KR19980018983A - Information Transmission System - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an information transmission system capable of efficiently and smoothly transmitting and receiving information to be transmitted between an information storage providing apparatus and a plurality of information receiving apparatuses. In order to achieve the above object, the information accumulation providing apparatus in the information transmission system according to the present invention includes means for broadcast transmission of at least one of category information, contract information, and time information associated with transmission target information, Each of the information apparatuses of the apparatus is provided with means for determining whether information to be transmitted is necessary, available or up to date.

Description

Information transmission system

The present invention relates to an information transmission system in which an information storage providing apparatus transmits information to an information receiving apparatus via a network.

Many information transmission systems exist in which a user extracts information accumulated in an information storage providing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a server) through a network by using an information receiving apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a user terminal). Even exists.

In such an information transmission service on the Internet, a user first requests a server to access a server that stores data necessary for the user, and to transmit main data (Home Page). By the access, the server side recognizes the user and transmits main data to the user. In the case where the user has received the main data from the server, if necessary, the server selects the detailed data by referring to the list of the main data and supplies the detailed data about the user. In response to this request, the server supplies the requested detailed data to the user. By this technique, a data transmission service on the Internet is established. Similarly, in information transmission systems in other dedicated or general purpose networks other than the Internet, servers have supplied information to users in response to user requests.

In the conventional information transmission system, the user can receive only the information already accumulated at the time of access. Thus, the user cannot then capture any updates of the received information.

For example, if there is any change, some information providers or some server side frequently update the game's game history information and the horse's odds. Therefore, the conventional information system requires users who request updated information to frequently access the server. However, this information is not always updated. As a result, their repetitive access often ends up in unnecessary effort. Given the amount of traffic in the network, such unnecessary access harms an efficient information transmission system. In particular, in the case of an information transmission system accommodating the terminals of many users, frequent access is likely to cause congestion.

In addition, there was another method for capturing updated information used in the text broadcasting system, that is, a method in which the server side continuously supplied the latest information to the communication network and grasped the information that the user considered necessary. However, according to this method, the user side accepts a lot of information unnecessary to the user, so that the user can obtain only some information necessary for the user. Despite the small amount of information needed by the user, this method is difficult to say as an efficient information transmission system.

In addition, this information always included corrections and renewal times, which are only available as their own corrections and renewal times.

In spite of the correct update time, if the clock of the user's terminal is not correct, the terminal which attempts to perform some processing based on the update time will cause the following problems. That is, if a terminal is designed to destroy some information including its future update time by its clock, because of the incorrect clock, the terminal must discard all information sent by the server.

Also, the amount of information to be transmitted is very large. In this case, the information must be divided into multiple parts. However, such parts may reach the user in a different order than the original order depending on the network conditions. In packet communication, the order of the received parts is ascertained with reference to the sequence number of the packet. If the order is found to be different from the original order, the parts cannot reproduce information, i.e., the irregular procedure cannot correct such an irregular order.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information transmission system, an information storage providing apparatus, and an information receiving apparatus that can transmit or receive information of a transmission target efficiently or smoothly based on a precise time and irrespective of an irregular order of a series of information. It is in doing it.

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a server in the information transmission system of the first embodiment.

2 is a block diagram showing a network configuration of an information transmission system;

3A to 3D are diagrams showing the format of the information transmission packet of the first embodiment.

4 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a user terminal in the information transmission system of the first embodiment;

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the encryption key generation processing of the first embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a server in the information transmission system of the second embodiment.

7A to 7E are diagrams showing the format of the information transmission packet of the second embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal in the information transmission system of the second embodiment.

9 is a time sequence showing the operation of the information transmission system of the second embodiment.

* Explanation of symbols on important parts of drawing

1-1 to 1-m: user terminal (information receiving device)

2-1 to 2-n: Server (information accumulation provision device)

3: network 10: terminal transceiver

11: information type identification unit 12: time information identification unit

13 decryption unit 14 decryption key storage unit

15: information processing unit 16: information storage unit

17: information input / output unit 20: information input / output unit

21: information retrieval management unit 22: information accumulation unit

23: encryption unit 24: encryption key generation unit

25: time information generation unit 26: information type generation unit

27: server transceiver

According to an aspect of the present invention, in an information transmission system based on a network comprising an information accumulation providing apparatus for providing information of a transmission target and a plurality of information receiving apparatuses for receiving information of a transmission target, And means for generating first category information indicating the type of transfer target information, and means for broadcast transmission of the category information over a network, wherein each of the plurality of information apparatuses is provided with respect to the required transfer target information. Means for accumulating the category information, means for receiving the first category information, and means for determining whether the transmission target information is needed from the information accumulation providing apparatus by comparing the second category information with the first category information. And means for receiving the transmission target information from the information accumulation providing apparatus when determining that the transmission target information is necessary.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in a network based information transmission system including an information accumulation providing apparatus for providing transmission target information and a plurality of information receiving apparatus for receiving information of the transmission target, the information accumulation providing apparatus is Means for generating contract information indicative of charges for the transmission target information, and means for broadcasting and transmitting contract information through a network, wherein each of the plurality of information apparatuses includes means for receiving contract information and corresponding contract information. Means for determining, based on the contract information, whether or not the transmission target information is receivable, and means for receiving the transmission target information when determining that the transmission target information is receivable.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, in a network based information transmission system including an information accumulation providing apparatus for providing transmission target information and a plurality of information receiving apparatus for receiving transmission target information, the information accumulation providing apparatus is Means for updating the transmission target information, means for generating time information for updating the transmission target information, and means for broadcasting the time information via a network, wherein each of the plurality of information apparatuses includes: Means for receiving time information, means for determining whether the transmission object information is the most recent, and means for receiving the transmission object information when determining that the transmission object information is the most recent.

First embodiment

Hereinafter, the information transmission system of the first embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the information transmission system of the first embodiment, when the information is updated, the server transmits the update information and the category information on the network, the user terminal captures the category information, classifies the updated information with reference to the category information, and updates a lot. A real-time information transmission service operation for acquiring only updated information required by the user side of the obtained information.

