MXPA01007365A - Electronic mail advertisement system, bidirectional real-time communication advertisement system and relay device - Google Patents

Abstract

A high noticeable, highly efficient advertisement medium is provided using portable terminals. Electronic mail data (106) is sent from a sender's terminal (16A) via a PHS network (12) to a receiver's terminal (16B). A relay device (22) adds advertisement data (108) to the electronic mail data (106), producing electronic mail data (110) including the added advertisement data (108), and sends the electronic mail data (110) to the receiver's terminal (16B) and the sender's terminal (16A). Each of the receiver's terminal (16B) and the sender's terminal (16A) displays an electronic mail message (120) and an advertisement message (122) simultaneously on its display unit.

Description

BID1RECTIONAL REAL-TIME AD SYSTEM Technical Field The present invention relates to an electronic mail announcement system and a relay device, which uses a public network as a communication infrastructure, to provide new services in the exchange of messages between the interconnected terminals. The present invention also relates to a bi-directional real-time communication advertisement system, which uses a public network as a communications infrastructure to provide new services, when a sender and a receiver perform real-time communications, using terminals that communicate bi-directionally with each other, to transmit image data to each other, such as with a video telephone system or similar.

Previous Technique Portable telephone systems, PHS (Personal Handyphone System) and the electronic mail systems (e-mail), are of increasing use as means of communication, to establish connections between two stations through a public network, that is, point-to-point connections.

In order for a user to receive services from such a system, the user usually needs to pay a fixed fee per month and, in addition, an access fee (communication charge) each time he has access to the system. Recently, the Internet has been seen as the advent of header ads on the WWW (World-Wide Web) pages and the email ads that use e-mail repositories. WWW pages and e-mail repositories are attracting a lot of attention as new means of advertising on the Internet. However, because those who see headline ads and e-mail ads in e-mail repositories are limited to personal computer users, the new ad medium fails to be more noticeable to general consumers than the media. conventional ads, such as direct mail, etc.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail announcement system, which makes it possible to attach ad data to e-mail, which is highly remarkable.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bi-directional real-time communication announcement system, using the terminals that communicate bi-directionally with each other, to transmit at least image data between them, such as with a telephone system of video or similar, this bi-directional real-time communication advertisement system is capable of appening ad data to the image data. According to the present invention, the email announcement system comprises a relay device for access to a database, which is connected to a public network. The relay device adds announcement data from the database to the e-mail data, from a terminal of the sender, and sends e-mail data and advertisement data, there added, to the recipient's terminal. With the above arrangement, the advertisement data can be added to the highly remarkable email data sent to the recipient's terminal. The relay device sends or e-mail data and ad data, there added, or ad data to the sender's terminal, while this sender's terminal is connected to the public network, to send the e-mail. Therefore, the ad data can also be added to the highly noticeable email data sent to the sender's terminal.

The sender's terminal can add information of the format of this terminal of the sender, to the data of electronic mail and send this data of the electronic mail and the information of the format of exhibition, there added, like data of the electronic mail, with the information of the format showed. The relay device can extract the ad data, depending on the information of the format displayed from the database. The public network may have a plurality of base stations, which have respective databases and relay devices, for accessing the databases, respectively. The base station, which handles the sender's terminal, can send the e-mail data, sent from the sender's terminal, through the public network, to the base station, which handles a receiver terminal. The relay device of the base station, which handles the receiver terminal, can add announcement data, from the database, to the e-mail data and send this e-mail data and the ad data, there added, from the base station, which handles the receiver terminal, to this receiver terminal. With this arrangement, no undue burden is imposed on the public network.

The relay device of the base station, which handles the sender's terminal, can send either the e-mail data and the announcement data, there added, or the announcement data to the sender's terminal. This terminal of the sender can add the information of the ad format of the sender's terminal to the e-mail data, and send the e-mail data and the ad format information, there added, as the e-mail data with the information of the format displayed, and each of the relay devices can extract data from advertisements that depend on the information of the format displayed from the corresponding database. The bi-directional system of real-time communication announcements, according to the present invention, comprises a public network, which has a database and a relay device, FOR access to the database, and a terminal of the sender and a receiver terminal, for the transmission of at least image data, bi-directionally by means of the public network. This relay device adds announcement data from the database to the image data sent from the sender's terminal, and sends the image data and the ad data, there added, to the recipient's terminal. This terminal of the receiver allows the receiver to see an image sent from the sender's terminal and also an advertisement. The relay device may aggregate ad data from the database to the image data sent from the receiver's terminal, and send the image data and ad data aggregated there, to the sender's terminal. This sender's terminal allows the sender to see an image sent from the receiver's terminal and also an announcement. The public network can have a plurality of exchanges, which have respective databases and relay devices, for accessing the databases, respectively. The exchange handled by the sender's terminal can send the image data sent from the sender's terminal through the public network to the exchange, which handles the receiver's terminal. The exchange relay device, which handles the receiver terminal, can add ad data from the database to the image data and send this image data and ad data, there added, from the exchange, which handles the receiver terminal, to this receiver terminal. With this arrangement, no undue burden is imposed on the public network.

