JPH11136365A - Information distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To distribute latest contents of deeply concerned information by the user and updated timely to a portable terminal of the user and to store the information automatically. SOLUTION: A communication provider 102 distributes the contents of information desired by a user with a timing desired by the user, based on information registered in advance by the user and stored to a large capacity memory 122 of a portable terminal (including a portable telephone set and PHS) 103 automatically, in accordance with the method of a rule decided. The user can acquire the contents of special concern to himself by reproducing repetitively the stored contents at preferred times many number of times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information distribution system, and in particular, to a mobile communication terminal, which is used by an end user who is the owner of a portable terminal to automatically receive content in accordance with the priority of the content desired to be received. The present invention relates to an information distribution system suitable for distributing information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been provided a service for obtaining information of interest by using a portable mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone or a PHS. For example, see “Mobile Communication Business” (Nihon Keizai Shimbun). As described in No. 89, voice information such as traffic, weather, news, leisure information, stocks, foreign exchange, etc. has already been provided as a service of each communication provider. These services have high hopes for telecom providers as they create new markets.

[0003]

Conventionally, in such a service, when a user desires to obtain information, it is necessary to access the service each time. In addition, since the interests of each user differ from the news, the need to acquire only the content of their own interest has not been answered. Furthermore, the quality of the transmitted voice is low due to the restriction of the communication line speed, and it is not always satisfactory for reproducing music or the like.
In terms of communication charges, especially in the case of mobile communications, there is still a sense of cost and such information services that require long-term access are not widely used because of concerns about high communication charges. What we want is the current situation.

[0004] For these reasons, there is a demand for providing the latest information of intriguing information that is required by each user at a low price without causing the user to feel troublesome.

[0005] Generally, information that a user requests to acquire includes:
There are two types of needs: sudden ones that become necessary at that time, and ones that want to obtain the latest content every day for certain similar interests. Conventional information services have not always been particularly suitable for realizing the latter service.

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a content related to a particular interest,
By distributing the content to the users who want to acquire it and automatically storing it on the user's mobile terminal, users can access only the content they need when they want without the hassle of users It is to make.

Another object of the present invention is to enable updated latest contents to be delivered by a user's desired time.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a user selects and registers, in advance, information contents desired to be obtained from a menu provided by a communication provider. Allow users to receive content that interests them. The delivered content is stored in a memory provided in a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or a PHS,
The user can play the stored content wherever he or she likes. Further, when the memory is filled with the content already received, unnecessary content is erased according to a rule specified in advance by the user.
In addition, controls to prevent incoming call guidance such as ringing a bell to notify incoming calls, such as when receiving a normal call, so that sent content is automatically stored without the user's awareness. Do. Furthermore, the transmission fee is reduced by transmitting the content at a time when the network congestion is assumed to be the lowest between the time at which the user desires to acquire the content and the time at which the content is updated.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a system configuration in an embodiment of an information distribution system according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 101 denotes one of content provider systems, 102 denotes a communication provider system, and 1
03 is one of the end user terminals. The communication provider system 102 includes a plurality of content provider systems 101 and end-user portable terminals 103.
23 and 124 are connected. As the communication network 123, a network such as a public line or a dedicated line can be used. As the communication network 124, a mobile communication network using a wireless system such as a mobile phone and a PHS is used. In FIG. 1, a content provider system 101,
Although only one end user terminal 103 is shown, each of them can be connected in plurality.

Each system has a processing unit 10
5, 111, 118, input devices 104, 110, 11
7, output devices 106, 112, 120, storage device 10
7, 113, and 121. The content provider system 101 communicates with the communication provider system 102 via the communication line 123 to communicate with the communication device 10.
8, the end-user portable terminal 103 has a wireless communication device 116 in order to communicate with the communication provider system 102 via the communication network 124. The communication provider system 102 includes the content provider system 101
Communication device 109 for communicating with the communication line 123,
It further includes a wireless communication device 115 for communicating with the end user portable terminal 103, and a timer.

