JPH0837508A - Information providing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily provide charging or access conditions by transmitting information from an information providing person to a user while using a CD-ROM or broadcasting, and transmitting access managing information such as a history at the time of accessing this information from the user to the information providing person while utilizing communication or the like concerning the system for providing the information to the user while utilizing communication or satellite broadcasting. CONSTITUTION:Based on the operation of the user, any desired information is accessed and read from a CD-ROM 40, in which the information to be provided from the information providing person to the user is stored, by a CD-ROM reader 31 and the managing information corresponding to the information read by the CD-ROM reader 31 is transmitted to the information providing person by a communication interface part 41 and a satellite line interface part 42 as the access managing information showing the access conditions.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing system for providing information such as images, music and video shopping.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional information providing system, a user side terminal system and an information providing side system are connected by using a telephone line or the like, and information desired by the user is realized by a database system or a personal computer communication system. .

Further, it has been possible to provide a large amount of information to a large number of users by using broadcasting.

Further, a large-capacity recording medium such as a CD-ROM is provided to users by physical distribution.

[0005]

In the conventional information providing system, when the information is provided by a database system or a personal computer communication system using a telephone line, the access time is long and the use efficiency of the line is poor.

In the case of an information providing system using broadcasting or CD-ROM, it is practically impossible for the information provider to obtain access management information such as an access history indicating the access status of each desired information. I have a problem.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides an information providing system capable of efficiently obtaining access management information indicating the access status of each information provided by an information provider to a user. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

An information providing system according to a first aspect of the present invention is an information recording medium (for example, the CD-ROM in FIG. 4) that stores information provided by an information provider to a user.
5), information reading means for accessing and reading desired information from the CD-ROM 5 by the user's operation (for example, the CD-ROM reading device 31 in FIG. 4), and the information read by the CD-ROM reading device 31. Transmission means for transmitting the corresponding management information to the information provider (for example, the communication interface unit 41 and the satellite line interface unit 4 in FIG. 4).
2) and a storage unit (for example, the information storage device 12 in FIG. 3) that stores the management information sent by the communication interface unit 41 and the satellite line interface unit 42 as access management information indicating the access status. And

An information providing system according to a second aspect is characterized in that the user is charged based on the access management information in the first aspect.

An information providing system according to a third aspect of the present invention is a second information storage system in which the management information corresponding to the information read by the CD-ROM reading device 31 in the first or second aspect is stored as access management information indicating an access status. Storage means (for example, information storage device 34 in FIG. 4) and second transmission means (for example, communication interface unit 20 in FIG. 3, satellite line interface unit) for transmitting an instruction signal for updating from the information provider to the user 19), the management information is read from the information storage device 34 based on the instruction signal sent by the communication interface unit 20 and the satellite line interface unit 19, and the read management information is read by the communication interface unit 41 and the satellite line interface unit 42. It is characterized by transmitting to the information provider by.

An information providing system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is an information recording medium (for example, the information storage device 52 in FIG. 8) in which information provided from an information provider to a user is stored, and the information storage by the user's operation. Transmission means for transmitting an access instruction signal for instructing access to desired information from the device 52 to the information provider (for example, the communication interface unit 41 in FIG. 9)
And management information reading means (for example, CPU 6 in FIG. 9) for reading access management information indicating the access status of desired information recorded in the information storage device 52 based on the access instruction signal sent by the communication interface unit 41.
1) and second transmitting means (for example, the communication interface unit 20 in FIG. 8) for transmitting the access management information to the user.

The information providing system according to a fifth aspect comprises a display means (for example, the display circuit 64 and the display device 65 in FIG. 9) for displaying the access management information transmitted by the communication interface section 20 in the fourth aspect. It is characterized by

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing system for calculating a predetermined display pattern based on the access management information according to the fifth aspect (for example, CPU 6 in FIG. 9).
1) and the display pattern is displayed on the display circuit 64 and the display device 65 based on the calculation result by the CPU 61.