The sender's terminal can add the information of the display format of the sender's terminal to the image data and send this image data and the information of the display format, there added, as e-mail data with the format information of display. Each of the relay devices can extract the advertisement data depending on the information of the display format from the corresponding database. The foregoing objects and others, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the form of an example. illustrative.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an email announcement system, according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical array of a terminal used in the email announcement system, shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the terminal; Figure 4 is a flow chart of an operation sequence of the email announcement system; Figure 5A is a diagram showing details of the email data sent from a sender's terminal; Figure 5B is a diagram showing the details of the e-mail data sent from a relay device; Figure 5C is a diagram showing details of the e-mail data received by the receiver's terminal; Figure 6 is a view showing an image displayed for mail preparation; Figure 7 is a diagram showing the bits of the display format; Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing an email flowing between the sender's terminal, the relay device and the receiver's terminal, in the email announcement system; Figure 9 is a view showing an image displayed on the receiver terminal; Figure 10 is a view showing an image displayed in the sender's terminal; Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of an electronic mail advertisement system, according to another embodiment of the invention; Figure 12 is a block diagram of the bi-directional system of real-time communication announcement advertisements, according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 13 is a block diagram, showing an electrical array of a terminal used in the bi-directional real-time communication advertisement system, illustrated in Figure 12; Figure 14A is a diagram showing the details of the video telephone data sent from a terminal; Figure 14B is a diagram showing the details of the video phone data sent from a relay device; and Figure 15 is a block diagram of a bi-directional real-time communication announcement system, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The Best Way to Carry Out the Invention Similar or corresponding parties are denoted by similar or corresponding reference characters, through the various views. Figure 1 shows, schematically, an email announcement system 10, according to one embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 1, the email advertisement system 10 uses a public network, ie a 12 PHS network, as a communication infrastructure. This public network is not limited to the PHS network 12, but can be a public analogue circuit network (the so-called telephone network), a mobile communications network, which uses mobile telephone terminals, an ISDN network, CATV or a satellite circuit. As shown in Figure 1, the PHS network 12 has a circuit 14, which is illustrated schematically, which includes an exchange 15 and a controller 18. To the circuit 14, a plurality (four in Figure 1) of base stations is connected. 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D (also collectively referred to as "20"). In combination with the PHS network 12, composed of the exchange 15, the controller 18, the circuit 14, and the base stations 20, two electronic mail terminals (sender / receiver terminals) are used, which comprise the PHS terminals. In Figure 1, the e-mail terminal 16A serves as a sender terminal 16A and the e-mail terminal 16B serves as a terminal 16B of the receiver. Each of the terminals 16 of the sender / receiver comprises a portable information terminal, in the form of a PHS terminal, and can be moved around for use by the user. Each of the terminals 16 of the sender / receiver, exchanges a control signal with a base station 20 closest to it, at all times, to indicate its own location to the controller 18. The terminal 16B of the receiver may comprise a paging apparatus, which it has only the capacity of signal reception. A relay device 22, such as an access point, which comprises a host computer 23 as a control means, is connected to the circuit 14 of the PHS network 12. To the relay device 22, an advertisement database is connected (a collection of advertisement data) 24 as a data storage element, which is accessible by the relay device 22. The advertisement database 24 may be updated by the host computer 23 based on the demand of an advertiser or a provider of information. guide information, supplied via the PHS network 12. Host computer 23 comprises a 23K keyboard as an input resource, a 23M computer unit having a memory 28 as a non-volatile memory element, such as a flash memory , a hard drive, or similar, and a 23D display unit. Figure 2 shows, in the form of blocks, a basic electrical arrangement of each of the terminals 16 of the sender / receiver as the terminals of the electronic mail, of the system 10 of the announcement of the electronic mail. Figure 3 shows each terminal 16 of the sender / receiver in frontal elevation. Each of the terminals 16 of the sender / receiver, comprises a PHS terminal, which is designed especially as a dedicated terminal to prepare and display electronic mail. As shown in Figure 2, terminal 16 of the sender / receiver has a controller 40 comprising a microcomputer which includes a UMP corresponding to the CPU and a memory 42, as a non-volatile memory element, such as a memory snapshot. To the controller 40 are connected, as human interfaces, a command unit 50 having command switches, a speaker 46 and an display unit 48, comprising a liquid crystal display unit. As shown in Figure 3, the command unit 50 has a cross-key 50Cr to select the characters for the preparation of e-mail messages, a decision key 50D, a cancellation key 50Ca and a mode change key 50M . These keys are keys with compound functions and can function as a hanging key, a hook key or a power supply key (power supply connected / disconnected keys). However, a power supply key should preferably be provided independently. An email message, prepared in terminal 16, is temporarily stored in memory 42 shown in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 2, terminal 16 of the sender / receiver includes a receiver 54, connected to controller 40, to receive a radio wave (RF signal) containing e-mail data, from an antenna 64, by means of a unit 66 that shares the antenna, which converts the RF signal into an intermediate frequency signal, demodulating the signal of intermediate frequency, and producing the demodulated signal, such as the e-mail data received in the controller 40. This controller 40 monitors the receiver 54 for a signal at periodic constant intervals, controls the receiver 54 to receive a signal when a message is transmitted of email, and controls the display unit 48 to display the email message. The terminal 16 of the sender / receiver also includes a transmitter 56, connected to the controller 40, for modulating the e-mail data read from the memory 42, which changes the e-mail data modulated from an intermediate frequency signal to an RF signal , and emits the RF signal by means of the unit 66 that shares the antenna, such as a radio wave from the antenna 64. A frequency synthesizer 58, to produce a local frequency for a mixer in each receiver 54 and the transmitter 56 it is also connected to controller 40. Terminal 16 of the sender / receiver also has a power supply circuit (not shown) to supply the electrical power to the various circuits, and a cell (not shown), for example, a secondary cell , to supply electric power to the power supply circuit. As shown in Figure 3, terminal 16 of the sender / receiver has a cover 70 that is substantially of an elliptical configuration with a flat bottom. This cover 70 supports the command unit 50 (the keys 50Ca, 50C, 50D and 50M), the display unit 48 and the antenna 64, which can be extended and contracted. Actually, the terminal 16 of the sender / receiver is of a thin, flat configuration, and has a size substantially equal to or less than the palm of the user's hand, as seen in frontal elevation.

