JPH0516719B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (1) Description of the field to which the invention pertains The present invention provides a videotex system, particularly a videotex service, in which an unspecified number of users share a terminal, and furthermore, communication charges and information charges are reduced. This relates to a coin videotex system that allows terminals to properly obtain and provide coins.

(2) Description of conventional technology Videotex services are implemented in various forms, such as Prestel in the UK, Bildschilmtext in West Germany, Capten in Japan, and various systems in Canada and the United States. The basic components of these videotex systems are a terminal with a display and a keypad, an information center with a still image database, and a communication network that connects the two. In such a large-scale system, the terminal management control function of the information center is separated and concentrated in a communication processing device, and a telephone network is often used as the communication network between the communication processing device and the terminals. An example of this type of system is the Videotex communication system of the Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (1986 Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers, Information and Systems Division National Conference S6).
Figure 1 shows the configuration of the 3rd generation system (quoted from 4). In the figure, 1 represents the Videotex communication system, 2 represents the Videotex communication network, 3 represents the user terminal, and 4 represents the information center.

In general, the form of service provision in such a videotex system is that a user who owns a terminal signs a contract with a system operating company, and the communication network and information fees when accessing the information center using the terminal are covered by the terminal. Often, the charges are registered in the billing memory and collected at regular intervals. On the other hand, it is also being considered to have a terminal shared by an unspecified number of users, such as in a public telephone, and to obtain charges using coins or cards at the terminal. However, the specific means of obtaining fees have not been disclosed.
The method of obtaining charges differs depending on the unique conditions of each country's system, but basically there are the following problems.

Unlike telephone calls, you have to pay an information fee in addition to the communication fee.

Unlike telephone calls, billing information, especially information regarding information charges, is not available on the telephone network.

When transmitting and receiving billing signals during communication, consistency with the terminal protocol is required.

Note that the terminal protocol in the present invention is assumed as follows.

(A) Link level protocols are non-procedural.

(B) Screen search and screen display are inquiry response formats from the terminal at the application level.

(C) Interrupt messages can be sent from the communication processing device asynchronously to the screen, but there is no response from the terminal.

(3) Purpose of the Invention The present invention transmits the communication fee as an interrupt message at each billing period, or has a charging timer in the terminal, and the communication processing device notifies information such as the charging interval at the start of communication. The system is characterized in that the information fee is notified in response to a screen search, and its purpose is to provide videotex services while allowing users to share the terminal and obtaining appropriate fees.

(4) Explanation of the configuration and operation of the invention FIG. 2 is a configuration model of a videotex system to which the present invention is applied. In Figure 2, 10
1 is a terminal, 11 is a communication control unit of the terminal 10, 12 is a keypad, 13 is a display, 14 is a billing mechanism, 20 is a telephone network, 30 is a communication processing device, and 40 is an information center.

The services in this system first start from the terminal 10.
makes a call to the telephone network 200, and the communication processing device 3
0 and a logical path from the communication processing device 30 to the information center 40. From then on until the end of the call, the telephone network 20 is transparent, and what is directly visible from the terminal 10 is the communication processing device 30, and screen searches are performed in an inquiry-and-response format, apparently with the communication processing device 30 as the other party.

FIG. 3 shows a signal casing between a terminal and a communication processing device in the first embodiment of the present invention,
51 is a communication fee charging signal, 52 is search information, 53 is an information fee charging signal, 54 is an information fee confirmation signal, and 55 is a balance return instruction. To explain the sequence shown in FIG. 3, first, after path setting, the communication processing device 30 activates the charging timer corresponding to the call and at the same time sends the communication fee charging signal 51 to the terminal 10. The communication control unit 11 of the terminal receives this and sends a coin storage command to the billing mechanism 14 to store the coins. The communication fee charging signal is an interrupt message and there is no response from the terminal. Next, when the initial screen is sent out and displayed on the display 13, the user inputs search information from the keypad 12, and the search information 52 is sent to the communication processing device 30. 53 is sent to the terminal and transmitted to the billing mechanism 14 as a coin storage command, and if there is a required amount of coins, it is stored, and an information fee confirmation signal 54 is automatically sent to the communication processing device 30. The searched screen is sent to the terminal and displayed. Thereafter, the same operation is repeated, but the communication charge signal 51 is transmitted as an interrupt message at regular intervals. When the path is released due to disconnection or the like, the remaining amount is returned by the charging mechanism 14 according to a command from the communication control unit 11. If the fee is insufficient during the call, the charging mechanism 14 notifies the communication control unit 11 of this fact, and performs a process of disconnecting the call.

