JPH10143458A - Information providing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing system with which it is not necessary to pay a communication tariff more than required when no information file to be downloaded exists and further, average time from the update of information held in server equipment to the download of that information is shortened. SOLUTION: Server equipment SB is provided with a data base DB recording call originating sub-address information or the like corresponding to communication lines L1 and L2, to which respective pieces of terminal equipment T1-T3 are connected, information held in the respective pieces of terminal equipment T1-T3, and the version numbers of that information. In this case, when an incoming call from any terminal equipment is detected, the version number of information held in that terminal equipment is retrieved from the data base DB based on the call originating sub-address information or the like reported from a communication network NW having a call originating sub-address information reporting function, etc., and only when it is confirmed this retrieved version is not the latest one, responding operation is performed to that incoming call.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an online information providing system in which a server device and a terminal device are connected via a communication line, and in particular, updates information used as a local function of the terminal device. The present invention relates to an information providing system for efficiently distributing information to be updated to each terminal device when necessary.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of computer communication, many online information providing services have been realized in which a terminal device and a server device are connected via a communication line, and various information is provided from the server device via the communication line. News and weather forecasts are generally provided as information provided by these online information providing services. In addition to these, various terminal device program software that operates as a local function of the terminal device and menus of the online information providing service are provided. A list may be provided.

[0003] There are roughly two types of modes in which a user uses these provided information via a terminal device. First
Is a form in which information is provided online while accessing the server device. In the case of using information such as news or weather forecast, the first form is used. In this case, the user reads the news and weather forecast information displayed on the terminal device one after another.

[0004] In a second mode, information stored in a server device is temporarily downloaded to a terminal device, and in general, the connection with the server device is disconnected, and then the downloaded information is used. It is. When receiving the provision of various terminal device program software, the second mode is adopted, and the game programs and various utility programs stored in the server device are downloaded to the terminal device, and the terminal device uses this as a local function. I do.

[0005] Also, individual service providing server devices are provided for different services such as domestic news and foreign news, and terminal devices are provided for services in which access numbers to the server devices providing individual services are different from each other. In the accessing system, the terminal device has a service menu in which the access number list of these individual service providing server devices is recorded,
The terminal device individually accesses each individual service providing server device according to the service menu. The case where the information called this service menu is provided from the server device which manages this service menu is also classified into the second mode. Note that information to be downloaded is generally managed and processed in the form of an information file.

[0006] Further, there is also a usage form in which even information generally used in the first form, such as news or weather forecast, is once downloaded to a terminal device and then displayed. .

[0007]

Among the information provided by the online information service, news and weather forecasts are:
The information content is updated every day or every hour. On the other hand, the update of the program executed by the terminal device or the information file of the service menu generally has no periodicity.

When such information is updated by the server device, the server device storing the information is automatically transmitted to each terminal device in order to download the updated information to the terminal device promptly. There is a method of making a call and forcibly downloading it.

However, in a terminal device composed of a personal computer, generally, if the terminal device is turned off, it cannot respond to an incoming call even if the terminal device is turned off. In such a case, the terminal device is normally powered off in the unused state.

As another method for quickly downloading updated information to the terminal device, the terminal device periodically sends a call to the server device, and the server device responds to the call, and the terminal device stores what information. Then, the version number of the information is heard from the terminal device, and it is checked whether the information held by the terminal device is old information. If the information is old information, the server device A method for downloading new information from a user to a terminal device is known. For information that updates periodically, such as news or weather forecasts,
New information is often delivered to terminal devices.

On the other hand, for a program or a service menu that is not updated regularly, the terminal device accesses the server device to know whether or not the information held by the server device has been updated. You need to ask.

However, when the terminal device accesses the server device regularly as described above, the information stored in the server device is not always updated every time the terminal device accesses. Nevertheless, a call is made to the communication line, a response is made to the call, and once a communication path is established, a communication fee is generally required for this communication. Therefore, the communication fee is unnecessarily paid even though the download is not performed, which is a great disadvantage for the user. On the other hand, if the server device responds to the call from the terminal device, a certain amount of time must elapse before the communication path is established, and during that time, the communication between the terminal device and the server device takes place. CPU power will be taken for this communication process.