Fig. 2 shows a network configuration of the information transmission system of this first embodiment. In Fig. 2, the information transmission system includes several user terminals (information receiving apparatuses) 1-1 to 1-m for receiving information, and at least one server (information storage providing apparatus) 2-1 to 1 for providing information. 2-n), all of which are connected via a network 3.

For the purposes of the present invention, the network 3 should be provided with a broadcast function. However, it may be a private or public network. Its shape may also be bus-shaped, ring-shaped or mesh-shaped, and may include a central station or relay station depending on its shape. Each server 2-1 to 2-n is composed of a supercomputer or workstation including a large capacity hard disk device and a communication device such as a modem and an Ethernet interface unit. 1 shows an operation configuration of a server. Each server {2-j (j: 1 to n)} includes an information input / output unit 20, an information retrieval manager 21, an information accumulator 22, an encryption unit 23, an encryption key generator 24, It is composed of a time information generator 25, an information type generator 26, and a server transceiver 27.

The information input / output unit 20 inputs new or updated information of a transmission target, and inputs new or updated information of a contractor who is allowed to receive information supplied by the information transmission system. In addition, the information input / output unit 20 outputs the information of the transmission target given from the information retrieval management unit 21 when checking the updated information and requesting the output of the charging information from the user terminal.

Here, the information to be transmitted (shown in FIG. 3A) includes category information (shown in FIG. 3B) indicating the characteristics of the information. The genre information, which has a genre type and an information type (shown in FIG. 3D), indicates a major classification, and the information type indicates a subclass and a subclass. For example, in terms of baseball games, the major category is 'sports', the minor category is 'baseball', and the subdivision is 'team name'.

The contractor information includes information specifying the contractor and the terminal ID of the contractor, information specifying the genre type and information type of the transmission target information that the user is allowed to receive, and also includes information on the contract period and service execution time. .

The information accumulating part 22 consists of accumulating parts 22a and 22b. The storage unit 22a of the transfer target information stores the transfer target information in a format that can be accessed by using keys such as the genre type and the information type. The storage unit 22b stores the contractor information in a format that information can be accessed by using keys such as the genre type and the information type, and also stores charging information about each contractor.

The information retrieval management unit 21 includes subscription information of the new contractor and updates the contractor information stored in the accumulator 22b when receiving a command instructing to change the information in the accumulator 22b.

In addition, when receiving new information of the transfer target and update information of the transfer target from the information input / output unit 20, the information retrieval management unit 21 updates the transfer target information stored in the storage unit 22a, Prepare to send the received information. At the start of this transmission process, the information retrieval management section 21 is stored in the information storage section 22 and also updates the charging information corresponding to the received information as the transmission target.

Between the server 2-j in the network 3 and the user terminals {1-I (I: 1 to m)}, as shown in FIG. 3A, for example, an ATM communication is used to transmit and receive a packet, The retrieval management unit 21 divides the transmission target information into a plurality of information amounts (hereinafter referred to as transmission unit information, that is, transmission unit information in FIG. 3B) corresponding to the packet, and prepares to transmit them to the encryption unit 23. do.

Here, the information transmitted to the user terminal 1-i may be all information received from the information input / output unit 20 or information of an updated part. The first time you enter the information to be sent, all information is sent. In contrast, when inputting updated information, the information amount is compared with the first threshold. If less than the first threshold, all information I is transmitted. If it is larger than the first threshold, the inputted information obtains the difference between the inputted information and the information not yet updated in the information storage unit 22, and compares the difference with the second threshold. If larger than the second threshold, all of the inputted information is transmitted. If smaller than the second threshold, only the information indicating the difference is transmitted.

Further, when the information retrieval management unit 21 is given a response of the decryption key from the user terminal 1-i via the server transmission / reception unit 27, the information retrieval management unit 21 stores the contractor information in the information storage unit 22. Assume that is valid. Otherwise, the information retrieval management section 21 assumes that the information of the contractor is invalid, but does not erase the information in order to avoid problems with charging.

The encryption unit 23 encrypts the transmission unit of the information received from the information retrieval management unit 21 by using the encryption key corresponding to the information of the transmission target generated by the encryption key generation unit 24, and generates a time information generation unit ( 25). Here, the encryption key is transmitted to the user terminal 1-i as a decryption key, and the purpose of this encryption procedure is to enable the contractor to receive the information of the transmission target. Some encryption methods are suitable for the present invention, but the encryption procedure is not critical.

The encryption key generator 24 generates and stores an encryption key using a random number or the like every predetermined time (for example, one month, one week, or one day) such as the shortest period of the contract. The encryption key generator 24 transmits the decryption key to each user terminal 1-i. Therefore, the encryption key and the decryption key are the same. For this reason, the contract between the information sender and the information receiver is updated, so that the information transmitted by the information sender can be received using the decryption key.

Here, the encryption key is generated differently according to the contents of the contract such as the genre type and the information type, in particular according to the minimum unit of the contract. Further, the transmission of the encryption key is processed to extract the contractor's information of the contract minimum unit related to the encryption key from the storage unit 22b and transmit the information to each contractor (user terminal 1-i) in turn. When the encryption key is transmitted, information of the genre type and information type (for example, an identification number) is also transmitted as the encryption key.

Also, the information to be transmitted is transmitted by broadcast communication, which is different from the transmission of an encryption key (decryption key). If the network 3 is a confidential or closed system for the information transmission service, the encryption key (decryption key) may be transmitted to the network 3 by broadcast communication.

In addition, the encryption key generation unit 24 transmits the encryption key corresponding to the request to the encryption unit 23 in response to the request from the encryption unit 23.

The time information generator 25 has a clock 25a, for example, a standard radio clock. When the encrypted information is transmitted, the time information generation unit 25 extracts the current real time from the clock 25a, processes the extracted current real time in a format that can be inserted into a packet, and encrypts the transmission unit. In addition to the information, the information is sent to the information type generating unit 26.

