system, or the wearable Taking advantage of mobile devices such as terminals, it is possible to obtain the excellent effect of being able to accurately and quickly convey the latest information that can only be obtained on-site to other terminal devices. The invention according to claim 11 effectively utilizes the advantages of a mobile collective memory space (which can be said to be a dynamic memory space or a server that moves around), whereby each terminal can be used at each site. It will be possible to provide the latest and accurate information obtained in the above to other terminals, or to obtain it from other terminals. As a result, the information requester is freed from troublesome work such as unnecessary search and information search from cobblestone mixing, and can easily and quickly obtain the expected information. Indeed, each terminal makes it possible to realize an epoch-making network communication system that functions as a moving server with new artificial intelligence.

Further, as in the invention of claim 12, by associating the answer contents with the acquisition place and acquisition time of the answer, the information user (request) can determine when and where the answer was obtained. Can be told. Furthermore, if such location information and time information are superimposed and plotted on the map screen of the user's terminal, valuable latest information that cannot be obtained from ordinary map information can be obtained quickly and in an easy-to-understand manner. You can do it. The location information can be obtained from the GPS function built into the terminal, and the time information can also be obtained from the timer function built into the terminal.

In the invention according to claim 13, by connecting the main server to the collective memory space configured by the dedicated memory area of each terminal, the information of the relay server having the request box and the answer box is transferred to the main server and the past information is obtained. Since it can be saved as big data, valuable information stored in the main server can be used as big data to create and provide new services and efficient business routes specialized for the region. In addition, if the requesting terminal cannot obtain the current answer, the information stored in the main server can be transmitted as past information.

Furthermore, the frequency of replacement and replacement of terminal devices is high, and it is a major weakness that it is difficult to dispose of old models at the time of replacement or replacement. In particular, terminals that are left unused have become a major problem in terms of eco-friendliness. On the other hand, according to the invention described in each of the above-mentioned claims, an excellent effect can be exhibited in this eco-friendly manner. That is, since the dedicated memory area in each terminal device in the present invention continuously functions as an important tool for forming the collective memory space located outside the server, it is not discarded or left unattended. It can be used continuously as a "high-security information safe". That is, the terminal device used in the present invention has an effect that it can be used for a long period of time as an eco-server having excellent artificial intelligence.

Although the typical effects obtained by the present invention have been described above, various effects obtained by the novel network communication system of the present invention will be further clarified from the following description of the embodiments of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the basic concept of this invention. It is a main function block diagram of the terminal apparatus used in this invention. It is a block diagram of the network communication system of Example 1. It is a state diagram at the time of performing information backup in the system of Example 1. It is a state diagram at the time of protecting important information in the system of Example 1. FIG. 5 is a system block diagram of inter-terminal communication when protecting important information. It is a block diagram of the network communication system which concerns on Example 2. FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the relay server used in Example 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the request format transmitted from each terminal device in Example 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the answer format corresponding to FIG. 9A. It is a flowchart which shows the operation procedure of Example 2. It is a block diagram of the network communication system which concerns on Example 3. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the information storage procedure in Example 3. FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention uses a part of the memory area built in the terminal device group 2 connectable to the communication network 1 to create a large virtual collective memory space 3 on the network. Is to build. Therefore, the terminal devices that can be used include mobile terminals such as smartphones and mobile phones, portable tablet terminals and notebook PCs, wearable terminals such as glasses and watches having communication functions, home appliances, and even home appliances. , Car navigation systems, in-vehicle terminals that contribute to automatic driving, and various other terminal devices that have built-in memory and operate under software control can be targeted. Such terminal devices are small portable electronic devices that are used by many people not only in corporate activities but also in daily life, and when these terminals are put together, one huge memory space is formed. Is possible. In a preferred embodiment, in order to make the collective memory space 3 more dynamic, all the terminal devices included in the terminal device group 2 can be mobile terminal devices.

