JPS63296548A - Information retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the time required for acquisition of information remarkably by connecting a subscriber terminal equipment and an information center via an ISDN exchange and providing an information retrieval request means to the subscriber terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:A subscriber terminal equipment 100, an information retrieval center 200 and an information center 300 are connected via an ISDN exchange 400, and in desiring to acquire information, the subscriber terminal equipment 100 sends the retrieval request of the desired information via one of plural communication channels possessed by its own equipment by using an information retrieval request means 1 to the information retrieval center 200. In receiving the information retrieval request from the subscriber terminal equipment 100, the information retrieval center 200 uses an information transmission command means 201 to inform the identification information of the subscriber terminal equipment 100 supplying the information transmission command and retrieval request via an idle channel of its own equipment to the information center storing the information corresponding to the retrieval request. The information transmission means 301 sends the corresponding information to the corresponding subscriber terminal equipment 100.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an information retrieval system used when obtaining various information using a subscriber communication network.

(Conventional technology) In recent years, with the expansion of subscriber communication networks and the increase in information sources,
BACKGROUND ART A system is in operation that uses subscriber communication networks such as subscriber telephone networks to manually record reservation information for airplanes and trains. FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration. This system includes a subscriber terminal device 1 such as a telephone or facsimile device, an information search center 2 that provides telephone number guidance, and any information such as reservation information that is stored. The information center 3 is connected to an information center 3 via an exchange 4 of the subscriber telephone network. In such a system, subscribers access information center 3.
When attempting to obtain desired reservation information from a subscriber, if the subscriber knows the telephone number of the information center 3, the subscriber can directly call the desired information center 3 from the subscriber terminal device 1 and send the information directly to the information center 3.
hand. On the other hand, if the subscriber does not know the telephone number of the information center, the subscriber first calls the information search center 2 from the subscriber terminal device 1 to find out the telephone number of the desired information center 3, and then A call is made to the information center 3 according to this telephone number to obtain desired reservation information. Therefore, if the subscriber knows the telephone number of the information center 3, there is not much of a problem, but if the subscriber does not know the telephone number of the information center 3, the subscriber must first call the information search center 2 and make a telephone call. The user had to perform two [i11] calling operations, such as asking for the number, once disconnecting the line, and then calling the information center 3 to obtain information, which was extremely troublesome. Also, it took a lot of time to obtain information.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional system, when using an information search center, it is necessary to make at least two calls before obtaining information. The present invention focuses on this point, and has the problem that the operation is complicated and it takes a lot of time to obtain information.
Even when obtaining information using an information search center, it is possible to obtain information by making a single call, thereby simplifying operations for subscribers and providing an information search system that can shorten the acquisition time. That is.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a subscriber terminal device 100 as shown in FIG.
When attempting to obtain desired information by connecting the information search center 200 and at least one information center 300 that has accumulated information via the ISDN exchange 400, the subscriber terminal device 100 requests the information search request means 101. The information search center 20.0 sends a search request for desired information to the information search center 200 via one of the plurality of communication channels possessed by the information search center 20.0, and the information search center 20.0 receives information from the subscriber terminal device 100. When a search request is sent, the information sending instruction means 201 sends the information to the information center 300 in which information corresponding to the search request is stored via an empty channel among the plurality of communication channels owned by the device itself. The information center 3 notifies the information sending instruction and the identification information of the subscriber terminal device 100 that made the above search request, and
00, when information sending instructions and identification information of the subscriber terminal device 100 are notified from the information search center 200, the information sending means 301 selects the relevant information and sends this information to one of the plurality of communication channels. The information is sent to the subscriber terminal device 100 corresponding to the above identification information via an empty channel.

(Function) As a result, when a subscriber wants to obtain desired information, he only needs to make one call from the subscriber terminal device 100 to the information search center 200, which greatly simplifies the operation. becomes.