Fig. 3C shows an example of the format of time information inserted into a packet, in which the number of bits for each part is indicated by an appended number in parentheses. As shown in FIG. 3C, the time information includes at least 'date' (5 bits), 'hour' (5 bits), 'minute' (6 bits), 'second' (6 bits), and 'millisecond' (10). Bit), 'microsecond' (10 bits), and 'Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)' (α bits). The other information (β bits) may include a 'month' and a 'bit indicating whether or not the time information changes.'

Here, the "bit indicating whether there is a change in time information" means inserting different time information for each packet constituting the same transmission target information, and selecting it according to the type of information or the amount of information thereof. . In the first embodiment, it is based on inserting different time information for each packet.

The transmission of time information includes the following functions. Based on the time information, the contractor can distinguish the latest information from the old information. That is, once the transmission target information is updated in the server 2-j, the user terminal 1-i may receive the updated information. However, the contractor does not always see the updated information. When viewing it, the contractor can use the time information that has not been updated to determine whether it is the latest information.

In addition, although the user terminal 1-i has a slight propagation delay, the clock can be made accurate with reference to time information. In addition, when different time information is transmitted for each packet, the user terminal 1-i not only determines the ordering with reference to the sequence number of each packet, but also determines the ordering of the packets according to the time information. You can double check the ordering of packets.

The time of the clock 25a is provided to the encryption key generation unit 24, and the encryption key generation unit 24 refers to this time to capture the timing of generation of the encryption key.

The information type generating section 26 assigns the type information indicating the type of the transmission target information to the information provided from the time information generating section 25, prepares the information to be inserted into the information section of the packet, and the server transmitting and receiving section 27 Send the prepared information to.

Here, the category information is referred to as "server type" (any one of 8 to 12 bits) consisting of an ID number for identifying the server 2-j, and the above-mentioned "genre type" (4 to 12). Any one of the bits), the above-mentioned "information type" (any one of 4 to 12 bits), and a "cyclic redundancy check (CRC)" (γ bits). In addition, the genre type and the information type are extracted by the information retrieval management unit 21 from the accumulation unit 22a and provided to the information type generation unit 26. In addition, the server type may include information specifying the provider of the delivery service.

This type of information is used by the user terminal 1-i to determine whether the information of the transmission target is useful or important.

When the server transceiver 27 receives information about the contractor or user terminal and the decryption key (encryption key) from the encryption key generation unit 24, the server transceiver 27 inserts the decryption key into the information field and the contractor or user terminal in the address field of the header portion. A decryption key notification packet into which information about the data is inserted is prepared, and it is transmitted to the network 3.

The server transceiver 27 notifies the information retrieval management section 21 when the reception response packet of the decryption key is provided from the user terminal 1-i via the network 3.

When the transmission target information is received from the information type generation section 26, the server transmission / reception section 27 inserts the information into the information section of the packet, and gives the header section including the information indicating the broadcast communication. The transmission packet is completed and transmitted to the network 3.

Here, a contract type information label indicating a packet of the contractor (hereinafter referred to as a contract type information packet) is inserted into the header portion of all kinds of packets transmitted from the server 2-j. This contractual information label is used to identify contractual information packets and others. In the header portion of the packet transmitted from the server 2-j, an information portion identification label indicating whether the information portion is information to be transmitted or an encryption key is inserted. This information part identification label is used by the user terminal 1-i to identify whether it is a packet of transmission target information or an encryption key notification packet. In the conventional packet format, since there are undefined bits that have not yet been determined for use, these undefined bits can be used as labels, for example.

Each user terminal 1-i is composed of a hard disk, a workstation having a communication device such as a modem and an Ethernet interface unit, and a personal computer, for example. Its configuration, shown in the functional block diagram, is shown in FIG.

Each user terminal 1-i includes a terminal transceiver 10, an information type identification unit 11, a time information identification unit 12, a decoding unit 13, a decryption key storage unit 14, and an information processing unit 15. ), An information storage unit 16 and an information input / output unit 17. In order to prevent unauthorized retrieval of the information to be transmitted, preferably, the terminal transceiver 10, the information type identification unit 11, the time information identification unit 12, the decoding unit 13, and the decryption key storage unit 14 are preferred. Is realized as an external device of an information processing apparatus such as a workstation and a personal computer, or a dedicated peripheral device (adapter) for providing an information transmission service.

The terminal transceiver 10 performs transmission and reception of packets with the server 2-j via the network 3. The received packet is used to decrypt the packet header portion, while the transmit packet is used to generate the packet header portion.

The terminal transceiver 10 determines a contract type information label of the received packet. When the label indicates a packet other than the contract type information packet for identifying the information transfer service, the packet is transmitted to a packet processing apparatus (not shown) or discarded when the packet processing is not available. When the label indicates a contract type information packet, it is determined according to the information portion identification label whether it is an information packet or a decryption key notification packet to be transmitted.

When the information packet is a transmission target, the contents of the packet's information section are transmitted to the information type identification section 11. In the case of the decryption key notification packet, the contents (decryption key, genre type, and information type) of the information unit are transmitted to the decryption key storage unit 14. In the decryption key notification packet, since the identification number of the user terminal 1-i is inserted into the address field irrespective of broadcast communication, the packet can be distinguished according to this. In the case of an information packet to be transmitted, the packet sequence number in the header portion is determined to adjust the packet order, and the packet is provided to the information type identification section 11.

When the terminal transmitting / receiving unit 10 has requested to transmit the reception response of the decryption key to the server 2-j, it transmits the reception response packet of the decryption key to the server 2-j of the source of the decryption key. .

When the decryption key storage unit 14 receives the decryption key, the genre type, and the information type from the terminal transceiver unit 10, the decryption key storage unit stores the decryption key in a format corresponding to the genre type and the information type, and then the terminal transceiver unit. Instructing (10) to transmit the reception response of the decryption key to the server 2-j.