In the present invention, in a company, a terminal used for carrying out a task given to each person, and in daily life, a terminal used by an individual for each purpose. , Collectively regarded as one aggregate, and trying to create a new artificial intelligence type network communication system by sharing some of the terminal devices that are used separately for each purpose of use.

This was created from the opposite idea of utilizing the distributed items as one, instead of physically distributing one server as in the conventional distributed server.

The terminal group applicable to the network system of the present invention may be all the same type of terminal devices, or may be a combination of different types of terminal devices. This is because the present invention is characterized in that a part of the storage function built in each terminal is used in common, instead of using the function peculiar to the terminal.

Here, "common storage function" means that a part of the writable and readable memory area built in each terminal device is used as a dedicated memory area used in the present invention for all terminal devices. It means that it can be assigned and controlled by a common dedicated program. The dedicated program is executed by the CPU built in each terminal device. As an allocation method, a memory area of the required capacity may be secured as a dedicated memory area by an application program, or a part of the built-in memory area may be electrically separated from another area at the time of manufacturing the device. It may be secured as an independent area.

The configuration of the dedicated memory area allocated to each terminal device will be described with reference to FIG.

The memory area 11 built in each terminal device 10 is divided into a normal memory area 12 and a dedicated memory area 13 by the method described above. The normal memory area 12 is an area used when executing a function of the terminal device. On the other hand, the dedicated memory area 13 is used for constructing the collective memory space described above, and the accessibility to the external communication network 1 or its own terminal 10 is controlled by the access control unit 14. This configuration may be common regardless of the type of terminal.

There are two possible ways to use the dedicated memory area shared in this way. The first is how to use the access control unit 14 to prohibit the access 15 from the inside and allow only the access 16 from the outside via the network 1 so that the terminal device cannot access the own dedicated memory area 13. Reference numeral 2 denotes a usage method in which both the internal access 15 and the external access 16 are permitted so that they can be accessed from both their own terminal and other terminals.

The first usage is useful for storing important information using the dedicated memory area 13, or lending or transferring it to a third party other than oneself. For example, it is useful for backing up corporate information and protecting personal information and confidential information. A specific example of this will be described later. On the other hand, the second usage is useful for a system that requires information provision and information collection between terminal users. Please refer to the case described later for this as well.

Next, the first usage, that is, a network system effective for backing up and protecting information will be described with reference to FIG. Each of the terminal devices T1 to Tn has a common dedicated memory area M1 to Mn, and is connected to the main server 4 via the communication network 1. Then, one collective memory space 3 is constructed by the dedicated memory areas M1 to Mn allocated to the terminal devices T1 to Tn. Here, the access control unit 14 built into each terminal device has a firewall function that prohibits the internal access 15 and allows only the external access 16.

FIG. 4 shows how this system is used to back up the information of the main server. The main server 4 divides the information to be backed up according to the size of the dedicated memory area allocated to each terminal device, and distributes and transfers the information to each terminal device T1 to Tn via the network 1. The access control unit 14 of each terminal recognizes that the divided information sent from the main server 1 belongs to its own terminal, for example, by using identification information such as an IP address unique to the terminal, and has its own dedicated memory area. Store in 13. The divided information stored in each terminal device in this way together constitutes one collective memory space 3, and is transmitted from a predetermined external device (for example, a main server 4 or a central management device (not shown)). Can only be accessed.

A major feature of this system is that it does not require a conventional distributed server for backup. Further, when the terminal device is a portable or portable mobile terminal, the backed up information does not stay in one place but moves around. Moreover, it can be said that it is extremely difficult for a third party to grasp or predict the movement. Therefore, it can exert its power as a robust security server. Of course, it is clear that the communication traffic countermeasures, which are the aim of the distributed server, also function as a backup system that has a sufficient balance. It can be easily understood by those skilled in the art that it can be applied not only for backup but also for storage of important information that can be accessed only from a specific device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a mechanism for utilizing the dedicated memory areas of the terminal devices T1 to Tn for information protection. An example of such utilization is the management of personal information and confidential information of the terminal device owner. For example, it is useful for managing important memos and memorandums.

