JPH11163920A - Radio electronic mail system and radio electronic mail method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exchange a mail and to execute a re-transmission processing without being conscious of a wireless radio wave state by providing a radio wave monitoring means for properly monitoring the radio wave state in a portable mail terminal. SOLUTION: A main exchanging means 43 inquires the radio state to the wireless radio wave monitoring means 32 at a timing which a user desires. When the radio wave state is excellent, transmission is judged to be possible, the transmission processing is started and a transmission end is returned to a mail keeping means 42 at the point of time when transmission is ended. Unless the state is excellent and transmission is ended, the electronic mail is stopped when it is not transmitted and is interrupted when it is under transmission. The mail exchanging means 43 preserves the stopped or interrupted electronic mail in the mail keeping means 42 as a transmission waiting state. Then, the radio wave state is periodically monitored by the wireless radio wave monitoring means 32 and the electronic mail stored in the mail keeping means 142 as in the transmission waiting state is transmitted in a mail server 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for transmitting / receiving electronic mail data in a portable mail terminal,
The present invention relates to a method for resending an electronic mail by radio in an unstable radio wave.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of e-mail system has
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-237297, in the manual retransmission request method, a user holding a terminal is placed in a place where radio waves cannot reach from a mail server (in the gazette, this is clearly described as an e-mail system). If so, the user requests retransmission of the information using the telephone terminal.

As disclosed in JP-A-7-162329 or JP-A-9-84130, in a retransmission transmission system based on timer monitoring, a timer is started at the time of transmission, and a response is made within a timeout period after transmission of a radio wave. If there is no resend.

[0004]

However, in the above-described manual retransmission request method, in a wireless environment where the radio wave condition is unstable, radio waves do not reach the other party, so that the user of the terminal that sends and receives e-mails has to be manually operated. When making a request for retransmission, there is a problem that the user has to be aware of the radio wave state one by one. In addition, since a telephone capable of making and receiving calls and a terminal that sends and receives e-mails are separate devices, there is a problem that the terminal that sends and receives e-mails cannot monitor the state of radio waves.

[0005] In the retransmission method using timer monitoring, transmission is performed irrespective of the unstable state of radio waves. Therefore, transmission cannot be performed by merely repeating retransmission unnecessarily, and a plurality of e-mails must be transmitted. In this case, there are problems such as an increase in hardware due to a timer and the like accompanying multi-control by mail transmission and an increase in development due to complexity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem of the prior art, and to enable electronic mail transmission and reception and retransmission processing in a portable mail terminal without being aware of the radio wave condition. To provide a mail system.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a wireless electronic mail system having a portable electronic mail terminal for communicating with a mail server. Is equipped with a radio wave monitoring means for appropriately monitoring the state of the radio wave. If the radio wave monitoring means detects that the radio wave state is bad during or during transmission of the e-mail, the transmission is stopped or interrupted. When the status of the e-mail is improved, the suspended or interrupted e-mail is resent.

The wireless electronic mail system of the present invention is a wireless electronic mail system having a portable electronic mail terminal for communicating with a mail server, wherein the portable electronic mail terminal includes a radio wave monitoring means for appropriately monitoring a radio wave state. If the radio wave monitoring means detects that the radio wave condition is good for a certain period of time when reception is not performed normally to the end due to deterioration of the radio wave condition while receiving the e-mail, the electronic mail server sends the electronic mail to the mail server. It is characterized by requesting resending of mail.

Further, the portable mail terminal has a built-in radio telephone.

[0010] Further, a wireless e-mail method of the present invention is a wireless e-mail method for performing wireless communication between a mail server and a portable mail terminal, wherein the portable mail terminal monitors radio wave conditions as needed. A radio wave monitoring step to perform, an interruption / interruption step of suspending or interrupting the transmission when the radio wave monitoring step detects that the radio wave condition is bad during or during transmission of the e-mail, and the interruption / interruption step A resending step of resending the interrupted or interrupted e-mail when it is detected that the state of the radio wave has been improved after the execution.

[0011] A wireless electronic mail method according to the present invention is a wireless electronic mail method for performing wireless communication between a mail server and a portable mail terminal, wherein the portable mail terminal appropriately monitors a radio wave condition. A radio wave monitoring step, and if the radio wave monitoring step detects that the radio wave condition is good for a certain period when reception is not performed normally until the end due to deterioration of the radio wave condition during reception of the e-mail, the mail is sent. Requesting the server to resend the electronic mail.

A wireless e-mail method, further comprising a wait step for waiting until the radio wave condition is improved after the execution of the suspend / interrupt step.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, the operation will be described below.