FIG. 4 is a signal sequence between a terminal and a communication processing device in the second embodiment of the present invention, and shows 56
57 is the center switching request, 57 is the communication charge information (charging interval per fixed amount or communication charge per fixed time), 5
8 is a communication fee billing information confirmation signal. Other symbols correspond to those in FIG. To explain the sequence of FIG. 4, first, after setting the path, the communication processing device 30
sends communication fee billing information 57 to the terminal 10. This is a signal that gives the terminal an opportunity to start the billing timer, and also notifies the communication time per billing unit if the billing unit is constant, or the communication fee per fixed time if the billing interval is constant. Communication fees are collected according to the conditions given in the signal. Further, when the terminal 10 sends a center switching request 56 to the communication processing device 30, the charging timer is reset using new communication fee charging information 57 according to conditions such as the distance to the new center. The communication fee billing information confirmation signal 58 is a response to the communication fee billing information 57,
In terms of the protocol, an initial screen is sent as a response to this, following the inquiry response format from the terminal. Information fee billing and processing when fees are insufficient are similar to the first embodiment.

Furthermore, if communication charges are constant regardless of the center and are charged continuously even when switching centers, communication charges can be charged only at the terminal without sending or receiving information about communication charges, and communication charges are not proportional to time but based on the screen. If it is proportional to the number of accesses, you can send it in addition to the information fee. The present invention naturally includes these cases as well. Another method is to omit sending the information fee when the information fee is "0", and a method is to enable the terminal to autonomously display this on the display and add the fee within a certain amount of time instead of immediately disconnecting when the fee is insufficient. may also be arbitrarily adopted and is not excluded from the present invention.

(5) Explanation of Effects As explained above, according to the present invention, when providing videotex services in a shared terminal format, two types of charges, communication charges and information charges, can be applied without affecting the telephone network in between. This can be achieved using only the functions of the terminal and communication processing device, and there is no effect on the low-level protocol between the terminal and communication processing device, so the line can be shared with other general terminal control lines, and equipment This prevents a decrease in usage efficiency.
This has the advantage that an economical and easy-to-maintain system can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration example of a videotex communication system, FIG. 2 is a configuration model of a videotex system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a signal sequence of the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a configuration example of a videotex communication system. is the signal sequence of the second embodiment of the present invention. 10...Terminal, 11...Communication control unit of terminal 10, 12...Keypad of terminal 10, 13...Display of terminal 10, 14...Charging mechanism of terminal 10, 20...Telephone network, 30...Communication processing equipment,
40...Information center, 51...Communication fee billing signal,
52...Search information, 53...Information fee billing signal, 5
4...Information fee confirmation signal, 55...Balance refund notification,
56...Center switching request, 57...Communication fee billing information, 58...Communication fee billing information confirmation signal.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1 Consists of a non-procedure terminal, an information center, a communication processing device that mediates between the two and performs processing including protocol conversion, routing, and billing processing, and a communication line that connects these, and that performs communication processing from the terminal. The screen search to the device and the corresponding screen output are performed in the form of an inquiry and response at the application level, and the communication processing device is a video screen that enables the sending of interrupt messages asynchronously with the screen search and without a response from the terminal. In the Tsukusu system, a large number of unspecified users share a terminal, and the communication processing device notifies the terminal of the timing of time-proportionate communication fee billing as an interrupt message, and the communication processing device sends the information fee corresponding to the screen as a response to the screen search. The communication processing device sends a screen to the terminal as a response to the confirmation signal from the terminal in response to the information fee notification, and the terminal receives coins according to the communication fee charging trigger and information fee notified from the communication processing device. A coin videotex method characterized by storage or subtraction from a money card. 2 Consists of a non-procedural terminal, an information center, a communication processing device that mediates between the two and performs processing including protocol conversion, routing, and billing processing, and a communication line that connects these, and provides screen search and processing from the terminal to the communication processing device. Screen output in response to this is done in the form of an interim response at the application level, and in a videotex system that enables the transmission of interrupt messages from the communication processing unit asynchronously with the screen search and without a response from the terminal. An unspecified number of users share a terminal, and the terminal is configured to have a clock for communication charges, and when setting a path to an information center, the communication charges are billed at intervals or charges per fixed time depending on the distance from the center, etc. from the communication processing device to the terminal, sends an initial screen as a response to the confirmation signal from the terminal in response to this notification, and notifies the information fee corresponding to the screen to the terminal as a response to the screen search, and sends the information fee notification. In response to the confirmation signal from the terminal, the communication processing device sends subsequent screens to the terminal, and the terminal displays the communication fee billing interval or communication fee per certain period of time notified from the communication processing device, and the above-mentioned information that the terminal has. A coin videotex system characterized in that a communication billing trigger is determined from the clock of the computer, and coins are stored or subtracted from a money card in accordance with the determined communications billing trigger and the information fee notified from the communication processing device. .