As an example, FIG. 5 shows an example in which the owner of the terminal device T1 sends and stores his / her important memo 17 in the dedicated memory area M3 of the terminal device T3 via the network 1. Here, the access control unit of the terminal T3 works so as to allow only access from the terminal T1. By doing so, even if the owner of the terminal device T1 loses his / her own terminal, the important memo 17 is safely stored in the terminal T3, so that there is no concern about information loss. Also, if similar memos are saved on multiple terminals, damage can be suppressed even if the saved terminals are lost.

Such terminal-to-terminal communication is performed between the terminals T1 and T3 via the network 1 as shown in FIG. The important memo sent from the terminal T1 to the terminal T3 via the network 1 is stored in the dedicated memory area 13 of the terminal T3. Since the memo stored in the terminal T3 dedicated memory area 13 cannot be viewed by the access control unit 14 in its own internal access 15, information is not leaked to the owner of the terminal T3, and one of the collective memory spaces 3 It can be kept safely stored in one dedicated memory area. Moreover, since the dedicated memory area 13 is a memory that moves in place together with the terminal device T3, there is also an effect that it is less likely to be damaged by hacking or tracking.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a network communication system showing an example in which the dedicated memory area is used in the second usage. Here, the access control unit (14 in FIG. 2) operates so that the dedicated memory areas M1 to Mn can be accessed from one's own terminal or another terminal. This system is suitable for exchanging information between terminals, in particular, requesting information that one terminal device wants from another terminal device, or providing information acquired by oneself to another terminal device. It can be said that it is an effective terminal-to-terminal communication system.

Specifically, an example of a network communication system when exchanging information using a relay server 5 between a terminal group A2 currently existing in a certain area A and a terminal group B2 currently existing in another area B is shown. It is shown in FIG. Each terminal realizes inter-terminal communication by transmitting and receiving to and from the relay server 5 via a network. As the terminal device that can be used, it is not necessary to ask the type as long as the above-mentioned dedicated memory area is secured in advance.

The internal configuration of the relay server 5 used is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the relay server 5 includes a request box file 51, an answer box file 52, and a box control unit 53 that controls them. The request box file 51 stores the request contents sent from each terminal via the network in a file format for each terminal, and the answer box file 52 stores the answer contents sent from each terminal. Similarly, each file is stored together. The box control unit 53 has a function of associating a request content and a response content with an identification number (for example, assigning a reception number to each request) and managing the time.

Hereinafter, an example in which a delivery company carries out a delivery business using this system will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. Here, it is assumed that the delivery person in the area A issues an information request using his / her own terminal T1. The owner of the terminal T1 transmits the information he / she wants to know to the relay server 5 using the request format as shown in FIG. 9A. The request format describes the time, region, and request content, and you can display this format as an image on your terminal and enter the information you want to know. Such a request format is shared as a format commonly used by each terminal, and can be easily set in each terminal by an application. In this way, by standardizing the format, it is possible to unify the information that you want to know and the information that you want to teach, and it is possible to exchange information without waste without mixing meaningless information and irrelevant information. ..

The time information is divided into, for example, within 5 minutes before and after, within 10 minutes before and after, within 20 minutes before and after, within 30 minutes before and after, and within 1 hour before and after, and informs the timing of the information to be obtained. Can be done. In addition, as regional information, it is possible to specify within 1 km, within 2 km, within 3 km, within 5 km, and within 10 km from the current location. In this way, the delivery person (user of the terminal T1) can inform other terminals of when and where information is desired. Furthermore, by inputting the request content that informs what kind of information the information you want to know is, you can obtain an accurate answer that does not include miscellaneous information. In particular, in the delivery business, it is difficult to obtain or obtain from public information such as sudden weather changes, parking space availability, toilet locations and traffic closure due to sudden construction, or lunch shop congestion. By obtaining the latest information, which takes time, accurately and in a timely manner, business efficiency can be significantly improved.