Further, the end user portable terminal 103
In particular, it is provided with a bell 119 which indicates the arrival of the call. This has the same configuration as that of a mobile communication terminal such as an existing mobile phone or PHS. Further, the end user portable terminal 103
Has a large-capacity memory 122. It is conceivable to use an IC card, a flash memory MD, or the like as the large-capacity memory 122. This large capacity memory 122
Is used to store the received content. This memory is removable and can be replaced. As a result, it becomes possible to store contents that the user particularly wants to save, and to edit the contents by using another editing machine. FIG. 2 shows an external view of such an end user portable terminal. In the figure, reference numeral 201 denotes a display screen which functions as one of the output devices 120 and displays character information, and 202 denotes a removable card used as the large-capacity memory 122, for example, a card type having a built-in flash memory. Storage device. Further, the mobile terminal 103
In order to acquire audio information comfortably, it may be provided with headphones not shown.

The business processing in the information distribution system according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into two. One is registration / editing, and the other is distribution / reception.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of registration / editing operations.

First, the user accesses the information service dial of the communication provider system 102 using the end user portable terminal 103 and
03 and the communication provider system 102 are connected (step 301).

After the connection with the end user portable terminal 103 is confirmed, the communication provider system 102 transmits a menu list of the information service dial. This shows a list of keywords for selecting content held by the information service dial (step 302).

When the end user terminal receives the menu list, guidance of the content is displayed on the display screen 202. The user can select from the displayed menu list
In particular, the user selects the content he / she wants to acquire and selects it from the menu (step 303). When the content menu is selected, the priority is registered together with the content so that the user can efficiently obtain the content according to his / her preference (step 304). FIG. 4 shows an example of the flow of registration performed in steps 303 and 304 by transition of a display screen. In this case, when the user selects a content related to sports in particular from the menu as a high-priority content (screen 401), the type of sports corresponding to the lower hierarchy is displayed as a menu (screen 402). Screen 4
02 indicates that the user most prefers to receive the content related to baseball among the contents related to sports, and then prefers to receive the content related to soccer. Thereafter, for each of the selected contents, the priority is registered at a lower level. The screen 403 shows a screen for registering the priority of the baseball team as a lower hierarchy with respect to the highest priority baseball.
It is shown that the user likes content related to the team most and then requests content related to the team B. In this way, by registering the priority of the content requested by the user in advance, it is possible to more efficiently obtain the information requested by the user. Further, when the content capacity is larger than the large-capacity memory for storing content held by the end-user portable terminal, the system refers to this priority and performs automatic storage from the one with the highest priority. This makes it easier for users to get content that is of particular interest to them.

After the selection of the content and the registration of the priority are completed, in step 305, the transmission mode of the content menu desired to be distributed is registered. In this process, information such as when the user wants to acquire the content desired to be received is registered. In the present embodiment, the main object is to acquire content that is updated daily or at regular intervals, such as news and stock information, rather than real-time information search. Typically, for these genres, the keywords that interest users are not dynamic,
Users generally want to access the latest information on similar keywords on a fixed point. Therefore, in this system, once registration is made, the latest content is distributed at a desired timing. What is needed at that time is information on when to acquire new content. In this step, the timing at which the user wants to acquire new content is registered by selecting the transmission mode. FIG. 5 shows an example of the transition of the registration screen. Here, it is selected at what timing the content relating to the A team should be acquired. On the screen 501, a menu of transmission timings is displayed. 1. Every time the content is updated, 2. At a certain time every day; 3. every hour; Things such as by the designated time are shown. For example, if the user selects "4. By the designated time" on this screen, the display screen changes to a screen 502, and a screen for inputting by what time the content is to be obtained and the desired time to obtain is displayed. You. By specifying the time on the display screen, the user can always obtain the latest content at the specified time. Here at 07:00
If the user designates am, for example, the user can move while listening to the latest content related to his favorite A team on the train commuting every day.