As described above, since the server 2-j transmits the decryption key only to the user terminal 1-i related to the contract, the decryption key storage unit 14 sends the received decryption key to the corresponding user terminal 1- 1. There is no need to determine whether i) should receive. However, in consideration of safety, the decryption key storage unit 14 compares the genre type and information type of the received decryption key with the contracted genre type and information type stored in the information accumulator 16 described later. The key must be stored inside itself. The decryption key storage unit 14 also returns the decryption key from the decryption unit 13 in response to the request for the decryption key.

The information type identifying unit 11 has a type information accumulating unit 11a which stores type information such as server type and genre type according to the contents of the contract, and based on the type information, the user terminal 1-i. Can receive the information of the transmission target.

When the information type identification section 11 receives the contents of the packet information section from the terminal transmission / reception section 10, the contents accumulated in the category information storage section 11a can be received by the terminal 1-i. It is determined whether or not the information to be transmitted is classified by type, which is executed by identifying the contents of the category information field shown in FIG. 3D, that is, server type, genre type, and information type, respectively (error detection and error correction based on CRC). . This determines whether the type information is suitable for the contract. If the identified category information satisfies the contract, the contents of the packet information section are transmitted to the time information identification section 12. On the other hand, the information type identification unit 11 discards the packet if the identified type information does not conform to the contract. As described above, a packet is selected based on the category information.

By using encryption and decryption processing, the violating contractor can be prevented from unjustly extracting the information to be transmitted by operating the selection operation in the information type identification unit 11.

Given the information processed from the information type identification section 11, the time information identification section 12 identifies the contents of the time information field as shown in FIG. 3C (e.g., error detection and error correction). Through) the information time and the information time having the same type received immediately before being accumulated in the information storing section 16, and confirming that the processed information is more recent.

As described above, the server 2-j transmits information to be transmitted when the information is updated or newly input. Therefore, when the previous information comes after the new information generated due to the condition of the network 3, the time information identifying unit 12 discards the old packet arriving there after the new packet arrives.

When the time information identifying unit 12 confirms the validity of the time information, the time information identifying unit 12 provides time information to the information processing unit 15, and corrects the time of the clock inside the corresponding user terminal 1-i. Further, in the case of a series of information transmission packets in which different time information is inserted for each packet, the time information identifying unit 12 checks the order of the series of packets arriving at the corresponding user terminal 1-i. In case of inversion, a series of packets are arranged. Upon completion of the above processing, the time information identifying unit 12 provides the decoding unit 13 with the contents (at least, the transmission information main body) of the packet information unit.

When the decryption unit 13 receives the contents of the packet information unit from the time information identification unit 12, the decryption unit 13 extracts a decryption key corresponding to the type of information to be transmitted from the decryption key storage unit 14, and FIG. 3B. As shown in Fig. 6, the encrypted transmission information main unit is decrypted, and the decrypted transmission target information is provided to the information processing unit 15.

The information accumulator 16 accumulates the information of the transmission object having the server type, the genre type, and the information type together with the time information.

The information processing unit 15 receives from the information input / output unit 17 the information type, more clearly the server type, the genre type, and the contents of the contract, and receives the received information type to adjust the conditions of the corresponding user terminal 1-i. They are also provided to the classification information accumulator 11a to accumulate them.

In addition, the information processing unit 15 provides the time information identifying unit 12 with time information at the time of immediately preceding transmission extracted from the information storing unit 16.

In addition, when the information processing unit 15 is given the information of the transmission target decoded from the decoding unit 13, the information processing unit 15, together with the time information provided from the time information identification unit 12, the information storage unit Accumulate at 16. Therefore, at the end of the accumulation of the series of transfer target information, the information processing unit 15 notifies the information input / output unit 17 that there is updated information or newly received information. As the time information accumulated in the information storage unit 16, time information inserted into the first information transmission packet arranged in the series of information transmission packets can also be used, and the first or last information arranged in the series of information transmission packets can also be used. Time information embedded in the information transmission packet can also be used.

In addition, when the information processing unit 15 requests the extraction of the information to be transmitted with the server type, the genre type, and the information type specified by the information input / output unit 17, the information processing unit 16 corresponds to it. The information to be transmitted is extracted and provided to the information input / output unit 17.

The information input / output unit 17 as a user interface inputs category information regarding a contract such as a server type, a genre type, and an information type, and notifies the existence of newly received information to be transmitted. In addition, the information input / output unit 17 requests the information processing unit 15 to extract the information of the transmission target specified by the server type, the genre type, and the information type, and displays the returned transmission target information.

Next, as described above, the first information transmission system including the user terminal 1-i and the server 2-j will be described.

First, the information transmission system generates an encryption key delivered to a user terminal or a contractor. This operation will be described with respect to the operation of the encryption key generator 24. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the encryption key generator 24. As shown in FIG.

The encryption key generation unit 24 waits until the key generation time is reached (step 100). When the key generation time comes, the type parameter N for specifying the type of contract minimum unit is initialized (step 101). Thereafter, the N-th type key is generated and accumulated using a random number or the like (step 102). Next, the first contractor or user terminal of the Nth type is selected through the contractor information storing unit 22b (step 103). The encryption key generation unit 24 also requests the server transmission / reception unit 27 to transmit the decryption key (including the type information) to the contractor (step 104).

Therefore, the decryption key is transmitted to the user terminal 1-i and stored in the decryption key storage unit 14. Thereafter, the reception response is returned to the decryption key storage unit 14 to complete the contract.

After requesting the transmission of the decryption key, the encryption key generation unit 24 confirms whether or not a transmission request has been issued to all the contractors of the Nth type (step 105). If not, as described above, the processing returns to step 103 in which the contractor is selected. When issuing, it is determined whether or not the process of generating encryption keys for all types is finished (step 106).

If the processing for all types has not finished, the type parameter is updated to indicate the next type, and the process returns to step 102 of generating an encryption key as described above (step 107). When the processing for all kinds ends, a series of processing is complete | finished.