Further, since the subscriber terminal device 100, the information search center 200, and the information center 300 each use a plurality of communication channels set up with the ISDN exchange to send and receive information, the subscriber terminal device 100 It becomes possible to receive information from the information center 300 while making a search request to the information search center 200. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an information search system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system is an ISDN
(integrated 5 services d
digital network) switch 40,
This ISDN exchange 40 includes a plurality of composite terminal devices 10,
One information search center 20 and a plurality of reservation centers 30a to 30n serving as information centers are connected via a subscriber telephone line 50 and a network terminal (NT) 60, respectively. In addition, in this system, the ISDN exchange 40, the composite terminal device 10, and each center 20° 30a to 30n
A basic interface is defined as a subscriber-side interface between The basic interface uses the existing subscriber telephone line (2-wire metallic) as is, and connects [i4 with two bit/second lines (Bl) on one subscriber telephone line.
channel.

B2 channel) and one 16 bit/second line (D channel) are time-division multiplexed.

By the way, the compound terminal device 10 is an existing data terminal (PC) consisting of a personal computer as a terminal device.
'11 and ISDN standard facsimile machine (FAX)
13, of which the existing data terminal 11 is connected to the network termination device 6 via a terminal adapter (TA) 12.
Connected to 0. Further, this composite terminal device 10 is equipped with information search request control means in addition to normal data transmission/reception control means. This information search request control means controls B1 when a subscriber inputs a request to obtain desired information.
Search request information is sent to the information search center 20 via either the B2 channel or the B2 channel. On the other hand, the information search center 20 is equipped with information sending instruction control means.

When the search request information arrives from the multifunction terminal device 10, this information sending instruction control means sends the search request information to the reservation centers 30a to 30n requested by the multifunction terminal device 10 via an available channel of the B1 channel or the B2 channel. The information sending instruction and the subscriber number information of the multifunction terminal device 10 are sent out. Further, the reservation centers 30a to 30n are provided with an information storage section for storing predetermined reservation information, and further provided with information transmission control means. This information transmission control means is
When an information sending instruction arrives from the information search center 20, the corresponding reservation information is read from the storage section and this information is stored in the 8
The data is sent to the composite terminal device 10 via an empty channel of the B1 channel or the B2 channel.

Next, the information retrieval operation of the system configured as above will be explained. When a subscriber manually issues a search request at the data terminal 11 in an attempt to obtain desired reservation information, the data terminal 11 first sets up a call to the information search center 20 . Then, the ISDN exchange 40 performs connection control according to a predetermined procedure, and the data terminal 11 and the information search center 20 are connected via a vacant B channel, for example, the B1 channel, as shown in FIG. .

In this state, when the data terminal 11 sends search request information to the information search center 20 via the channel B1, the information search center 20 returns a menu of search information to the data terminal 11 in accordance with this request. This menu is displayed on the display section of the data terminal 11, and when the subscriber selects a desired search menu, for example, a menu for airline and train reservation status, the designated information is sent from the data terminal 11 to the information search center 20. Sent.

Now, when the search specification information is sent, the information search center 20 selects each of the reservation centers where the reservation information specified by the above specification information is stored, for example, the reservation center 30a and the reservation center 30n, and reservation center 3
0a and 30n, a call is first set up to the reservation center 30a. Then, predetermined connection control is performed by the ISDN exchange 40, and as a result, channel B2, which is vacant among the channels owned by the information search center 20,
and the vacant channel B1 of the reservation center 30a are selected, and the information search center 20 and the reservation center 30a are connected via these channels B2 and B1.

Then, the information search center 20 uses these channels B2
．． As shown in FIG. 3, information is sent to the reservation center 30a via B1, including sending instruction information and the caller's multifunction terminal device 10.
The subscriber number information is sent. Then, the reservation center 30a searches for the reservation information a of the aircraft desired by subscriber 0 according to the above-mentioned transmission instruction information, and then sets up a call to the corresponding multifunction terminal device 10 according to the subscriber number information. As a result, the ISDN exchange 40 selects the vacant channel B2 of the reservation center 30a and the vacant channel B2 of the multifunction terminal device 10, and selects these channels B2. The reservation center 30a and the facsimile machine 13 of the multifunction terminal device 10 are connected via B2, and thereafter, as shown in FIG. Reservation information a is sent, and this information is recorded and output.

Further, when the transmission of the reservation information a is completed and the line between the reservation center 30a and the facsimile machine 13 is disconnected, the information search center 20
A call is set up for n, and the ISDN exchange 40 is connected between the information search center 20 and the reservation center 30n.