An information providing system according to a seventh aspect is characterized in that the information is displayed for each type of information corresponding to the access management information to be displayed on the display circuit 64 and the display device 65 according to the fifth or sixth aspect.

The information providing system according to claim 8 is characterized in that in claim 5 or 6 or 7, the type is further divided into layers, and the display circuit 64 and the display device 65 display for each layer. .

An information providing system according to a ninth aspect is the communication interface section 20, 41 and the satellite line interface section 19, 4 according to any one of the first to eighth aspects.
Item 2 is characterized in that a telephone line, an integrated service digital network, or satellites are combined in plural ways and that the communication speed between the user and the information provider is asymmetric.

[0017]

The information providing system according to the first aspect of the present invention is a CD-RO which stores information provided from an information provider to a user.
Based on the operation of the user from M5, the desired information is accessed and read by the CD-ROM reading device 31,
-Management interface corresponding to the information read by the ROM reading device 31 to the information provider to the communication interface unit 4
1, transmitted by the satellite line interface unit 42,
The management information sent by the communication interface unit 41 and the satellite line interface unit 42 is stored in the information storage device 12 as access management information indicating the access status.

The information providing system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention provides an access instruction signal for instructing access to desired information from the information storage device 52 that stores information provided by the information provider to the user. The access management information indicating the access status of the desired information recorded in the information storage device 52 based on the transmitted access instruction signal is sent to the information provider via the communication interface unit 41.
Read by U61, communication interface unit 20
Since the access management information is transmitted to the user via the, the access management information indicating the access status for each information provided by the information provider to the user can be efficiently obtained.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the flow of video shopping information, for example. First, the outline of this system will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the video shopping information providing company constitutes an information management system and an authoring system, and is provided with a catalog database, a customer database, and an access frequency / order management database. A user terminal of an individual user is provided with a configuration necessary for communication and information access such as a modem, a controller, a local storage, and a CD-ROM player.

The video shopping information providing company sends the CD-ROM in which the catalog information is recorded to the individual user through distribution. Further, the video shopping information providing company sends the latest information and the updated information to the user terminal of the individual user using the communication line and the satellite. On the other hand, the individual user uses the user terminal to extract the catalog information from the CD-ROM, and based on this information, the individual user uses the communication line to send order information and the like to the video shopping information providing company. The manufacturer or the like ships the product to the individual user based on the order information sent from the video shopping information providing company.

An embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing the overall flow of information in the information providing system of the present invention. In the figure, an information provider system 1 is a system for an information provider to provide information to a user, and is specifically configured as shown in FIG. 3, for example. The user terminal device 2 is a terminal for obtaining information, and is specifically configured as shown in FIG. 4, for example.

Information provider system 1 and user terminal device 2
Is connected via a telephone line, a communication network 4 such as ISDN or BISDN so that information can be transmitted bidirectionally. further,
Although information is connected from the information provider system 1 to the user terminal device 2 via a broadcasting network via the satellite 3, the communication speeds of the communication network 4 and the broadcasting network via the satellite 3 are asymmetric. Has become.

In FIG. 3, the information storage device 11 stores multimedia shopping information and game software information. The storage device 12 stores access management information such as billing information for each user, user management information, and access history information indicating access status.

The encryption circuit 17 performs an encryption process on the information sent from the information provider system 1. Converter 1
8 converts the encrypted information into a predetermined signal. The communication interface unit 20 and the satellite line interface unit 19 are interfaces for connecting to a communication line and a satellite line, respectively.

The ROM 15 stores control programs and management information of the information storage device 11. The CPU 13 executes the control program. The RAM 14 stores information indicating the current situation. The system bus 16 is composed of a data bus, an address bus, and a control bus that connect each system block.

In FIG. 4, the same requirements as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 4, the CD-ROM reader 31 reads the information recorded in the CD-ROM 40. The information storage device 34 stores information received from satellites and communication lines. Each of the communication interface unit 41 and the satellite line interface unit 42 is an interface connected to a communication line and a satellite line. The decryption circuit 39 decrypts the encrypted information sent from the information provider system 1.