In transmitting an e-mail, the radio wave condition is periodically monitored only when there is an e-mail to be transmitted.
If the radio wave condition is good, it is transmitted to the mail server in a wireless environment. During transmission, if the transmitted e-mail cannot be sent due to the deterioration of the radio wave condition, the e-mail is sent again at a certain interval, and when the radio wave condition improves, the unsent e-mail is re-sent. Even if there is an e-mail, it is not necessary to perform multi-processing, so that the production can be simplified, and in terms of operation, useless transmission and associated line congestion can be prevented. In the reception of e-mail, if the e-mail notified by the mail server is not normally received until the end due to the deterioration of the radio wave condition, at regular intervals, when the radio wave condition is improved,
Since the mail server is inquired of the retransmission of the unreceived e-mail, the terminal itself automatically processes and receives the e-mail without the user of the terminal being aware of the radio wave condition.

Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention includes a mail server 1 that sends and receives e-mails to subordinate terminals, and a wireless mail system 2. The wireless mail system 2 includes a mobile phone, a PH
It comprises a wireless communication control means 3 corresponding to a telephone transmitting and receiving radio waves through a wireless telephone band such as an S telephone, and a mail control means 4 including a display unit, an input unit and a data storage unit.

The mail server 1 corresponds to a radio base station in a radio communication system, and constantly transmits radio waves including system ID information.

The wireless communication control means 3 includes an outgoing / incoming call control means 3
1 and a radio wave monitoring means 32, which are executed under program control by a processor. Incoming / outgoing call control means 3
1 controls transmission and reception of radio waves to and from a radio base station. The radio wave monitoring means 32 constantly monitors the level of the electric field strength of the radio wave from the mail server 1 which is a radio base station, and judges that the radio wave condition is bad if the electric field strength is lower than a preset value. If the level is equal to or higher than the level, the radio wave condition is determined to be good.

The mail control means 4 includes a mail editing means 41
, A mail storage means 42, and a mail sending / receiving means 43, which are executed under program control by the processor. The mail editing unit 41 includes a display unit, an input unit, and a data storage unit. The mail storage means 42 is composed of a storage unit composed of a readable and writable storage medium such as an EEPROM or a disk for storing electronic mail, and a control program for managing the input and output. The mail sending / receiving means 43 is constituted by a control program for sending / receiving mails and performing respective retries according to the radio wave condition monitored by the wireless communication control means 2.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The mail created by the operator using the mail editing means 41 is to be transmitted by the user's will, stored in the storage section of the mail storage means 42, and is to be transmitted at the time desired by the user.
3 starts the transmission process. The mail sending / receiving means 32 inquires of the radio wave monitoring means 32 at this timing about the radio wave condition, judges that transmission is possible if the radio wave condition is good, starts transmission processing, and when the transmission is completed, the mail storage means 4
2 is transmitted. If the transmission is not completed due to poor radio wave condition, stop if transmission is not being performed,
If transmission is in progress, stop. The mail transmission / reception unit 43 stores the suspended or interrupted e-mail in the storage unit of the mail storage unit 42 as a transmission waiting state. When there is at least one mail in the transmission waiting state, the mail sending / receiving means 43 periodically monitors the state of the radio wave by inquiring the radio wave monitoring means 32 and waits until the state of the radio wave improves for a certain period of time. Repeat the process. When the state of the radio wave improves for a certain period, the electronic mail stored in the storage unit of the mail storage unit 42 is sent to the mail server 1 while waiting for transmission. If the radio wave condition deteriorates before the transmission is completed, the process is interrupted and the same operation as described above is repeated. If the state of the radio wave is not bad before the transmission is completed, the transmission processing of the mail transmitting / receiving means 43 ends.

In the case of receiving a mail, a notification is sent from the mail server 1 to the wireless mail system 2. In the wireless mail system 2, the incoming / outgoing call control means 31 receives the incoming call and notifies the mail sending / receiving means 43. The mail sending / receiving means 43 stores the mail in the storage unit of the mail storage means 42 when the mail can be normally received. If the message cannot be received normally, the mail transmitting / receiving means 43 periodically monitors the state of the radio wave by inquiring the radio wave monitoring means 32, and repeats the processing until the state of the radio wave improves for a certain period. When the state of the radio wave improves for a certain period, the mail server 1 is requested to resend the e-mail. In this manner, the transmission of the mail from the mail server 1 is repeated.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 2, according to a second embodiment of the present invention, a mail server 5 (same function as mail server 1 in FIG. 1) for delivering mail transmission / reception to subordinate terminals, and a built-in wireless telephone The portable information terminal 6 (corresponding to the wireless mail system 2 in FIG. 1). The portable information terminal 6 with a built-in wireless telephone includes a wireless unit 7 (corresponding to the wireless communication control unit 3 in FIG. 1) for transmitting and receiving radio waves through a wireless telephone band, and a portable information terminal function unit 8 (corresponding to the mail control unit 4 in FIG. 1). ).

The portable information terminal function unit 8 includes a display unit 81,
It is composed of an operation unit 82, a maintenance unit 83, and a control unit 84 for controlling them.