The operation of the email announcement system 10, which is substantially of the above structure, will be described below with reference to an operation sequence shown in Figure 4. In this mode, it is assumed that an email message is going to send from terminal 16A of the sender / receiver, which is carried by Taro, the sender, to terminal 16B of the sender / receiver, which is carried by Hanako, the receiver. For easier understanding, the terminal 16A of the sender / receiver will be referred to as the terminal 16A of the sender, the terminal 16B of the sender / receiver as a terminal 16B of the receiver, the display unit 48 of the sender's terminal 16A, as a display unit 48A and display unit 48 of terminal 16B of the receiver, as a display unit 48B. Similarly, other components of terminal 16A of the sender are denoted by their reference numbers with the suffix "A", and other components of terminal 16B of the sender are denoted by their reference numbers with a suffix "B". In the SI step, the command unit 50 is operated to generate the data of the body 104 of the electronic mail.

As shown in Figure 5A, the data 104 of the email body includes a destination (an email address and the recipient's name, Hanako, read from this email address), a sender (Taro, which is attached automatically) and a mail text (for example, "Tomorrow's board site will be changed to West Exit"). To prepare the mail text, an image 82 for mail preparation is displayed on the screen of the display unit 48A, as shown in Figure 7. The displayed image 82 includes a section 84 of mail text display, a section 86 of the display of alphabetic characters and a section 88 of display of approval ("OK"). The sender operates the crossover key 50cr of the command unit 50 to select a character from the alphabetic character display section 86, and operates the decision key 50D to enter the selected character in the mail text display section 84. . To cancel an entered character, the sender operates the cancellation key 50Ca. The 50M mode change key is used to switch between a mode for entering alphabetic characters and a mode for inputting special numbers and symbols. Next, the sender selects the approval display section (OK) 88 with the cross key 50Cr, and decides in the approval display section (OK) with the 50D decision key to enter a key command to send the text of the mail. The data 106 of the electronic mail that is stored in the memory 42 is now sent from the transmitter 56 by means of the unit 66 that shares the antenna to this antenna 64, from which they are emitted as a radio wave, in the step S2 . Bits 101 of the display format represent this display format for the display unit 48A of terminal 16A of the sender. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 7, the bits 101 of the display format include a high order bit and a low order bit, which, in combination, represent one of the four display formats. Specifically, bits 101 = "00" of the display format represent an exhibition format that has 128 x 128 pixels, 256 display colors and a display rate of 100 ns. Bits 101 = "01" of the display format, represent an exhibition format that has 32 x 32 pixels, monochromatic display colors and a display regime of 60 ns. Bits 101 = "10" of the display format, represent an exhibition format that has 320 x 240 pixels, 4096 display colors and a display regime of 200 ns. Bits 101 = "ii" of display format, represent an NTSC display format. Since the sender / receiver terminals are designed to send and receive electronic mail through the relay device 22, an identification number representing the address of the host computer 23 of the relay device 22 is automatically inserted in a header (not shown) of the e-mail data 106. When the email data 106 is sent to the circuit 14, the exchange 15 refers to the header of the email data 106 and sends this email data 106 to the host computer 23 of the relay device 22. Figures 5A, 5B and 5C show an example of the e-mail data transmitted through the PHS network 12. As described above, Figure 5A schematically shows the e-mail data 106 that is sent from the sender's terminal 16A by means of the station. base 20A to circuit 14 of network 12 of PHA. It is assumed that data that depends on the communications infrastructure, such as a physical address and communications negotiations, inserted in the header, are omitted for brevity purposes. The e-mail data 106 from the terminal 16A of the sender, ie the sender to the relay device 22, are composed of the data 104 of the e-mail body, including the destination (recipient), the sender and the mail text, and the bits 101 of the display format added to the data 104 of the email body. Details of the data shown in Figures 5B and 5C will be described later. The relay device 22 executes a predetermined process operation in step S3. Specifically, the host computer 23 of the relay device 22 refers to the bits 101 of the display format in the e-mail data 