The RAM 37 stores temporary information of the control program. The R0M38 stores a control program and management information of the user terminal device 2. The CPU 36 executes the control program. The display circuit 32 signal-processes information so that it can be displayed on a display device 33 such as a television monitor. The operation device 35 is operated by the user, and operations such as selecting information to be displayed on the display device 33 are performed.

Based on the above configuration, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As a communication network of the information providing system of the present invention described here, I
The case where SDN and BISDN are used will be described.

When the user accesses the information from the CD-ROM 40 in which a huge amount of information such as shopping catalog information and game software is recorded, the contents of the recorded information are displayed as a list, and the information management mechanism having a tree structure is used to interactively display the information. With, you can search for the desired information and read or execute it.

First, the user inserts the CD-ROM 40 into the CD-
It is set in the ROM reader 31 (step 101).
The CPU 36 executes the control program, and the CD-ROM 4
Information management information (directory) that manages the contents of all information recorded in 0 is copied to the information storage device 34.

When the user operates the operation device 35 to instruct access to desired information, the CPU 36 reads the directory copied in the information storage device 34 (step 102) and searches (step 103). Further, the CPU 36 reads out the information identification ID of the desired information included in the access management information as the access history information indicating the access status stored in the information storage device 34 (step 104).

The read information identification ID is added to the access management information together with the access date and time, and the access management information stored in the information storage device 34 is updated (step 105). Then, the desired information is accessed (step 106), and when it is completed (step 10).
7), the access information is sent out (step 10).
8) and desired information is displayed on the display device 33.

When the information is obtained from the satellite without obtaining the information from the CD-ROM 40, the information is received from the satellite via the satellite line interface section 42 (step 10
9) The received information is stored in the information storage device 34 (step 110). The rest is similar to the case of obtaining information from the CD-ROM 40.

Next, a case where the access management information is sent from the user terminal device 2 to the information provider system 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In the access information sending process, first, the CD-RO
The telephone number of the information provider is retrieved from the information recorded in M40 or the like (step 201), and copied in the RAM 37. Further, the user ID of the user terminal device 2 currently in use is read from the ROM 38 and copied to the RAM 37 (step 202).

The information provider system 1 is called based on the telephone number stored in the RAM 37 (step 20).
3). When the communication interface unit 20 and the communication interface unit 41 are connected, the CPU 36 adds the user ID to the user / user information of the call setting message via the communication interface unit 20 and the communication interface unit 41 and sends it (step 204).

The CPU 13 retrieves the user management information stored in the information storage device 12 based on the received user ID (step 205), and judges whether this user ID belongs to an authorized user or not. (Step 206). If the user ID is not an authorized user, the communication line is disconnected (step 214) and the process ends.

If the user ID is a legitimate user, the CPU 13 causes the encryption circuit 17, the converter 18, and the communication interface section 20 to output an instruction signal for instructing to send the access management information from the user terminal 2. It is sent to the user terminal device 2 via the server (step 207). At this time, C
The PU 13 searches where the existing access management information exists in the information recording medium 12 from the user ID, and obtains the number and storage position of the information storage device.

The CPU 36 is the communication interface unit 4
2. Based on the instruction signal received through the decryption circuit 39, the access management information stored in the information storage device 34 is read (step 208), and the access management information is again directed to the information provider system through the reverse path. Information is transmitted (step 209).

The CPU 13 stores the received access management information in a predetermined position of the information storage device 12 (step 2).
10). After that, the CPU 13 sends an initialization instruction signal for initializing the access management information stored in the information storage device 34 of the user terminal device 2 to the user terminal device 2 (step 211).

Upon receiving the received initialization instruction signal, the CPU 36 clears the access management information stored in the information storage device 34. Then, the communication line is disconnected and the process ends.

Information storage device 12 of information provider system 1
The information provider charges each user for each information based on the access management information stored in.