In addition, the request format has a time limit for obtaining information (in the example, from within 5 minutes before and after to within 1 hour before and after, specify the current time zone you want to know), so you can obtain information when you are busy. You can get exactly the information you need, when you need it, without having to bother with it. It can be said that this is an artificial intelligence type network communication system that takes advantage of the greatest advantage of a moving information collection tool called a terminal device, which cannot be obtained from a conventional stationary server.

On the other hand, each delivery person can obtain information necessary for the work such as delivery status, break information (rest start and rest end times), absence status, waiting status, etc. from his / her terminal during the execution of his / her delivery business from the central management center. Often it is obligatory to send to (not shown). At that time, by recording useful information obtained at the site in a dedicated memory area, it is possible to eliminate the hassle of responding to inquiries from other deliverers each time. That is, the information confirmed at the site is used as information such as characters, symbols, voices, or photos and images (videos are also possible) in a format corresponding to the required format, and the acquisition time (can be acquired by the timer function of the terminal). It may be saved in the dedicated memory area together with the acquisition location (which can be acquired by the GPS function of the terminal).

An example of the answer format corresponding to the required format is shown in FIG. 9B. As is clear from the figure, it is better to create an answer input format corresponding to the above-mentioned request format so that it is easy to answer by observing the situation at the site. By automatically acquiring the time and place data entered for each answer from the timer built into the terminal or GPS and linking it to the answer, the time limit and distance (region designation) requirements are met. Answers can be provided.

Next, an example of the procedure from requesting information to obtaining an answer will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The user of each terminal starts an application at the start of business and prepares to use the dedicated memory area (step S1). Upon activation of this application, the access control unit 14 in the terminal permits internal access 15 from its own terminal to the dedicated memory area. However, as described above, this dedicated memory area cannot be used by other applications that can be executed by the terminal.

Next, if the delivery person (terminal T1) in area A wants to know the construction status and parking space availability for the area within 2 km from the current location, along with the desired time limit (for example, within 10 minutes). The area information (within 2 km) and the request contents (construction and parking) are input from the request format and transmitted to the relay server 5 via the network (step S2). When the relay server 5 receives the request information F1, it returns a receipt number to the terminal T1 (step S3), and then saves the request information F1 together with the receipt number in the request box file 51 (step S4).

On the other hand, each terminal monitors the request box file 51 of the relay server 5 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 30 seconds) (step S5), and when there is a request that can be answered in the box, it is dedicated. The answer stored in the memory area is transmitted to the relay server 5 (step S6). Here, since the terminal T2 in the area B within 2 km has the answer in its own dedicated memory area, the answer is transmitted from the terminal T2 to the relay server 5 via the network 1. Such processing is not executed by the user of the terminal T2 each time, but is automatically performed between the terminal T2 and the relay server 5 every 30 seconds, so that the delivery person does not have to bother each time. When the terminal T2 transmits the response, the terminal T2 ends the process related to the request (step S7) and monitors the next request.

The relay server 5 that receives the answer from the terminal T2 stores the answer information F3 sent from the terminal T2 in the answer box file 52 (step S8). The response information F3 is stored in the response box 52 in association with the previous request using the receipt number as identification information.

When the terminal T1 that issued the request monitors the answer box 52 of the relay server 5 every predetermined time (every 30 seconds in this example) (step S9) and finds the answer F4 associated with the receipt number, Upon receiving this via the network (step S10), the process ends (step S11). As described above, each terminal device automatically monitors the request box 51 and the answer box 52 of the relay server 5 at predetermined time intervals (30 second intervals in this example) and files them in the request box 51. The application is controlled to download all the requested files to its own terminal each time. The request files that are collectively imported are matched with the answers stored in their own dedicated memory area, and if there are answers that meet the request conditions, they are automatically put together in the answer box 52 of the relay server 5. Will be sent. These series of processes can be executed by an application installed in each terminal device in advance.