106, from the terminal 16A of the sender, the access to the advertisement database 24 and extracts the data from advertisement comprising image data that matches the display format represented by bits 101 of the display format. The host computer 23 adds the extracted advertisement data 108 (see Figure 5B) to the e-mail data 106, and thus generates new e-mail data (also referred to as "combined e-mail data) 110. The computer guest 23 sends the new email data 110 to circuit 14, for transmission to receiver terminal 16B.As shown in Figure 5B, advertisement data 108, can be arranged to contain a moving image, a still image , characters, symbols and / or a header advertisement In the email data 106, 110, shown in Figures 5A and 5B, the mail text of the data 104 of the email body should preferably be encrypted so that can not be read by the relay device 22. This relay device 22 also generates, in addition to the e-mail data 110, shown in Figure 5B, the mail data 112 which include the bits 101 of the display format and the advertisement data 108 only and which have the terminal 16A of the sender as its destination. The email data 112 may also contain the data 104 of the email body in addition to the bits 101 of the display format and the advertisement data 108. In step S4, the relay device 22 sends the data of the electronic mail. Specifically, as shown in Figure 8, when the relay device 22 sends the combined data 110 of the email, which includes the advertisement data 108, to the circuit 14, the exchange 15 referring to the controller 18, confirms the location of the the terminal 16B of the receiver, and sends the electronic mail data 110, comprising the data 104 of the body of the electronic mail, the advertisement data 108 and the bits 101 of the display format, such as a radio wave, by means of the station 20C base, to terminal 16B of the receiver. At the same time, while terminal 16A of the sender is connected to circuit 14, for the transmission of the electronic mail, the relay device 22 sends the electronic mail data 112, which includes the advertisement data 108 via the circuit 14, as a radio wave from the base station 20A to the terminal 16A of the sender. After sending this e-mail data, the relay device 22 is disconnected from the circuit 14. Although not shown for brevity purposes, the e-mail data is actually sent by the mail servers to the sender / receiver terminals, 16A , 16B. In step S5, the combined e-mail data 110 is received by the antenna 64B of the terminal 16B of the receiver, and supplied by means of the unit 66B which shares the antenna and the receiver 54B to the controller 40B, in which the data Combined email io10 are stored in the memory 42B. The controller 40B controls the horn 46B to announce the reception of the combined e-mail data 110, and also controls the display unit 48D to display the information represented by the combined e-mail data 110. To display the information represented by the combined e-mail data 110, the controller 40B refers to the bits 101 of the display format in the combined e-mail data 110, to determine the display format for the ad data 108 attached, converts this advertisement data 108 into image data corresponding to the display format (stored in the memory 42B) of the display unit 48B of the receiver terminal 16B, and displays the image data in the display unit 48B. The controller 40B converts the advertisement data 108 into image data by interpolating the advertisement data 108, for example. In this manner, the terminal 16B of the receiver determines the bits 101 of the display format, to display an image corresponding to the displayed format of the display unit 48B of the terminal 16B of the receiver. If the display units 48 of the terminals 16, ie, the terminal 16A of the sender and the terminal 16B of the receiver, used in the e-mail advertisement system 10, have an exhibition format, then, since it is not required determine the display format, the 101 bits of the display format do not need to be stored and attached. The e-mail data 112 is received by the antenna 64A of the terminal 16A of the sender and supplied by means of the unit 66A which shares the antenna and the receiver 54A to the controller 40A in which the e-mail data 112 is stored in the memory 42A. The controller 40A controls the horn 46A to announce the reception of the e-mail data 112, and also controls the display unit 48A, to display the information represented by the e-mail data 112. Specific examples of displayed images will be described below. As shown in Figure 9, the display unit 48B of the terminal 16B of the receiver, exhibits an image 124, which includes the message 120"DE: Taro, the morning session site will be changed to the West Exit", which corresponds to the data 104 of the email body, an advertisement message 122"New automobile convention, following Saturday and Sunday ABC Motors" together with an automobile icon corresponding to the advertisement data 108.