In this case as well, the communication channel is the information search center 2.
0 and the vacant channel B2 of the reservation center 30n. Bl is selected respectively. When this communication channel is set, the information search center 20 sends information to the reservation center 30n via channels B2 and B1, as shown in FIG. sends personal identification number information.

Then, the reservation center 30n sets up a call to the facsimile machine 13 of the multifunction terminal device 10, and as a result, the ISDN switch 40 calls the vacant channel B2. When B2 is selected and the line with the facsimile machine 13 is connected, for example, train reservation information n specified in the sending instruction information is retrieved and this reservation information n is sent to channel B2 as shown in FIG. ．． It is sent to the facsimile machine 13 via B2.

Therefore, in the system of this embodiment, the compound terminal device 10
can simultaneously receive reservation information from the reservation centers 30a, 30n while issuing a search request to the information search center 20, thereby greatly reducing the time required to obtain information. Further, the subscriber only needs to make a search request to the information search center 20, and the reservation center 30a,
Since the information retrieval center 20 instructs the information transmission to the information retrieval center 30n, the subscriber's operation is simpler than in the conventional system in which calls to the information retrieval center and calls to the information center had to be made separately. can be greatly simplified.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, there are two reservation centers 3Qa and 30n.
Although the case where information is manually obtained from a single information center has been described, information may be obtained from one information center, or different information may be obtained from three or more information centers.

Further, in the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a basic interface consisting of two B channels and one D channel is used, but a primary group interface having an even larger number of channels may be used. In addition, information search request means,
The configuration and operation contents of the information sending instruction means and the information sending means, the type of information, the number of information centers, the type of terminal used in the subscriber terminal device, etc. may be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention. Can be implemented.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, a subscriber terminal device, an information search center, and at least one information center that stores information are connected via an ISDN exchange, and desired information is When attempting to obtain the above subscriber terminal equipment,
The information search request means sends a search request for desired information to the information search center via one of the plurality of communication channels possessed by the information search center, and the information search center retrieves information from the subscriber terminal device. When a search request is sent,
Participation in which the information sending instruction means issues an information sending instruction and the above search request to an information center in which information corresponding to the above search request is stored, through an empty channel among the plurality of communication channels owned by the own device. When the information center is notified of the information sending instruction and the identification information of the subscriber terminal device from the information search center, the information center selects the corresponding information by the information sending means and sends this information. By sending information to the subscriber terminal device corresponding to the above identification information via an empty channel among multiple communication channels, even if information is obtained using the information search center, only one transmission is required. It is possible to provide an information retrieval system in which information can be obtained by just making a call, thereby simplifying the subscriber's operation and shortening the acquisition time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the information retrieval system of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the information retrieval system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram used to explain the operation of the system. 4 are schematic configuration diagrams of a conventional information retrieval system. 100...Subscriber terminal device, 101...Information search requesting means, 200...Information search center, 201...Information sending instruction means, 300...Information center, 301...
・Information sending means, 400...ISDN exchange, 10・
...Multiple terminal device, 11...Data terminal (PC), 1
．． 2...Terminal adapter (TA) 1.13...
・Facsimile machine (FAX), 20... Information search center, 30a-30n... Reservation center, 40...
ISDN exchange, 50... subscriber telephone line, 60...
Network terminal equipment (NT), Bl, B2...communication channel. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] A subscriber terminal device, an information search center, and at least one information center that stores information are connected via an ISDN exchange, and the subscriber terminal device has a property that it owns for the information search center. The information search center includes information search request means for sending a search request for desired information via one of a plurality of communication channels, and the information search center performs the search when the information search request is sent from a subscriber terminal device. The information center that stores the information corresponding to the request is instructed to send the information through an empty channel among the plurality of communication channels owned by the own device, and the identification information of the subscriber terminal device that made the search request is sent to the information center that stores the information corresponding to the request. the information center selects the relevant information and sends this information to a plurality of communications when the information search center notifies the information sending instruction and the identification information of the subscriber terminal device; An information retrieval system comprising information sending means for sending information to a subscriber terminal device corresponding to the identification information via an empty channel among the channels.