That is, in the above-described conventional example, invalid communication processing without downloading information may be performed. In this case, the terminal device and the server device spend a lot of valuable time and CPU power. There is a problem that it is inevitable.

By the way, in order to reduce the amount of precious time and CPU power to be divided between the terminal device and the server device, the terminal device and the server device need to have a terminal device and a server device that hold only information that is updated irregularly. It is conceivable to extremely reduce the frequency of accessing the server device from the device. However, if the frequency of access from the terminal device to the server device is reduced, even if the information stored in the server device is updated, the interval between access to the server device from the terminal device is long, so that the server device holds the information. There is a problem that the average time from when the information is updated to when the updated information is downloaded to the terminal device becomes long.

The reason that the information held by the server device is updated is that there is some problem with the old information, and if the updated information is not immediately downloaded to the terminal device, the terminal device may have a bug. The terminal device is wasted on the individual service providing server device whose service has been stopped due to the presence of the old program software that is not functioning or is insufficiently functional, or because the old service menu is used. A situation occurs in which access is repeated.

According to the present invention, if there is no information file to be downloaded, a communication path is not established between the terminal device and the server device, so that there is no need to pay a communication fee unnecessarily. CPU power of the server device and the terminal device is not wasted ineffectively,
Moreover, it is another object of the present invention to provide an information providing system in which the average time from when the information held by the server device is updated to when the updated information is downloaded to the terminal device is short.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a server device, a plurality of terminal devices, and a communication network connecting them, and the terminal devices store information stored in each terminal device in a local function. The server device holds the latest version of the information, and the terminal device connects to the server device via the communication network to obtain the latest version of the information. A communication network having a notification function is used, the terminal device sets the version number of the information held in the transmission subaddress information, and when the server device detects an incoming call from the terminal device, the transmission subaddress notified via the communication network. Find the version number set in the information, and if that version number is lower than the version number of the latest version of the information, respond to the incoming call. Performs the operation and downloads the latest version of the information held by the server device to the terminal device. On the other hand, if the version number is the same as the version number of the latest version of the information, it sends a response signal to the incoming call. It is a system that controls not to return.

The present invention also provides a user network as a communication network instead of a communication network having an originating subaddress information notification function.
A communication network having a user information notification function is used. The terminal device sets the version number of the information held in the user / user information, and when the server device detects an incoming call from the terminal device, the terminal device transmits the version number via the communication network. This is a system for obtaining a version number set in the notified user / user information.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information providing system IS1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The information providing system IS1 includes a terminal device T1
To T3, the server device SB, the communication network NW that connects the terminal devices T1 to T3 and the server device SB, the database DB managed by the server device SB, and the first network device that is drawn into the server device SB from the communication network NW. Communication line L1
And a second communication line L2 drawn from the communication network NW to the server device SB.

The communication network NW has a calling sub address information notifying function, that is, a function of automatically notifying the calling sub address information at the terminal when sending an incoming call from the terminal device to the server SB.

In the information providing system IS1, the server device SB holds information files F1, F2, F3, and F4, and the terminal device T1 also stores the information files F1, F2, and F4.
3 and F4, and the terminal device T2 also has the information file F
1, F2, F3, and F4, and the terminal device T3 also has information files F1, F2, F3, and F4.

The first communication line L1 and the second communication line L2 only need to be logically independent of each other.
For example, a single line may be contractually used, or lines having different sub-addresses may be used.

FIG. 2 shows a terminal device T in the above embodiment.
1 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between each information file held by 1 and the version number of each information file.

When the terminal device downloads each information file from the server device, it updates the version number to the version number of the downloaded information file.

Specific examples of each information file include game software operable on a terminal device, a list of access numbers of various communication services, and the like. The version number of each information file in the information providing system IS1 starts from 1, and as the version becomes newer,
Its version number increases.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the information files held by the server SB and the version numbers of the information files in the above embodiment.