As shown in Figure 10, the display unit 48A of terminal 16A of the sender, displays an image 1218 that includes a message 126"A: Hanako, Transmitting now ..." corresponding to the header (not shown), together with the transmission progress rate indicator in the form of a plurality of (six in Figure 10) triangular, uniformly directed markings, four of which are highly illuminated to indicate the rate of transmission progress of 4/6, and the advertisement message 122, etc., together with an automobile icon, corresponding to the advertisement data 108. Of the images displayed, 124, 148, shown in Figures 9 and 10, the sender and receiver can understand the contents of the electronic mail and also seen in the announcement message 122, displayed in combination with the electronic mail, which is highly remarkable If the advertisement message 122 is displayed based on the header advertisement data, then the sender or receiver can operate the command unit 50 (50A, 50B), by a mouse click, for access to the home page of the advertiser, which is linked to the advertisement message 122, by means of the circuit 14, and can download the detailed data of the home page, in step S6. Therefore, the user of the terminal 16 of the sender / receiver can obtain detailed information of the advertisement message 122. In the e-mail advertisement system 10, shown in Figure 1, a relay device 22 is connected to the circuit 14. However, a plurality of relay devices 22 can be connected to the circuit 14. If a plurality of devices 22 of relay is connected to circuit 14, then terminals 16 of the sender / receiver, use the closest relay devices 22. In the email advertisement system 10, shown in Figure 1, likewise, the relay device 22 is connected as a new communication infrastructure to the circuit 14. However, the relay device 22 can be combined integrally with or additionally connected to each base station 20 or one of certain base stations or exchange 15 or controller 18 that are part of the existing communication infrastructure, which is network 12 of PHS in the manner shown in Figure 1. If the communication infrastructure The present invention comprises a mobile communications network of mobile telephone terminals, then the relay device 22 can also be integrally combined with, or additionally connected to, each or to certain base stations or an exchange of mobile communications.

Figure 11 shows schematically a mail communication system 10A, according to another embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 11, the email advertisement system 10A uses a public network 12A, such as a PHS network, or a mobile communications network of mobile telephone terminals, which includes a circuit 14 and the base stations 20X, 20Y connected. These base stations 20X, 20Y integrally incorporate 22X, 22Y devices of respective relays, which include respective host computers, 23X, 23Y, connected to 24X, and 24Y, respective databases. The e-mail message system 10A operates as follows: When the e-mail data 106 (see Figure 5A), which comprises the e-mail body 104 data and the 101 bit of the display format are sent as a wave of radio, from the terminal 16A of the sender, the base station 20X receives the email data 106 via an antenna 140, and the relay device 22X of the base station 20X has access to the 24X databases, and sends the data 112 of electronic mail comprising the advertisement data 108, corresponding to the bits 101 of the display format, by means of the antenna 140 to the terminal 16A of the sender.