In this example, the information acquired by each terminal is not sent to the relay server at the same time as the acquisition, but is sent when requested, so that there is no concern that the network traffic will be unnecessarily congested. Further, as the answer information, in addition to the information manually input by the terminal user, various sensor information and driving information that can be automatically acquired by the terminal device itself may be saved in the dedicated memory area. ..

In addition, since the acquisition location and acquisition time are added to the obtained answers, by plotting and displaying them on the map screen, the user of the terminal T1 can easily understand the necessary information. You can get it. As a response method, it is also possible to add information obtained by the terminal user at the site, such as voice, photographic image, and video information corresponding to the content of the response format.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the information acquired by each terminal device at the site is stored in its own dedicated memory area, and the presence or absence of a request requiring the information is relayed via the network at predetermined time intervals. Since the server is monitored, the information provider only has to store the latest information confirmed at the site in the dedicated memory at his convenience, so he can do his job without being bothered by the reply. Can be carried out. In addition, the requester can obtain an answer that matches the request simply by sending the request to the relay server without specifying the other party.

Further, after the requester obtains the answer, the information regarding the request and the answer may be deleted from the request box file 51 and the answer box file 52. By doing so, it becomes possible to always store the latest information on the request and the response in the relay server, and it becomes possible to give priority to the real-time information.

By erasing the box file after the processing is completed in this way, the box control unit 53 in FIG. 8 receives a "answer" when the file still exists in the request box even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the request was received. A message to convey "none" can be sent to the request terminal T1. As a result, the requester can confirm the presence or absence of a reply without repeating the request many times. Further, when the present invention is carried out using an in-vehicle terminal, files are collectively downloaded from a relay server according to the transmission timing of traveling data periodically transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal, and the request contents are obtained. Can also be confirmed on the terminal side.

When utilizing the information acquired by the terminal device in this way, it is assumed that the answer information is not transmitted to the answer box file 52 when the power of the terminal device is turned off such as at night. In that case, the box control unit 53 of the relay server 5 detects that the answer to the request is not transmitted within a predetermined time after receiving the request, and requests a message notifying "No answer". Just send it to the terminal. This can be easily realized by using the timer management function of the server.

In addition, by providing the request box file 51 and the answer box file 52 in the relay server 5, information can be aggregated in the relay server, so that each terminal only accesses the relay server without directly connecting the terminals. You can exchange information with. Therefore, it can be said that it is a great advantage that the network communication system of the present invention can be constructed without impairing the original functions of the terminal.

Furthermore, the present invention can also be provided for a network system that spans a wide area. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of such a wide area network system. Here, an example in which a network system according to the present invention is constructed using relay servers A5, B5, and C5 in the respective regions in physically different regions A, B, and C is shown.

Terminal groups A2, B2, and C2 exist for each region, and each terminal is network-connected via relay servers A5, B5, and C5, and an aggregate of dedicated memory areas of each terminal is one aggregate memory of the present invention. It will form a space. Here, a request issued from an arbitrary terminal can be confirmed by the terminals in each region polling each relay server in order. Since the request method and the response method may be the same as those in the second embodiment described above, refer to the above description.

In such a wide area network, the number of connected terminals is large, and a large-scale collective memory space can be automatically constructed. Therefore, the amount of information stored in this collective memory space is large, and any information can be said to be valuable information acquired at the site. For example, when a company adopts the network system of the present invention, the information obtained from the employee's terminal (information stored in the dedicated memory area of each terminal) has high corporate value, and the business is improved as big data. It can be useful information for improving efficiency and creating new businesses.