Each of the information files F1 to F4 held by the server SB is updated by an administrator or the like of the server SB, and when at least one of the information files F1 to F4 is updated, FIG. The version number of the information file being updated also changes according to the update.

As is clear from a comparison between FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, at present, among the information files F1 to F4 held by the terminal device T1, the information files F2 and F4 are stored.
Is the latest, but the versions of the information files F1 and F3 are not the latest.

Each of the terminal devices T1 to T3 transmits a signal to the server device SB using the power-on of each terminal device as a trigger or the internal clock information of each terminal device as a trigger. In this case (when the terminal device is transmitted to the server device SB at the time of turning on the power of the terminal device or every predetermined time triggered by the internal clock information of the terminal device), the transmission destination is drawn into the server device SB. This is the first communication line L1. On the other hand, each terminal device T1 to T1
In a case where the information file held by each terminal device is damaged due to an operation error of the user in T3 or the like, and the server device SB is inevitably downloaded with the information file, each terminal device is connected to the server. An outgoing call is made to the second communication line L2 drawn into the device SB.

FIG. 4 shows a terminal device T in the above embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of originating sub-address information that 1 sends to the server device.

The terminal device T1 sets each of the information files and its version number shown in FIG. 2 in the originating sub-address information. The format of the source sub-address information is composed of one byte of the source sub-address information element identifier, one byte of the source sub-address content, one byte of the sub-address type, and a maximum of 23 bytes of the sub-address information. Here, one byte of the source subaddress information element identifier is set to 109, one byte of the source subaddress content is set to 1, and one byte of the subaddress type is 20 bytes.
It is set to 0, and the maximum of 23 bytes of sub address information is composed of 2 bytes each of an information file type and its version number. For example, "F1", "10", "F"
2 "," 10 "," F3 "," 5 "," F4 "," 5 "
It is set as follows.

As a communication network, a communication network having a user / user information notification function may be used instead of a communication network having a calling sub address information notification function. In that case, the information file type and its version number may be set as the user / user information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the user / user information in the above embodiment.

The format of the user / user information includes a user / user information element identifier of 1 byte, a length of 1 byte of user / user information, a protocol identifier of 1 byte, and a maximum of 260 bytes of user information.
Here, one byte of the user / user information element identifier is 1
26, the length of one byte of the user information is set to 19, and one byte of the protocol identifier is set to 0.
, And a maximum of 260 bytes of user information is composed of two bytes each of an information file type and its version number, and is “F1”, “10”, “F2”, “10”, “F”.
3 "," 5 "," F4 ", and" 5 ".

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an incoming call operation in the server apparatus SB in the above embodiment using the calling sub-address information.

First, for example, when the server device SB detects an incoming call from the terminal device T1, the server device SB
It is determined whether the incoming call is for the first communication line L1 or the second communication line L2 (S1). If the incoming call is for the second communication line L2, the incoming call is determined. Immediately responds to (S2)
The information file requested by the terminal device T1 is downloaded to the terminal device T1 (S3). Then, the communication ends (S21).

On the other hand, when the incoming call from the terminal device T1 is an incoming call to the first communication line L1 (S1), the source sub-address information is transmitted from the calling subaddress information notified from the communication network NW at the same time as the incoming call signal. The information file held by a certain terminal device T1 and the version number of this information file are acquired (S11). Then, the version number of each information file held by the terminal device T1 is compared with the version number of each information file held by the server device SB, and among the information files held by the terminal device T1, Then, a search is made for an information file in which the version number of the information file held by the server SB is newer than the version number of the information file held by the terminal device T1 (S12).

As a result of this search, if no information file newer than the version number of the information file held by the terminal device T1 exists in the information files held by the server device SB itself, Since all of the information files held by T1 are the latest version, there is no need to download, and the server apparatus SB ends the communication without responding to the incoming call (S21).