In the above embodiment, the case where the access management information is transmitted to the information provider each time the user accesses the desired information has been described, but the information provider system 1
Can send an instruction signal to update the access management information regularly or irregularly as required.

Next, another embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9
In the above, the same components as those described in the previous embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 7 is a system configuration diagram showing the overall flow of information in the information providing system of the present invention. In the figure, an information provider system 1 is a system for an information provider to provide information to a user, and is specifically configured as shown in FIG. 8, for example. The user terminal device 2 is a terminal for obtaining information. Specifically, for example, FIG.
It is configured as shown in FIG.

Information provider system 1 and user terminal device 2
May be connected from the information provider system 1 to the user terminal device 2 via a broadcasting network via a satellite, but the communication speeds of the communication network 4 and the broadcasting network via a satellite are asymmetrical. Has become.

In FIG. 8, the information storage device 51 stores multimedia shopping information and game software information. The storage device 52 stores access management information such as billing information for each user, user management information, and access frequency information indicating access status.

The access frequency information has a data format as shown in FIG. That is, each data has an identification header at the head, and stores the registration date and time of the data, the type of data, the genre, the basic unit of billing, the amount of data, and the like. Access frequency-1 and access frequency-2 store the number of accesses that is the basis of display data creation. The total number of times of access is stored for a plurality of time intervals. Finally, a code indicating the end of data is stored.

The ROM 55 stores control programs and management information of the information storage device 51. The CPU 53 executes the control program. The RAM 54 stores information indicating the current situation.

In FIG. 9, the information storage device 66 stores the information received from the communication line. The RAM 62 copies temporary information of the control program. The R0M63 stores a control program and management information of the user terminal device 2. The CPU 61 executes the control program. The display circuit 64 processes the information so that it can be displayed on a display device 65 such as a television monitor.

Next, the operation of the information providing system of the present invention based on the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 and 12.

First, the user operates the operation device 35 to call the information provider system 1 (step 301). By this operation, the communication interface unit 41 and the communication interface unit 3 are connected by a communication line. The CPU 61 reads out parameters necessary for authentication stored in the ROM 63 and sends them to the information provider system 1 via the communication line. The CPU 53 of the information provider system 1 performs authentication based on this parameter (steps 302, 40).
2).

The CPU 61 transmits a request signal for requesting desired information to the information provider system 1 through the communication line by the operation of the user (step 303). Upon receiving this signal, the CPU 53 (step 403) retrieves the corresponding information from the information storage device 51 (step 405) and R
Copy to AM54.

The CPU 53 retrieves the number of users who are currently accessing the same information (step 405). Furthermore C
The PU 53 reads the access frequencies 1 and 2 included in the information retrieved in step 405 (step 406).
The read access frequencies 1 and 2 are incremented by 1 (step 407) and stored in a predetermined position of the information recording device 51 (step 408). Then, the CPU 53 transmits the information desired by the user and the access management information as the information such as the access frequency, the table of contents information, and the amount of information to the user terminal device 2 through the communication line according to the above-mentioned format (step 409). .

The information displayed on the display device 65 of the user terminal device 2 as the initial screen is the table-of-contents information classified by genre (type). This displayed information is
It is obtained by the CPU 61 calculating the display parameters based on the table of contents information and the frequency information sent from the information provider system 1. When the display parameters are calculated by using, for example, a cylinder, the following formula is applied. Cylinder parameter h (height) = information amount / normalization constant * Image resolution normalization parameter Cylinder parameter l (diameter) = frequency information 1 / normalization constant 2
* Image resolution normalization parameter

Here, the image resolution normalization parameter is obtained from the resolution of the display section and the number of items displayed as a table of contents. As the normalization constant, the normalization constant 1 is obtained from the upper limit of the information amount, and the normalization constant 2 is obtained from the maximum value of the frequency.