However, leaving such information on the relay server is not preferable from the viewpoint of security. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, it is effective to upload the information stored in the relay server to the main server by connecting each relay server and the main server 4 via the network.

For example, as shown in the flowchart in FIG. 12, the box control units of the relay servers 5A, 5B, and 5C monitor the status (step S20), and the employee leaving time has passed and the frequency of information exchange is predetermined. When the value becomes lower than the numerical value, a transfer request is made from the relay server to the main server 4 (step S21), and when a request for permitting this request is received from the main server 4 (step S22), the file is stored in the relay server. Information (request box file and decompression box file) is collectively transferred to the main server (step S23). The main server 4 receives the information transferred from each relay server (step S24) and saves these as past information (step S26). The main server 4 confirms that the information has been saved correctly and transmits the reception confirmation signal to the relay server. The relay server erases the information in the request box and the answer box in response to this confirmation signal (step S25).

By doing so, it is possible to save the valuable information obtained on the terminal, and it is not necessary to leave the information on the relay server. The information stored in the main server 4 can be transferred to each terminal device as past information, or can be transmitted as response information in response to a request from the terminal.

As described above, the present invention allocates a part of the internal memory area of the terminal as a dedicated memory area, and uses these areas to form a virtual collective memory space that moves together with the terminal, thereby increasing the number of servers and providing a server. Since it is possible to build a network communication system at low cost that can suppress the increase in access concentration and processing load to the network and also alleviate the traffic concentration in the network, information backup and protection, as well as the latest and accurate on-site information Since it is possible to obtain new effects such as sharing of networks, it can be applied to various aspects such as personal daily life, car life, information exchange between friends, etc. as well as corporate activities. Is clear.

In addition, by dedicating a part of the internal memory of the terminal, it is also possible to build a new business model that transfers or rents this dedicated memory to institutions other than the terminal user, such as the country, companies, and schools. It is available. By doing so, it is possible to obtain a secondary effect that the burden of the terminal usage fee on the terminal user can be reduced, so that the range of use can be said to be extremely wide.

1 ... Communication network 2 ... Various terminal equipment groups 3 ... Collective memory space 4 ... Main server 5 ... Relay server 10 ... Terminal equipment 11 ... Built-in memory area 12 ... Normal memory area 13 ... Dedicated memory area 14 ... Access control unit 15 ... Internal access 16 ... External access 51 ... Request box file 52 ... Answer box file 53 ... Box control unit

Claims (6)

A network communication system including a plurality of terminal devices having a communication function and a communication network that can be connected to the plurality of terminal devices.
A part of the memory area built in each of the plurality of terminal devices is allocated as a dedicated memory area.
Forming one collective memory space consisting of the dedicated memory area of each terminal device,
The plurality of terminal devices are made to access each other in the collective memory space via the communication network .
At least one relay server is connected to the communication network.
The relay server is provided with a request box and an answer box, and each terminal device can access both the request box and the answer box via the communication network.
The terminal device that wants to request the provision of information sends the request contents to the request box, and then
When the answer to the request is stored in its own dedicated memory area, the terminal device that has accessed the request box is characterized in that the answer is transmitted to the answer box of the relay server via the communication network. Network communication system. The answer transmitted to the answer box of the relay server is transmitted to the terminal device that made the request via the communication network, or the terminal device accesses the answer box and obtains the answer by itself. The network communication system according to claim 1. The network communication system according to claim 2 , wherein when there is no answer to the request in the answer box, the terminal device making the request receives a message to convey "no answer" after a lapse of a predetermined time. The network communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the dedicated memory area of the terminal device stores information obtained at a place where the terminal device has moved. The network communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the answer box is associated with data relating to an answer acquisition location and / or an answer acquisition time together with the answer content. A main server is further connected to the communication network, and the information stored in the request box and the answer box of the relay server is transferred to the main server after a lapse of a predetermined period, and the past information is stored in the main server. The network communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the network communication system is stored as.

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