In the following step 306, the erasure mode of the content menu desired to be distributed is registered.

In this step, the timing of deleting the acquired content is registered. The memory 122 held by the end user's mobile terminal for storing content is of finite size. For this reason, the free space of the memory 122 will eventually run out. Therefore,
This problem is solved by erasing unnecessary content that has already been acquired so that it can be overwritten. Here, in order to enable such processing to be performed automatically, the user registers the timing of erasing the content in advance. FIG. 6 shows a transition image of the registered recording surface in this processing. Here, it is registered when the content relating to the A team should be deleted. The screen 601 displays, as the erasing timing, “1. after listening” (may be erased once heard), “2. next day” (may be erased the next day), "3. After Hours" (can be deleted after a fixed time elapses), "4. When next content arrives" (can be deleted when next content of similar genre is received), etc. Is displayed as a menu. Here, for example, assuming that the user selects “3. hours later”, a screen 702 for specifying a time until erasure is set.
The input screen switches to. The user specifies the time until erasure on this screen.

In each of the above-described registration processes, various types of information are registered in the distribution desired content table 700 shown in FIG. 7 according to selection and designation by the user. The distribution desired content table 700 has a member No. as an index.
701 are set, and in the order of priority 702, a content menu 703, a transmission mode 704, a designated time 705 when the transmission mode is time designation, an erasing mode 706,
The designated time 707 when the erasing mode is the erasing after a fixed time is registered. Created distribution desired content table 7
00 is the communication provider system 10 in step 307.
2 is sent.

[0022] When distribution desired content table 700 transmitted from end user portable terminal 103 is received by communication provider system 102 (step 30).
8) The communication provider system 102 edits and arranges for each subscriber based on the information set in the distribution desired content table 700, and creates a distribution desired content list for each subscriber (step 309). The distribution list for each subscriber is created for each subscriber and stored in the storage device 113. FIG. 8 is a table configuration diagram of a distribution desired content list for each subscriber.

Content List 800 Desired by Subscriber for Distribution
Member No. The contents 80 to be distributed are arranged in the order of the distribution priorities 802 using 801 as an index.
3, the address 804 of the storage destination of the content, the required number of bytes 805, the transmission mode 806 desired by the user,
A time 807 at which an incoming call is desired, an erasing mode 808, and a designated erasing time 809 are set.

Next, apart from the content desired by the user, a process (step 310) is performed in which the communication provider selects the content to be distributed for each user and adds it to the content to be transmitted. The content transmitted in this manner may be, for example, a guide from a provider, a special menu, an advertisement, or the like. Here, based on attribute data indicating user attributes registered in advance for each user, contents and advertisements suitable for each user are selected in accordance with predetermined rules, and a distribution desired content list 800 for each subscriber is selected. Register additional.

FIG. 9 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of a subscriber attribute table storing attribute data for each user.

The subscriber attribute table 900 contains a member number.
Using 901 as an index, demographic data 902 indicating demographic attributes such as a subscriber's name, age, gender, occupation, and family structure, and psychological data 90 indicating psychographic attributes such as a hobby
3 and past search history information 904.
In step 310, the content appropriate for the user is selected based on the information, and the selected content is added to the content menu of the subscriber table 800.

In step 311, information on who to distribute what content and when is edited and arranged to create a time-based distribution plan table. When the content is updated, the user can always obtain the latest content by transmitting the content to a subject who wants to receive the content each time. However, in that case, the communication fee is high. Therefore,
The user specifies in advance the desired arrival time at which the user wants to acquire the content, and transmits the content at the time when the communication fee is the lowest in the available transmission time period between the content update and the desired arrival time. For example, content can be obtained more cheaply. In this case, the communication provider can promote more effective use of the line.