The columnar parameters calculated by the CPU 61 are sent to the display circuit 64 and displayed on the display device 65 as a two-dimensional or three-dimensional display. FIG. 13 is an example of the display. Here, (a) News, (b) Notice,
For example, the amount of information is shown in the horizontal direction and the access frequency is shown in the vertical direction according to genres such as (c) shopping and (d) weather forecast. In this way, the user can obtain the access management information relatively easily.

As described above, the display is classified according to genres, but these classifications have a hierarchical structure, and the display parameter is calculated by the CPU 61 for each hierarchy and processed so as to be displayed.

[0059]

According to the information providing system of the first aspect, desired information is accessed by the information reading means from the information recording medium storing the information provided by the information provider to the user by the operation of the user. Then, the management information corresponding to the read information is transmitted to the information provider by the transmission means, and then the transmitted management information is stored in the storage means as the access management information indicating the access status.

Further, according to the information providing system of claim 4, an access instruction for instructing access to desired information by an operation of the user from an information recording medium storing information provided by the information provider to the user. The signal is transmitted to the information provider by the transmitting means, and the access control information indicating the access status of the desired information recorded on the information recording medium is read by the management information reading means based on the access instruction signal transmitted by the transmitting means. After that, since the access management information is transmitted to the user by the second transmission means, it is possible to efficiently obtain the access management information indicating the access status for each information provided by the information provider to the user. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating distribution and information flow of an information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing an overall system configuration of an embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of an information provider system of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of a user terminal device of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a specific operation of the user terminal device of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a specific operation of the information provider system of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a system configuration diagram showing an overall system configuration of another embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of an information provider system of another embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a user terminal device of another embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a format showing a specific structure of access frequency information of another embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a specific operation of a user terminal device of another embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a specific operation of the information provider system of another embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an image diagram of access management information for each type displayed on a display device of another embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Information Provider System 2 User Terminal Device 3 Satellite 4 Communication Line 11, 12, 34, 51, 52, 66 Information Storage Device 13, 36, 53, 61 CPU 40 CD-ROM 31 CD-ROM Reader 14, 37 , 54, 62 RAM 15, 38, 55, 63 ROM 35 Operating device 32, 64 Display circuit 33, 65 Display device 20, 41 Communication interface unit 19, 42 Satellite line interface unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information recording medium storing information provided by an information provider to a user, information reading means for accessing and reading desired information from the information recording medium by an operation of the user, and the information. The information processing apparatus further includes a transmission unit that transmits management information corresponding to the information read by the reading unit to an information provider, and a storage unit that stores the management information transmitted by the transmission unit as access management information indicating an access status. An information providing system characterized in that 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the user is charged based on the access management information. 3. A second storage unit for storing management information corresponding to the information read by the information reading unit as access management information indicating an access status, and an instruction signal for updating from the information provider. Second transmission means for transmitting to the user, and management information is read from the second storage means based on the instruction signal sent by the second transmission means, and the read management information is transmitted by the transmission means. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the information is transmitted to an information provider. 4. An information recording medium in which information provided from an information provider to a user is stored, and an access instruction signal for instructing access to desired information from the information recording medium to the information provider by an operation of the user. Transmitting means for transmitting, management information reading means for reading access management information indicating access status of desired information recorded on the information recording medium based on the access instruction signal sent by the transmitting means, An information providing system comprising: a second transmitting unit that transmits access management information. 5. The information providing system according to claim 4, further comprising display means for displaying the access management information transmitted by the second transmitting means. 6. A calculation means for calculating a predetermined display pattern based on the access management information, and the display pattern is displayed on the display means based on a calculation result by the calculation means.
Information provision system described in. 7. The information providing system according to claim 5, wherein the display unit displays each type of information corresponding to the access management information to be displayed. 8. The information providing system according to claim 5, wherein the type is further divided into layers, and the display unit displays the layers. 9. The transmitting means or the second transmitting means,
9. The information provision according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that a telephone line, an integrated service digital network or a satellite is multi-dimensionally combined, and the communication speed between the user and the information provider is asymmetrical. system.