Next, with respect to the first input of the transfer target information and the input of the updated transfer target information, the operation on the server 2-j side and the user terminal 1, with reference to Figs. 1 and 4 showing a flowchart of the operation. The operation of -i side) is described in detail in this order.

When the transmission target information is newly inputted by the information input / output unit 20 or the updated transmission target information is input, the information retrieval management unit 21 updates the contents of the storage unit 22a of the transmission target information and receives the received transmission. The transmission process of the target information is started. At this time, the charging information of the contractor corresponding to the transmission target information is updated.

Here, the information retrieval management unit 21 transmits all of the input transmission target information or differs between the updated information and the information before the update based on the input information of the transmission target and the information amount of the transmission target before being updated. Determine to send the information part. In addition, the information to be transmitted is divided into transmission units inserted into the information transmission packet and provided to the encryption unit 23.

The encryption unit 23 encrypts the information in the form of the information unit by using an encryption key determined by the type of the transmission target information in the encryption key generation unit 24, and transmits them to the time information generation unit 25. .

The time information generation unit 25 adds time information indicating the current time or time information associated with the first packet to the encrypted information in the form of information units, and transmits it to the information type generation unit 26. Thereafter, the type information indicating the type of information to be transmitted is added by the information type generating section 26, and the information inserted into the information section of the information transmission packet is completed and transmitted to the server transceiver 27.

Next, the server transceiver 27 inserts the information of the transmission target given by the information type generation section 26 into the information transmission packet information section, instructs broadcast communication, information of the contract type information label, and the contents of the information section. A header portion including an information portion identification label indicating that the transmission target information is added, and the completed information transmission packet is transmitted to the network 3. Such information transmission packet is distributed to each user terminal 1-i by the broadcasting function of the network 3.

Next, an operation of the user terminal 1-i in the case of receiving such an information transmission packet will be described, which operation is a feature operation of the first embodiment.

When the transmission packet arrives at the terminal transmission / reception section 10, the contract information label therein is determined. When the label indicates a contract information type packet relating to the contracted information transmission service, it is also determined whether the information transmission or the decryption key notification packet is made using the information portion identification label. In the case of an information transmission packet, the information section of the packet is provided to the information type identification section 11. In addition, on the contrary, if the label does not indicate the contract information type packet, the terminal transceiver 10 transmits a packet that experiences or discards each process to another device (not shown).

The information type identification unit 11 identifies the server type, the genre type, and the information type in the information unit and accumulates in the type information accumulating unit 11a indicating the type of transmission target that the user terminal 1-i can receive. Compare the type of contract with them. If the same, the contents of the information section are transmitted to the time information identifying section 12, and if not identical, the information transmission packet is discarded.

The time information identifying section 12 identifies time information from the contents of the information section, and compares the time information with the time information of the previously received same kind of transmission target information accumulated in the information storing section 16. FIG. If the time information indicates an appropriate order of the transmission target information, the time information can correct the time of the clock inside the user terminal 1-i. On the contrary, if the time information indicates the disordered order of the transmission target information, that is, indicates that the information that should arrive early has not arrived early, this information is discarded. In addition, when each of the plurality of information transmission packets has each of a plurality of time information, if any disordered order is found through the search of these time information, the plurality of time information corresponding to the plurality of information transmission packets is displayed in its disordered order. Correct it.

Next, the contract details of the information section, that is, the transmission information main body are decrypted using the decryption key corresponding to the type of the current transmission target information, and the decrypted information is provided to the information processing section 15. The information processing unit 15 accumulates the information decoded from the decoding unit 13 and the time information from the time information identifying unit 12 in the information storing unit 16. At the end of accumulation of the transfer target information, the information input / output unit 17 notifies that the updated transfer target information or the newly received transfer target information has been transmitted.

Finally, when the server type, the genre type, and the information type are specified and the extraction of the transmission target information is required from the user through the information input / output unit 17, the information processing unit 15 transmits the corresponding information including the time information. The target information is extracted and provided to the user through the information input / output unit 17.

According to the information transmission system of the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) When the transmission target information is newly input or when the transmission target information is updated, such information is distributed from the server 2-j to the user terminal 1-i, and the user terminal 1-i. The latest information is reached. Since the user terminal does not need to frequently access the server to check whether the received information is the latest information, the user terminal can transmit the information efficiently.

(2) Only when the transmission target information is newly input or when the transmission target information is updated, the information is transmitted from the server 2-j which reduces the transmission traffic in comparison with the repetitive transmission of the conventional transmitter.

(3) Since transmitting and receiving the information transmission packet including the contract type information label, the user terminal can determine early whether or not the information transmission packet is available, thereby avoiding useless reception processing.

(4) Since the user terminal 1-i examines the transmission target information by using the category information inserted in the information, the user terminal 1-i refers to a predetermined type representing unnecessary information, and thus unnecessary information is received. You can destroy it. In summary, the user terminal 1-ii may receive only the latest information and necessary information.

(5) Since time information is transmitted between the server and the user terminal, the user terminal can not only accurately recognize the time between transmission and reception of the information, but can also confirm the correct time.

(6) Since time information is transmitted and received between the server and the user terminal, the user terminal can detect that new and old information arrives in reverse due to a breakdown of the network or the like. In addition, the user terminal can discard the previous information that has arrived, and can confirm the order of the plurality of information transmission packets using the time information.

Second embodiment

Hereinafter, the information transmission system of the second embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Similar to the information system of the first embodiment, the characteristic of the information system of the second embodiment is to broadcast, transmit and examine the category information. In addition to this feature, this information transmission system has a feature of transmitting detailed category information.

In this information transmission system, as shown in Fig. 2, several user terminals 1-1 to 1-m and one or more servers (information storage providing apparatuses) 2-1 to 2-n have a network ( Configured to be connected to each other via 3).

6 shows the functional configuration of the server 2-j. Here, the same reference numerals are attached to the same parts as in FIG. 1.