FIG. 10 is an image diagram of a change in daily traffic volume and an optimum distribution time determination process. Generally, the communication line load is high during the daytime business hours and low during the night. Therefore, the transmission of the content can be efficiently performed by using the time when the communication traffic is low at midnight. Here, an example of determining a distribution time for a user who wants to receive content updated at 15:00 every day by 9:00 every morning is shown. In this case, the content may be delivered between 15:00 and 9:00 the next morning. This time is referred to as a transmittable time zone 1001. Assuming a time 1002 in which it is predicted that the load on the entire communication line is the least, contents are distributed at this time. FIG. 11 shows the flow of the optimum distribution time determination processing.

When the content is updated, a notification is sent from the content provider system to the communication provider system (step 1101). Subsequently, the user desiring to receive the updated content reads the content-specific distribution request table arranged. This makes it possible to know which user wants to acquire the content by when (step 1102). FIG. 12 shows a table configuration diagram of the distribution request table for each content.

Content desired distribution table 1200
Is a content No. as shown in FIG. , For each content to be distributed, information on distribution for each user who wants to distribute the content.
Specifically, each content No. 1201 and the content name 1202, for each telephone number (TEL No.) 1205 of the user who wants to distribute the content,
A transmission mode 1203 and a desired incoming time 1204 are held, and a determined distribution time 1206 determined by the following processing.
Is registered.

Next, a content-specific delivery request table 12
The information of one entry is extracted from 00 and the transmission mode 12
03 is delivered each time the content is updated (value "1")
It is determined whether or not it is (step 1103). Transmission mode 12
03 is not distributed every time the content is updated, it is determined whether there is sufficient time from the time set as the desired transmission time 1204 to the user's desired reception time. Is longer than a preset time (step 1).
104).

If it is determined in step 1104 that there is sufficient time before the desired incoming call time, the time until the load on the entire communication line is expected to be the least until the desired incoming call time is reached. In order to distribute the content, the distribution time is determined using the distribution plan table for each time zone (step 1106). FIG. 13 shows an example of a time-based distribution plan table used in this processing.

The distribution plan table 1300 for each time zone includes, for each time zone 1301, an expected call volume 1302 which is an expected call load, a distribution volume 1303 of contents planned in the time zone, and an expected traffic volume 1302. And a total value 1304 of the distribution amount 1303 and the distribution amount 1303. In step 1106, this table is used to set the transmission time zone up to the time when the content distribution is desired.
The time zone with the smallest total 1304 is selected, and that time is determined as the distribution time. When the distribution time is determined, the determined distribution time is set in the distribution request table 120 for each content.
0 is set in the determined delivery time column 1206.

Next, the content-specific delivery request table 12
It is determined whether or not the above processing has been performed for all entries of 00, and if there are remaining entries, the processing from step 1103 is further continued (step 1107). If the processing has been completed for all entries, content distribution information is set in the hourly distribution plan table for each transmission time determined in step 1106, based on the subscriber-desired content list 800 and the content-desired table 1200. (Step 1108). FIG. 14 shows an example of the hourly distribution plan table created in this way.

As shown in the figure, the hourly distribution plan table 1400 shows that the transmission destination 140
2. Content menu 140 to be delivered to the destination
3. The storage address 1304 and the number of bytes 1405 of the corresponding content are set. To the users other than the user who has completed the transmission in step 1105, the content is distributed according to the hourly distribution plan table 1400 at the appropriate time. Details of content distribution will be described later.

On the other hand, in step 1103, the transmission mode 12
03 is the immediate transmission mode, and step 1
If it is determined that there is not enough time until the desired incoming call time in TEL No. 104, TEL No. According to 1205, the content is transmitted to the user (step 1105), and the process proceeds to step 1107.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the flow of the distribution / reception processing.

When the time to transmit according to the hourly distribution plan table 1400 has come, or when the content is updated and immediate transmission is required, the processing device 1111 transmits the scheduled content. A content transmission process is performed, and the specified content is transmitted to the specified user (step 15).
01).