The radio unit 7 includes a control unit 71 and a transmission / reception unit 72
It is composed of

The control unit 71 determines the quality of the radio wave by monitoring the level of the electric field of the radio wave received by the transmission / reception unit 72.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, the e-mail created by the display unit 81 and the operation unit 82 is stored in the storage unit 83 via the control unit 84, and the radio wave condition detected by the radio unit 7 is good. Sometimes sent out. The transmission is also interrupted when the radio wave condition deteriorates during the transmission. If the transmission fails, the e-mail is waited until the radio wave condition is improved, and if it is improved, the e-mail is again taken out from the storage unit 83 in which the e-mail is stored and transmitted according to the retransmission timing instruction managed by the control unit 84.

At the time of reception, the radio unit 7 receives a call, and passes the received data (e-mail) to the control unit 84 of the portable information terminal function unit via the control unit 71. Upon receiving the data, the control unit 84 stores the data in the storage unit 83 and, if necessary, displays the display unit 81.
Is notified and displayed on the display unit 81. If you do not receive your email successfully,
The control unit 84 confirms the radio wave state by inquiring the control unit 71. The control unit 71 notifies the control unit that the state has become normal when the radio wave condition is improved for a certain period. The control unit 84 that has received the notification transmits a retransmission request message to the mail server 1 via the wireless unit 7. Then, the message is transmitted from the mail server 1 again.
Automatically receive.

As described above, electronic mail can be automatically transmitted and received regardless of the state of radio waves. For this reason, transmission can be activated even in a place where the radio wave condition is poor, so that the user only has to activate transmission when e-mail transmission is desired, and it is possible to prevent forgetting to transmit.

Since transmission / reception is performed after confirming the radio wave condition, useless communication and congestion of the line due to the communication can be prevented.

Further, since the portable telephone has a built-in radio unit having a radio function, the operator can transmit and receive electronic mail without being conscious of the radio wave condition or the status of the apparatus.

[0033]

As described above, even if the transmission of the e-mail fails, the resending procedure is performed without the intervention of the operator, so that the operator who sends and receives the e-mail in the wireless environment finishes the operation of the transmission. At this stage, it can be regarded as completed without waiting for completion of transmission / reception. In addition, since transmission can be activated even in a place where the radio wave condition is poor, it is sufficient for the user to activate transmission when e-mail is to be transmitted, so that forgetting to transmit can be prevented.

Furthermore, even if the transmission of the mail fails, the resending procedure is performed without the intervention of the operator, so that the operator who transmits or receives the e-mail in the wireless environment can efficiently operate without being conscious of the radio wave condition. Can send or receive good email.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 5 mail server 2 wireless mail system 3 wireless communication control means 4 mail control means 6 wireless telephone built-in portable information terminal 7 wireless section 8 portable information terminal function section 31 outgoing / incoming call control means 32 wireless radio wave monitoring means 41 mail editing means 42 Mail storage means 43 Mail sending / receiving means 71 Control unit 72 Transmission / reception unit 81 Display unit 82 Operation unit 83 Maintenance unit 84 Control unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A wireless electronic mail system having a portable mail terminal that communicates with a mail server, wherein the portable mail terminal includes a radio wave monitoring unit that appropriately monitors a radio wave state, and transmits or transmits an e-mail. If the radio wave monitoring means detects that the radio wave condition is bad, the transmission is stopped or interrupted.If the radio wave monitoring device detects that the radio wave condition has become better, the transmission is stopped or interrupted. A wireless e-mail system wherein resending is performed. 2. A wireless electronic mail system having a portable mail terminal for communicating with a mail server, wherein the portable mail terminal includes a radio wave monitoring means for appropriately monitoring a radio wave condition, When reception is not performed normally until the end due to deterioration of the radio wave, if the radio wave monitoring means detects that the radio wave condition is good for a certain period, it is requested to request the mail server to resend the e-mail. Characterized wireless e-mail system. 3. The wireless electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein the portable mail terminal has a built-in wireless telephone. 4. A wireless electronic mail method for performing wireless communication between a mail server and a portable mail terminal, wherein the portable electronic mail terminal monitors a radio wave state as appropriate, When the radio wave monitoring step detects that the radio wave condition is bad during or during transmission of the radio wave, the radio wave condition becomes good after the execution of the stop / pause step. A resending step of resending the interrupted or interrupted e-mail when the e-mail is detected. 5. A wireless electronic mail method for performing wireless communication between a mail server and a portable mail terminal, wherein the portable electronic mail terminal monitors a radio wave state as appropriate, and receives an electronic mail. If the radio wave monitoring step detects that the radio wave condition is good for a certain period when reception is not performed normally until the end due to deterioration of the radio wave condition during the reception, the mail server requests the mail server to resend the e-mail. And a requesting step of performing the following. 6. The wireless electronic mail method according to claim 4, further comprising a wait step of waiting until the radio wave condition is improved after the execution of the stop / interrupt step.