Each server 2-j includes an information input / output unit 20, an information retrieval management unit 21, an information storage unit 22, an encryption unit 23, an encryption key generator 24, and a time information generator 25. And an information type generating unit 26 and a server transmitting and receiving unit 27. However, some functions are different from those of the first embodiment and the second embodiment. Hereinafter, the difference will be described in detail, on the contrary, a description of similar functions, for example, the functions of the information input / output unit 20, the information storage unit 22, the encryption unit 23, and the time information generation unit 25 will be described. Will be omitted.

7 shows various packets used for communication between a server and a user terminal. In particular, FIG. 7A shows a packet transmitted from a server to a genetic terminal. 7B shows a transmission request packet transmitted from the user terminal to the server. 7C shows a decryption key notification packet transmitted from a server to a user terminal. 7D illustrates a decryption key reception response packet transmitted from a user terminal to a server. 7E shows an information transmission packet transmitted from the server to the genetic terminal. Each of the packets will be described later.

The information retrieval management unit 21 updates the contents accumulated in the contractor information storage unit 22b when the contractor information instructing new subscription and release and change of the contract contents is given from the information input / output unit 20. The information retrieval management unit 21 updates the contents accumulated in the storage unit 22a of the transfer target information when the new transfer target information and the updated transfer target information are given from the information input / output unit 20.

The above functions are similar to those in the first embodiment, but the transmission function for transmitting the transfer target information to the user terminal is different from the first embodiment.

The information retrieval management unit 21 activates the information type generation unit 26 so as to generate and transmit only the information type by providing the type information to the information type generation unit 26 in association with the new transmission target information or the updated information. .

The contents of the information part of the packet broadcasted through each user terminal 1-i by this transmitter operation are shown in Fig. 7A. That is, not only the server type, genre type, and information type described in the first embodiment, but also the detailed type and type identification number (hereinafter referred to as type ID) are included. The detailed category is, for example, a category classified in more detail than the information category, and also classified in more detail than the minimum unit of the contract. That is, the user terminal 1-i can determine the necessity of the new transmission target information or the updated transmission target information based on the classification more detailed than the minimum unit of the contract. In this second embodiment, various packets are transmitted and received between the server 2-j and the user terminal 1-i. Here, the type ID is inserted into the various packets, which can specify the type with a small number of bits.

The information retrieval management unit 21 receives the new transmission target information or the updated transmission target information from the user terminal 1-i via the server transceiver 27, and when the user terminal 1-i receives the request. Whether information corresponding to the information type can be received is checked using the information accumulated in the contractor information storage section 22b. Thereafter, the information retrieval management unit 21 instructs the encryption key generation unit 24 to transmit the encryption key corresponding to the information type to the user terminal 1-i as the decryption key.

Here, the information unit of the transmission request packet provided from the user terminal 1-i includes a message indicating the information request and a type ID as shown in FIG. 7B. In addition, the specific information of the user terminal 1-i can be obtained from the source information in the header portion. The decryption key notification packet includes not only the encryption key but also the type ID, as shown in Fig. 7C.

The information retrieval management unit 21 updates the charging information of the accumulator 22b of the contractor information when the response of the decryption key is received from the user terminal 1-i via the server transmission / reception unit 27, and transmits the new information. The target information or the updated transfer target information (which may be different compared to the previous information) is divided into appropriate amounts in the packet and provided to the encryption unit 23.

When the type information generation section 26 is requested to transmit the type information received from the information retrieval management section 21, as shown in Fig. 7A, the type information is generated and provided to the server transmission / reception section 27.

As in the first embodiment, the encryption key generation unit 24 generates encryption keys for each type at predetermined intervals. However, unlike that, the encryption key (decryption key) is not transmitted at the time of its generation, and in response to the command from the information retrieval management unit 21, the encryption key generation unit 24 determines the angle specified by the command. The key is transmitted to the user terminal, which differs in principle from the first embodiment.

The server transceiver 27 not only transmits the type information packet, the encryption key notification packet and the information transmission packet, but also receives the information request packet and the decryption key reception response packet, and only the type information packet performs broadcast communication. In addition, each packet may be distinguished not only by referring to the contents of the information section, but also by referring to the information section identification label (FIG. 3A) in the header section. In addition, similar to the first embodiment, the contract type information label is added to the packet transmitted from the server 2-j.

The configuration of the information unit of the information transmission packet is composed of a type ID, time information, and a transmission information main body, as shown in FIG. 7E. Since the type information of the update transfer target information or the new transfer target information has been transmitted in advance using the type information packet, only the type ID is inserted in the state in which the information amount of the transfer information main body is increased.

8 shows the functional configuration of the user terminal 1-i. The same reference numerals are attached to the same parts as in FIG. In addition, some functions such as the time information identifying unit 12, the decoding unit 13, the decryption key storage unit 14, the information processing unit 15, the information storing unit 16 and the information input / output unit 17 The function is similar to that of the first embodiment, and description thereof is omitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, each user terminal 1-i includes a terminal transceiver 10, an information type identification unit 11, a time information identification unit 12, a decoding unit 13, and a decryption key storage unit ( 14), an information processing unit 15, an information storing unit 16, and an information input / output unit 17.

The terminal transceiver 10 receives the type information packet, the decryption key notification packet, and the information transmission packet, and transmits the information request packet and the decryption key reception response packet.

When the terminal transceiver 10 confirms that it can be received by the contract type information label and receives the category information packet, it provides the category information packet (FIG. 7A) to the information type identification unit 11. Further, in response to the request to transmit the information from the information type identification unit 11, the terminal transceiver 10 transmits the information request packet whose contents are shown in Fig. 7B to the server 2-j which is the source of the type information packet. Send to

In addition, when the terminal transceiver 10 confirms that it can be received by the contract type information label and receives the decryption key notification packet, it provides the decryption key information (FIG. 7C) to the decryption key storage unit 14. When the accumulation end is notified from the decryption key storage unit 14, the decryption key reception response packet whose contents of the information unit is shown in Fig. 7D is transmitted to the server 2-j which is the transmission source of the decryption key notification packet.