The end user portable terminal 103 automatically receives the transmitted content (step 150).
2). When receiving the transmission of the content from the communication provider, it is preferable that the terminal automatically judges and stores the content instead of ringing the bell as when receiving a normal telephone. However, when a call is received, the content is not always transmitted from the communication provider, but rather a normal telephone call. Therefore, in step 1502, the receiving process is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. The description will be given in order below.

The end user portable terminal 103 receives the call. At this time, it is not known whether this call is a normal telephone call or the transmission of contents from the communication provider system 102 (step 1601). Upon receiving the call, the end user portable terminal 103 determines whether the call is from the communication provider system 102 based on the telephone number provided by the number display service or the like (step 1602).

In step 1602, when it is confirmed that the provided telephone number is a number preset for the communication provider system 102 and that the call is received from the communication provider system 102, the telephone number is notified. Display, reception bells and lamps are not operated, and the content is automatically stored (step 15).
03) (Step 1603). This is because when a call to send content is received, the user does not need to know that the call has been received,
This is because the content only needs to be automatically stored in the terminal.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the call is not received from the communication provider system 102, a display for notifying the reception, operation of a reception bell or lamp, etc. are performed as a normal telephone reception, and the portable terminal 103 is operated. Activate the reception display function to notify the user of the arrival of the call. Thereafter, the process shifts to a process for a normal telephone (step 160).
4).

When receiving the call from the communication provider system 102, it receives the content sent from the communication provider system 102 and stores the content in the large capacity memory 122 (step 1503).

When the free space of the large capacity memory 122 is sufficiently left, the received content may be simply stored in the open area, but when there is not enough free space, You need to make some free space or overwrite. However, it is not preferable if the user can delete necessary contents without permission. Therefore, in step 1503, any of the stored contents is deleted according to the criteria specified by each user in advance. FIG. 17 shows a detailed flowchart of this process. The details will be described below in order.

Here, first, one packet is received for the minimum transmission unit of the transmitted highest-priority content (step 1701). Then, it is determined whether or not the current free space of the memory is sufficient to store one received packet, that is, whether or not “free space> received packet” (step 1702).

If the free space is not sufficient, it is determined whether there is any erasable content by referring to the erasable content table. The erasable content table is shown in FIG.
As shown in the table, for each content name 1801, the number of bytes 1802, the storage destination address 1803 in the large-capacity memory 122, and an erasable flag indicating whether or not the content can be erased are stored. Erasable flag is "1"
If so, it is determined that the content can be erased (step 1703).

If no erasable content has been found and the transmitted content has not been stored yet, an error message to that effect is displayed, and the automatic content storing process is terminated (step 1707).
On the other hand, if an erasable content is found in step 1703, the content is erased to create an area for storing the received new content.
Returning to the process of 702, the process is continued (step 170).
4).

If it is determined in step 1702 that there is a sufficient free area for storing the received packet, the received packet is stored in that area (170).
5). Then, it is checked whether the next packet exists (step 1706). If there is a packet that has not yet been received, the process returns to step 1701 to repeat the same process. If this is the last packet, the storage process ends.

The received content is stored in the large-capacity memory 122.
When the content is stored, the user can reproduce the content at any time and retrieve the content. Repetitive reproduction is also possible (step 1504). Here, the content is not transmitted in real time, but the content already stored is taken out and reproduced, so that the reproduction process can be performed regardless of the transmission time. For this reason, by storing in advance data that requires a large capacity for transmission, such as music, for example, high-quality sound can be reproduced.

In step 406, the erasable flag 18
04 is set. In this step, the deletion mode of the content menu desired to be distributed is registered (step 3
06) Erasable flag 180 according to the instruction specified in
Set 4.