The e-mail data 106, received by the base station 20A, is sent via the circuit 14 of the public network 12A to the base station 20Y. This base station 20Y refers to the display format bits 101 in the email data 106, with access to the 24Y databases, extracts data 108 from advertisements corresponding to the 101 bits of the display format, and sends data. 110 of e-mail (see Figure 5B), comprising the e-mail data 104 and the advertisement data 108, there added, such as radio waves by means of an antenna 142 to the terminal 16B of the receiver. With the email advertisement system 10A, shown in Figure 11, the email data 110 that includes the advertisement data 108, does not pass through the circuit 14, but the email data 106, which includes only the bits 101 of the display format, passes through circuit 14. Therefore, no undue burden will probably be imposed on circuit 14.

Each of the email advertising systems 10, 10A, shown in Figures 1 and 11, comprise terminals 16 of the sender / receiver, as dedicated terminals for electronic mail and public network 12, such as the PHS network. . However, terminals 16 of the sender / receiver are not limited to such dedicated terminals for electronic mail, but can comprise the desired terminals with an exhibit screen, such as portable telephone terminals, PHS terminals, or connected paging devices. to public networks 12, 12A. Each of the public networks, 12, 12A may comprise, in addition to the portable telephone network or the PHS network, an analog public circuit network (conventional telephone network), an ISDN network, a cable network, a circuit satellite, or any other public network. In the above embodiments, the transmission of the electronic mail is from a terminal 16A of the sender to another terminal 16B of the receiver. The present invention is also applicable to the transmission of electronic mail from a sender's terminal to a plurality of receiver terminals. In the above embodiments, the electronic mail is transmitted unidirectionally from terminal 16A of the sender to terminal 16B of the receiver. However, the present invention is also applicable to a bidirectional type real-time communication advertisement system, in which the sender and the receiver exchange at least two-way image data between them, in a video telephone or a video conference . Figure 12 shows, in the form of blocks, a bidirectional, real-time communication announcement system 210 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This bidirectional, real-time communication announcement system 210 has video telephone terminals 216, 217, connected to an ISDN network 212, such as a public network, and a relay device 22, for access to a database 24 of announcement, the relay device 22 being connected to the ISDN network 212. As shown in Figure 13, each of the terminals, 216, 217, of video telephone, comprises a controller 240, which includes a microcomputer that has a UMP corresponding to a CPU and the memory 242, as a non-volatile memory element, such as a flash memory. In the controller 240, a command unit 250 having selector switches, including a ten-key pad and a power supply switch, a sound processor 254, for connecting and decoding data is connected as human interfaces. sound, this sound processor 254 is connected to a headset and handset 252 having a microphone and a speaker, and a video processor 260, to encode and decode video data, the video processor 260 is connected to a video camera 256 and a display unit 258. The controller 240 is connected to the ISDN network 212 via an interface 262, which comprises an interface I and a UDS: The bidirectional communication system 210 of real-time communication operates as follows: After establishing a link through the network 212 of the ISDN, that is, after connecting a call, the terminal 216 (or 217) of the video telephone, generates data 204 from the video telephone body, comprising sound data and image data, as shown in Figure 14A, adds bits 101 of the display format = "11", which represent an NTSC display format (see Figure 7) to the data 204 of the video telephone body, and sends the combined data as data 206 of video telephones to the ISDN network 212. The relay device 22 refers to the bits 101 of the display format, the access to the advertisement data base 24 and extracts the advertisement data 108 corresponding to the bits 101 of the display format from the advertisement database 24. . As shown in Figure 14B, the relay device 22 sends video telephone data 211, comprising the data 204 of the video telephone body, the advertisement data 108 and the bits 101 of the display format, by