As described above, after all the information files held by the terminal device T1 are found to be the latest versions, the server device SB does not respond to the terminal T1, so that the communication fee at the terminal device T1 is free. become. In addition, since the server device SB does not respond to the terminal T1 for an incoming call from the terminal device T1, the server device SB responds to the outgoing signal from the terminal device T1, and the terminal device T1 does not respond until a communication path is established. There is no harm that valuable time and CPU power are largely devoted to the server and the server SB. In addition, an incoming call from the terminal device T1 via the first communication line L1 occurs at a predetermined time or the like when the power of the terminal device T1 is turned on. Therefore, an interval at which the terminal device T1 accesses the server device SB is short. The average time from when the information held by the server device SB is updated to when the updated information is downloaded to the terminal device T1 is short.

When the communication network NW has an advanced signaling system such as ISDN, the server device SB actively releases the call. That is, based on the originating sub-address information,
The server device SB notifies that there is no need to respond to the terminal device.
Is determined (S12), the communication is immediately terminated before outputting the busy tone (21).

On the other hand, as a result of the search, when it is found that the version of the information file held by the terminal device T1 is older than the version of the information file held by the server device SB (S12), Since the old information file in the terminal device T1 needs to be updated, the server device SB responds to the incoming call from the terminal device T1 (S13), and corresponds to the old information file held by the terminal device T1. A new version of the information file is downloaded to the terminal device T1 (S14). Then, the communication ends (S21).

The operation when there is an incoming call from the terminal devices T2, T3 and T4 is the same as the above operation when there is an incoming call from the terminal device T1.

Next, when the version of the information file held by the terminal device T1 is shown in FIG. 2, and when the version of the information file held by the server device SB is shown in FIG. The specific operation when an incoming call is received on the communication line L1 is as follows.

The version number of the information file held by the terminal device T1 is compared with the version number of the information file held by the server device SB, and the server device SB responds to an incoming call from the terminal device T1. Since the version numbers of the information files F1 and F3 held by the terminal device T1 are old, the server device SB responds to the incoming call from the terminal device T1.

When a call is answered (S2, S1
3) Download the latest version of the information file held by the server device SB to the terminal device. However, FIG.
In the example shown in FIG. 3, when an incoming call is received from the terminal device T1, the information files F1 and F3 having the oldest version numbers among the information files held by the terminal device T1, so the file to be actually downloaded is Information files F1 and F3.

When the terminal receives the download of the information file, the terminal updates the version number of the downloaded information file. When the download operation ends and the database update ends, the server device ends the incoming operation and returns to the standby state.

When at least one of the information files held by the server SB is updated by an administrator of the server SB, the version number of the updated information file becomes new. The contents of the table shown in FIG. 3 change accordingly. After at least one of the information files held by the server SB is updated as described above,
If there is an incoming call on the first communication line L1, regardless of which terminal device it is from, the server device SB immediately responds, and the updated information file is downloaded to the terminal device.

When there is an incoming call from each of the terminal devices T1 to T3 to the second communication line L2 to which the server device SB is connected, the server device SB sends the incoming call to the second communication line L2. Respond unconditionally to After this response, when the communication path is established, the server device downloads the requested information file from the terminal device.

That is, when the terminal device makes a call to the server device SB, among the information files used by the terminal device, the same information file held by the server device SB with the new version number is used. The server SB responds only when there is a server, otherwise the server SB does not respond. Therefore, if the information file is not downloaded between the server device SB and the terminal device, the server device SB does not respond, so that the communication path is not invalidated.
As a result, unnecessary communication charges and invalid CPU power are not consumed, and the terminal device does not hinder the frequent calling of the server device SB. As a result, the information file held by the terminal device is It is always an information file of the latest version number.