According to the flow described above, by registering in advance, the user can automatically store only the latest contents he / she particularly desires to acquire in his / her portable terminal. It is possible to play back as many times as you like. Even if the current transmission speed of the network is assumed, it is possible to reproduce information such as music data with high sound quality by transmitting the content in advance over time.

Further, a large amount of data is required for a communication provider, and an increase in income can be expected by creating a new service. In addition, it is possible to use the time zone where the traffic is small, taking into account the operation status of the entire network, so that the service can be provided more efficiently.

[0053]

According to the present invention, the user can repeatedly access only the content which he / she wishes to acquire, automatically stored in his / her own portable terminal, when he / she likes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram in an embodiment of an information distribution system.

FIG. 2 is an image diagram of a portable terminal.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a registration / editing business process.

FIG. 4 is a screen transition diagram showing an example of a screen for registering a priority of a content menu desired to be transmitted.

FIG. 5 is a screen transition diagram showing an example of a registration screen of a transmission mode of a content menu desired to be distributed.

FIG. 6 is a screen transition diagram illustrating an example of a registration screen of a deletion mode of a content menu desired to be distributed.

FIG. 7 is a table configuration diagram of a distribution desired content table.

FIG. 8 is a table configuration diagram of a distribution desired content list for each subscriber.

FIG. 9 is a table configuration diagram of a subscriber attribute table.

FIG. 10 is an image diagram of a change in traffic volume and an optimal distribution time determination process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an optimal distribution time determination process.

FIG. 12 is a table configuration diagram of a distribution request table for each content.

FIG. 13 is a table configuration diagram of a time-based distribution plan table.

FIG. 14 is a table configuration diagram of an hourly distribution plan table;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a distribution / reception process.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a reception process in the end user terminal.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of processing for storing received content in a memory.

FIG. 18 is a table configuration diagram of an erasable content table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101: Content provider system, 102: Communication provider system, 103: End-user portable terminal, 104, 110, 117: Input device, 105, 111, 118: Processing device, 106, 112, 120: Output device, 107, 113 121, storage device, 108, 109 communication device, 115, 116 wireless communication device, 114, timer, 119, bell, 122, large capacity memory

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A communication provider system for distributing various information to a user, an end user terminal for receiving and storing information distributed from the content provider system, and a communication provider system and an end user terminal. An information distribution system comprising: a communication network that transmits information between the end users; wherein the communication provider system includes, for each end user, a menu of information that each end user desires to distribute; A storage unit for registering a desired distribution timing, wherein information to be distributed to an end user terminal of each end user is distributed in accordance with the desired distribution timing based on the information registered in the storage unit; Receives information distributed from the communication provider system and is provided in the end user terminal. Memory in advance are sequentially stored in the information distribution system and outputs the stored information in response to an instruction from the end user. 2. The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein said end user terminal is a telephone which can be carried by said end user, and said communication network is a telephone line. 3. The communication provider system according to claim 1, further comprising, for each of the end users, storage means for storing attribute information indicating characteristics of the end user and a history of information desired to be distributed in the past. The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein similar information is distributed to subscribers having similar attributes based on the information. 4. The communication provider system according to claim 1, wherein the communication provider system prepares, based on the load information for predicting a load for each time of the communication network for each time and the desired distribution timing, in a time zone satisfying the desired distribution timing. 2. The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the information is distributed during a time period when the load on the communication network is minimized. 5. The end user terminal according to claim 1, wherein a method of erasing information specified by the end user and its order are registered in advance, and the new information can be stored in said memory when new information is received. When there is no area, the information stored in the memory is deleted according to the erasing method and the order, and the new information is stored using the storage area that is made available by the deletion. The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein: 6. The end user terminal obtains a telephone number of a caller notified from the telephone line when receiving a call, and determines whether a call received based on the telephone number is a call from the communication provider system. Determining, when the incoming call is from the communication provider system, starting to receive information without calling the end user, and storing the received information in the memory. Item 2. The information distribution system according to Item 2.