means of network 212 of the ISDN to the other terminal 217 of the video telephone (or 216). The bidirectional advertisement system 210 of the real-time communication allows the users of the video telephone terminals, 216, 217 to see an image represented by the data 204 of the body of the video telephone, for example, the face of the other part, together with a moving image, a static image, characters, symbols, and / or a header advertisement, in the display units 258. The bidirectional advertisement system 210 of the real-time communication, shown in Figure 12, may have a plurality of relay devices 22. With the multiple relay devices used, the load on the communication circuit of the ISDN network 212 may be reduced, because terminals 216, 217 of the video telephone use the closest relay devices 22. Figure 15 shows, in the form of blocks, a bidirectional advertisement system 210A, of real-time communication, according to another embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 15, this bidirectional announcement system 210A, of real-time communication, includes exchanges 320, 322, connected to network 212 of the ISN and incorporates integrally there the respective relay devices 22P, 2Q, which include the computers respective hosts, 23P 23Q, connected to the respective advertisement databases 24P, 24Q. The exchange 320 is connected between the terminal 216 of the video telephone and the network 212 of the ISDN, and the exchange 322 is connected between the video telephone terminal 217 and the network 212 of the ISDN. The bidirectional advertisement system 210A, of real-time communication, operates as follows: When the video telephone data 206 (see Figure 14A) comprising the data 204 of the video telephone body and the bits 101 of the display format , respectively, are sent from the terminals 216, 217 of the video telephone, these data 206 of the video telephone are delivered through the network 212 of the ISDN to the respective exchanges, 320, 322, which handle the terminals 216, 217, respectively, of the video phone. Designated in another way, the data 206 of the video telephone of the video telephone terminal 216 is sent via exchange 320 and network 212 of the ISDN to exchange 322, and data 206 of the video telephone from the video telephone terminal 217 are sent by means of exchange 322 and ISDN network 212 to exchange 320. The relay device 22Q in exchange 322, which handles the terminal 217 of the video telephone, determines a display format from the bits 101 of the display format in the data 206 of the video telephone from the terminal 216 of the video telephone, extracts data 108 from advertisements, in accordance with the format of determined display, from the advertisement database 24Q, and generates data 211 of the video telephone, comprising the data 204 of the body of the video telephone, the data 108 of advertisements and the bits 101 of the display format,. as shown in Figure 14B. The generated video telephone data 211 is sent from exchange 322 to terminal 217 of the video telephone. The relay device 22P in the exchange 320, which handles the video telephone terminal 216, determines a display format, from the bits 101 of the display format, to the data 206 of the video telephone, from the terminal 217 of this telephone of video, extracts the data 108 from advertisements, in accordance with a display format determined from the advertisement database 24P, and generates data 211 from the video telephone, comprising the data 204 of the body of the video telephone, the data 108 of advertisements and bits 101 of the display format, as shown in Figure 14B. The generated video phone data 211 is sent from exchange 320 to terminal 216 of the video telephone. Since terminals 216, 217 of the video telephone use the closest relay devices, 22P, 22Q, the load on the communication circuit of the ISDN network 212 is reduced. In the embodiment, according to the present invention, it is possible to display an advertisement image, together with an image, which is highly noticeable to the user, such as an email message, a video phone image, or the like. Because the ad image displayed is very likely to be seen by the user, the advertiser has the opportunity to use an ad medium that is highly cost effective. The service provider of the e-mail announcement system 10 can obtain ad revenue, each user can expect the fixed charge per month and the charge for access (communication load) to be decreased or eliminated. Accordingly, the present invention can contribute highly to the extensive use of existing electronic mail systems among the general public.