It should be noted that, if the user performs an operation, or
If the terminal device itself is malfunctioning, the information file held by the terminal device may be damaged. In this case, in the above embodiment, unless a new version number of the information file held by the server device SB is registered (unless the version number becomes new), the terminal device transmits the information file via the first communication line L1. When the server device SB sends a call to the server device SB, the server device SB does not respond to the call, so that the information file cannot be downloaded and the damaged information file cannot be repaired. However, in this case, if the terminal device selects the second communication line L2 and the terminal device makes a call to the selected second communication line L2, the server device SB always responds. Information files can be downloaded.

Further, in the above embodiment, if the terminal device attempts to transmit to the server device SB each time the power is turned on, the information file in the server device SB is updated when the information file is updated. The information file is delivered to the terminal device before it is actually used by the terminal device.

The operation when a communication network having a user / user information notification function is used instead of a communication network having a source sub address information notification function is also performed in a communication network having a source sub address information notification function. This is the same as the above operation.

In the above embodiment, the information providing system I
In S1, only three terminal devices exist, but four or more terminal devices may be connected. Further, two communication lines L1 and L2 are connected to the server device SB by the communication network N.
Although it is drawn from W, the number of communication lines drawn from the communication network NW may be three or more. However, in this case, the third or more communication lines are the first communication line and the second communication line.
The server device S determines which classification of the communication line belongs to
Register in B.

In the above embodiment, four types of information files are stored. However, five or more types of information files may be stored, or three or less types may be stored.

[0057]

According to the present invention, when the version number of the information file held by the terminal device and the version number of the information file held by the server device all match, the terminal device becomes the server device. , The server device does not perform a response operation, so that a communication path is not established between the terminal device and the server device even though there is no information file to be downloaded. In addition, there is an effect that it is not necessary to pay the communication fee unnecessarily, and the CPU power of the server device and the terminal device is not wasted unnecessarily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an information providing system IS according to an embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between information files held by a terminal device T1 and version numbers of these information files in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship between information files held by a server device SB and version numbers of these information files in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a setting example of calling sub address information in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a setting example of user / user information in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an incoming call operation in the server device SB in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 T1 to T3: terminal device, NW: communication network, L1: first communication line, L2: second communication line, SB: server device, DB: database, F1 to F4: information file.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masaji Katagiri Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A terminal device comprising a server device, a plurality of terminal devices, and a communication network connecting them, wherein the terminal devices utilize information stored in each terminal device as a local function, and An information providing system for acquiring the latest version of the information by connecting the terminal device to the server device via the communication network, wherein the terminal device has the latest version of the information; The terminal device sets the version number of the information held by the terminal device in the calling sub-address information, and notifies the server device via the communication network when the server device detects an incoming call from the terminal device. The server device obtains the version number set in the generated calling subaddress information, and the version number is the latest version of the information. If the version number is older than the version number, the server responds to the incoming call and downloads the latest version of the information held by the server device to the terminal device, and the version number is the version number of the latest version of the information. In the same case, the information providing system controls so as not to return a response signal to the incoming call. 2. A terminal device comprising a server device, a plurality of terminal devices, and a communication network connecting them, wherein the terminal devices utilize information stored in each terminal device as a local function, A terminal device connected to the server device via the communication network to acquire the latest version of the information, wherein the terminal device connects to the server device via the communication network to obtain the latest version of the information; A communication network having a function is used, and the terminal device sets a version number of the information held by the terminal device in the user / user information. When the server device detects an incoming call from the terminal device, the terminal device communicates via the communication network. The server device obtains the version number set in the user / user information notified by the server device, and the version number is the latest version of the information. If the version number is older than the version number, the server responds to the incoming call and downloads the latest version of the information held by the server device to the terminal device, and the version number is the version number of the latest version of the information. In the same case, the information providing system controls so as not to return a response signal to the incoming call. 3. The server according to claim 1, wherein the server device is connected to a communication network via a first communication line and a second communication line, and an incoming call is received via the first communication line. If the terminal device confirms that the terminal device has the latest version of the information, the terminal device is controlled not to return a response signal. An information providing system which responds to the request and controls so as to download the information. 4. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein each time the power of the terminal device is turned on, the terminal device is controlled to make a call to the server device.