In addition, when the terminal transceiver 10 confirms that it can be received by the contract type information label and receives the information transmission packet, the terminal transceiver 10 provides the contents of the packet information unit (FIG. 7E) to the time information identification unit 12.

The terminal transceiver 10 buffers the type ID therein at the time of transmission of the information packet, and also checks whether it is related to the type required when receiving the decryption key notification packet or the information transmission packet. You can send and receive packets at the same time.

The information type identifying unit 11 accumulates, in the storing unit 11a, the type information indicating the transmission target information available to the user terminal 1-i input by the user using the information input / output unit 17. Such category information may represent a detailed category, which is a category smaller than the contract minimum unit, that is, the category corresponding to the contract may be described in detail.

When the type information is given from the terminal transmission / reception unit 10, the information type identification unit 11 compares the contents accumulated in the storage unit 11a with the type information, and if so, requests the information transmission request from the terminal transmission / reception unit 10. Instructs to send a packet.

Next, the operation of the information transmission system will be described with reference to Fig. 9 showing an operation sequence. Here, since the operation of transmitting the decryption key depends on other operations, the operation of the input transmission target information and the updated transmission target information will be described.

When new transmission target information is provided by the information input / output unit 20 or updated transmission target information is input, the information retrieval management unit 21 accumulates in the storage target information storage unit 22a in accordance with the provided transmission target information. By updating the contents and providing the category information corresponding to the given transmission target information, the information category generating unit 26 prepares and requests its transmission.

At this time, the information type generating unit 26 generates the type information as shown in FIG. 7A, provides it to the server transmitting and receiving unit 27, and the header unit is added to be broadcasted to all the user terminals through the network 3. The type information packet is completed (T1 in Fig. 9).

The user terminal (indicated as 1-b in FIG. 9) irrelevant to the contract of the received category information packet discards the category information packet with respect to the contract type information label in the header portion and does not perform any further processing (Fig. T2 at 9).

On the contrary, the terminal transmission / reception unit 10 of the user terminal related to the contract recognizes the category information packet and provides the category information shown in FIG. 7A inserted into the information unit to the information type identification unit 11. Accordingly, the information type identification section 11 recognizes the type information and determines whether or not it displays the necessary transmission target information.

Upon determining that a category information packet other than the category of the required transmission target information has been received, the user terminal (indicated as 1-c in FIG. 9) discards the received category information packet and does not perform any further processing (Fig. 9). T3 at 9).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the type information packet related to the type of the required transmission target information has been received, the information type identification unit 11 of the user terminal (indicated as 1-a in FIG. 9) transmits the request packet to the terminal. Instruct (10). Thereafter, the terminal transmission / reception section 10 transmits an information request packet of the contents of the information section shown in Fig. 7B to the user 2-j who sent the category information packet (T4 in Fig. 9).

In response to this information request packet, the server transceiving unit 27 of the server 2-j notifies it to the information retrieval management unit 21, and the information retrieval management unit 21 transmits the user terminal 1-a of the sender. After confirming this contractor, the encryption key generation unit 24 is instructed to transmit the decryption key to the user terminal 1-a of the transmission source.

The encryption key generation unit 24 requests the server transmission / reception unit 27 to transmit the decryption key corresponding to the information type to the user terminal 1-a commanded by the information retrieval management unit 21. Therefore, the decryption key notification packet in which the content shown in FIG.7 (c) is inserted in the information part is transmitted by the server transceiving part 27 toward the user terminal 1-a (FIG. 9 procedure T5).

The terminal transceiver 10 of the user terminal 1-a confirms the acceptance of the received information about the contract type information label of the received packet, recognizes the encryption key notification packet, and then decodes the contents of the information portion. Is provided to the decryption key storage unit 14 that stores the decryption key, and the decryption key is associated with the corresponding type. After this accumulation operation, the terminal transmission / reception unit 10 instructs the server 2-j to transmit the reception response of the decryption key, and notifies the decryption key of the decryption key reception response packet in which the contents shown in Fig. 7D are inserted into the information unit. The packet is returned to the server 2-j of the sender of the packet (T6 in FIG. 9). By this conveyance operation, the contract is reestablished.

If the information retrieval management unit 21 is notified of the reception response of the decryption key from the user terminal 1-a through the server transmission / reception unit 27, the user terminal (contractor) 1-a of the storage unit 22b. The charging information is updated, and the current new transmission target information or updated transmission target information (the previous information and the current information may be different) are divided into an appropriate amount in one packet and transmitted to the encryption unit 23. .

Thereafter, no classification information is generated, but by the same processing as in the first embodiment, an information transmission packet in which the contents shown in Fig. 7E is inserted into the information portion is transmitted to the user terminal 1-a (Fig. 9). T7).

The reception processing of the information transmission packet by the user terminal 1-a is similar to that of the first embodiment, except that there is no identification operation of the information type, and the information storage unit 16 transmits information (transmission information) to it. Body). In addition, the process of providing the accumulated transfer target information to the user is the same as in the first embodiment.

In addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the second embodiment provides the following effects.

(l) Since only the category information is transmitted, detailed information can be added to the category information, so that similar or accurate examination can be performed.

(2) By sending the user's request for information, he establishes a contract that can only be made for contracts that are expected to provide the necessary or appropriate information.

Variant

In the following, some modifications related to the above two embodiments will be described.

(1) This communication method is not limited to the above packet communication. The packet communication may be either a fixed length packet or a variable length packet. In addition, a general communication method such as retransmission can be used.

(2) The encryption and decryption processing is not essential to the information transmission system as long as the network 30 is not open, closed, or dedicated rather than shared. In addition, the encryption process may be common among the types of transfer target information.

(3) In this system, screening based only on the classification information can be performed well. In addition, the examination based on the combination of the category information and the time information may be available, for example, the baseball which allows the user terminal to process with reference to the time in the category information or allows the time information identification unit to judge. The time required for the results and the odds of horse racing is determined.