The bi-directional real-time communication ad system 210 allows the owner of the relay device to obtain ad revenue, and also allows the owner of the ISDN 212 network to receive higher payments for the communication charges proportional to the income. of the ad. It is highly probable that the bi-directional announcement, real-time communication system will develop new businesses that include the wider use of video telephone terminals. In accordance with the present invention, as described above, the announcement data is aggregated to, and sent along with, the electronic mail, which is highly remarkable to the user, by the relay device connected to the public network. Therefore, the ad data is very likely to be seen by the user, and the advertiser has the opportunity to use an ad medium that is very cost effective. Likewise, in the real-time communication advertisement system, which at least transmits image data bidirectionally in a video telephone system, for example, the advertisement data is aggregated to and sent together with the image data by the relay device connected to the public network. Consequently, the advertisement data is most likely viewed by the user and the advertiser has the opportunity to use a medium of advertisement that is highly cost effective.

Although certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein, without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (14)

1. CLAIMS 1. An email announcement system, which comprises: a public network; a terminal of the sender, to generate, display and send the electronic mail; at least one terminal of the receiver, to receive and display the electronic mail, sent from the terminal of the sender; a data base; and a relay device, connected to the public network, for accessing said database, adding ad data from the database, to the e-mail data sent from the sender's terminal, and sending this e-mail data and the ad data, there added, to the recipient's terminal.
2. 2. An email announcement system, according to claim 1, wherein the relay device comprises elements for sending any of the data of the electronic mail and the announcement data, there added, or this announcement data, to the terminal of the sender, while this terminal of the sender is connected to said public network, to send the email.
3. 3. An email announcement system, according to claim 1, wherein the sender's terminal comprises elements for adding the information of the display format of the sender's terminal to the electronic mail data, and sending this data of the electronic mail and the information of the exhibition format, there added, as data of the electronic mail, with the information of the exhibition format, and said relay device comprises elements to extract the data of announcements, that depend on the information of the exhibition format from said base of data.
4. 4. An email announcement system, according to claim 2, wherein the sender's terminal comprises elements for adding the information of the display format of the sender's terminal to the email data, and sending said email data and the information of the display format, there added, as data of the electronic mail, with the information of the exhibition format, and said relay device comprises elements to extract data of announcements that depend on the information of the exhibition format, from said base of data.
5. 5. An email announcement system, which comprises: a public network, which has a plurality of base stations; a terminal of the sender, to generate, display and send the electronic mail; and at least one terminal of the receiver, to receive and display the electronic mail sent from the sender's terminal; said base stations have respective databases and relay devices, for accessing said databases, respectively; said base station, which handles the sender's terminal, has elements to send the e-mail data, sent from the sender's terminal, through the public network to the base station, which handles the receiver's terminal; this relay device of the base station, which handles the receiver terminal, has elements for adding data from ads from the database to the e-mail data and sending this e-mail data and the ad data, there added, from the base station, which handles the receiver terminal, to said receiver terminal.
6. 6. An email announcement system, according to claim 5, wherein the relay device of the base station, which handles the sender's terminal, has elements to send any of the email data and the advertisement data, there aggregates, or said ad data, to the sender's terminal.
7. 7. An e-mail advertisement system, according to claim 5, wherein the sender's terminal comprises elements for adding the information of the display format of the sender's terminal, to the e-mail data, and sending said e-mail data. electronic and the information of the exhibition format, there added, as data of the electronic mail with the information of the format of exhibition, and each one of the relaying devices includes elements to extract the data of announcements that depend on the information of the format of exhibition from the corresponding database.
8. 8. An email announcement system, according to claim 6, wherein the sender's terminal comprises elements for adding the display format information of the sender's terminal to the email data, and sending said email data and the information of the display format, there added, as data of the electronic mail with the information of the exhibition format, and each one of the relay devices comprises elements to extract the data of announcements, that depend on said information of the exhibition format , from the corresponding database.
9. 9. A bidirectional real-time telecommunications announcement system, which comprises: a public network, which has a database and a relay device, for accessing said database; and a sender terminal and a receiver terminal, to transmit at least bidirectionally image data, through the public network; the relay device, which has elements for adding ad data from the database to the image data sent from the sender's terminal, and sending the image data and the ad data, there added, to the recipient's terminal.
10. 10. A bidirectional advertisement system, of real-time communication, according to claim 9, wherein this relay device has elements for adding ad data from the database to the image data sent from the receiver terminal, and sending this image data and ad data, there added, to the sender's terminal.
11. 11. A bidirectional advertisement system, of real time communication, which comprises: a public network, which has a plurality of exchanges; and a sender terminal and a receiver terminal, for transmitting at least the image data bidirectionally, by means of the public network; these exchanges have respective databases, and the relay devices, for the access of said databases, respectively; said exchange that handles the sender's terminal, has elements to send image data, sent from the sender's terminal, through the public network, to the exchange that handles the terminal of the receiver; said exchange relay device, which handles the receiver terminal, has elements for adding ad data from the database to the image data, and sending said image data and ad data, there added, from the exchange the which handles the terminal of the receiver, to said terminal of the receiver.
12. 12. A bidirectional advertisement system, of real-time communication, according to claim 11, wherein the sender's terminal comprises elements for adding the information of the display format of the sender's terminal to said image data, and sending this data of image and information of the display format, there added, as data of the electronic mail with the information of the format of exhibition, and each one of the devices of relay comprises elements to extract the data of announcement that depend on the information of the format of exhibition, from the corresponding database.
13. 13. A relay device, connected to a public network, for access to a database, this device comprises: elements to add the data of announcements from the database to the data of the electronic mail, sent from the terminal of the sender, to through the public network; elements to send the resulting electronic data to the recipient's terminal, through the public network.
14. 14. A relay device, according to claim 13, wherein the elements for sending any of the e-mail data and the ad data, there added, or these ad data, to said sender's terminal, through this network public, while the sender's terminal connects to said public network, to send the email.