(4) The server transmits the contractor information that can be set therein by the information type identification unit to the user terminal.

(5) The user terminal may transmit a reception response to the server when the reception of the series of transmission target information ends. In this case, it is preferable to update the charging information at this reception response.

(6) It can be implicitly understood that the method for providing the user with the information received and accumulated by the user terminal is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment.

(7) It can be implicitly understood that the number of hierarchies of the type of transmission target information is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment.

(8) The time information can also be inserted into the header portion (label portion). In this case, the order of the packets can be judged at an early stage. Similarly, the category information can be inserted in the header portion (label portion).

(9) Only ID transmission can be used for the information transmission system.

(10) The secondary server works well on this system. That is, the communication between the server and the secondary server can be used using the above method, and the communication between the user terminal and the secondary server can be similarly used.

(11) At every predetermined period, it is checked whether there is new transmission target information or updated transmission target information, and if so, the transfer operation can be started. That is, one of the present inventions is an examination, not a transmission timing of information.

(12) The identification information and the decryption key may be transmitted simultaneously, which is suitable for a closed network in view of the concealment of the decryption key.

(13) In the system of the second embodiment, the decryption key is transmitted in response to a transmission request, which may be transmitted periodically as in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the information transmission system, the information storage providing apparatus and the information receiving apparatus of the present invention, the information receiving apparatus transmits and receives time information indicating the transmission time (not the update time) of the transmission target information. It is possible to confirm whether or not the information is up-to-date, and it is also possible to confirm whether or not a plurality of pieces of information, that is, the order of packets are correct. In addition, by using the time information to adjust the internal clock, it is possible to accurately time the entire information transmission system.

In addition, as the transmission / reception function of the category information, it is possible to determine whether there is new transmission target information or updated transmission target information. Further, by using transmission and reception, the information receiving apparatus can check whether there is new or updated transmission target information. In addition, since the transmission target information is obtained by confirming its necessity according to the type information necessary for the reception apparatus, various kinds of frequently updated information can be obtained in real time. Thus, the load on the network can be reduced.

Claims (9)

In an information transmission system based on a network comprising an information accumulation providing apparatus for transmitting transmission target information and a plurality of information receiving apparatuses for receiving transmission target information, the information accumulation providing apparatus is provided with respect to the contents of the transmission target information. Generating means for generating type information having an index, and transmitting means for transmitting the transfer target information and the type information to a plurality of information receiving apparatuses via a network, each of the plurality of information receiving apparatuses being a transfer target; Receiving means for receiving the information and the category information, judgment means for determining whether or not the transmission target information is necessary for each of the plurality of information receiving apparatuses based on the classification information, and identifying the transmission target information determined to be necessary. Information transmission system characterized in that it comprises an identification means for. In an information transmission system based on a network comprising an information accumulation providing device for providing transfer target information and a plurality of information receiving apparatus for receiving transfer target information, the information accumulation providing apparatus is provided with respect to the contents of the transfer target information. Generating means for generating category information having an index, delivery means for delivering category information to a plurality of information receiving apparatuses over a network to confirm whether each of the plurality of receiving apparatuses requires information to be transmitted; And a transmitting means for transmitting the target information, wherein each of the plurality of information receiving apparatuses comprises receiving means for receiving the transmission target information and the category information, and each of the plurality of information receiving apparatuses based on the received category information. Judging means for judging whether transmission target information is required for the mobile terminal; By having an identification means for identifying a response means, and the transfer destination information, wherein the transmitting means information transmission system, characterized in that for transmitting the transmission target information only to the information receiving apparatus to request the transfer destination information. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information storage providing apparatus further comprises charging means for charging a plurality of information receiving apparatuses with a charge corresponding to each of the transmission target information identified by each of the plurality of information receiving apparatuses. Information transmission system. The information transmission system according to claim 2, wherein said transmission means broadcast-transmits transmission target information in response to responses from said plurality of information receiving apparatuses. 3. An information transmission system according to claim 2, wherein said transmission means transmits multiple broadcast information to be transmitted in response to a response from a plurality of information receiving apparatuses. The information transmission system according to claim 2, wherein the index of the category information forms a hierarchical structure, and the determination means determines the order from the upper index to the lower index. 3. The information storage providing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising encryption means for encrypting the transmission target information, and generating means for generating a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted transmission target information, wherein the transmission means is encrypted. And transmitting the received transmission target information and the decryption key. In an information transmission system based on a network comprising an information accumulation providing device for providing transfer target information and a plurality of information receiving apparatus for receiving transfer target information, the information accumulation providing apparatus is provided with respect to the contents of the transfer target information. Generating means for generating category information having an index, updating means for updating the transmission target information, additional means for adding time information related to the update of the transmission target information to the transmission target information, classification information and the transmission target And a transmitting means for transmitting information to the plurality of information receiving apparatuses, wherein the plurality of information receiving apparatuses include receiving means for receiving the category information and the transmission target information, and any one of the received transmission target information corresponding thereto. Judging means for judging whether it is up-to-date based on time information, and formula for identifying the latest transmission target information In that it includes a means of information transmission system according to claim. In an information transmission system based on a network comprising an information accumulation providing device for providing transfer target information and a plurality of information receiving apparatus for receiving transfer target information, the information accumulation providing apparatus is provided with respect to the contents of the transfer target information. Generating means for generating category information having an index, updating means for updating the transmission target information, additional means for adding time information related to the update of the transmission target information to the transmission target information, classification information and the transmission target A transmitting means for transmitting information to a plurality of information receiving apparatuses, each of the plurality of information receiving apparatuses comprising receiving means for receiving type information and transmission target information, and which of the received transmission target information corresponds thereto; Judging means for judging whether or not it is up-to-date based on the time information and the received transfer target information. The information transmission system, characterized in that it includes an identification means for identifying the rearrangement means, the rearranged transmission target information to the rearrangement with reference to the time information.