WO1996029835A1

WO1996029835A1 - System and method for supplying portable terminal with information

Info

Publication number: WO1996029835A1
Application number: PCT/JP1995/000473
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shigeki Nagaya; Naoko Yamazaki; Shigeru Shimada
Original assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
Priority date: 1995-03-17
Filing date: 1995-03-17
Publication date: 1996-09-26
Also published as: JP3222142B2

Abstract

In an information service system for portable terminal provided with a wireless or wire network, a service center (100) transmits highly frequently used primary information including the decoding program of the information to a portable terminal (200) when the terminal (200) transmits a trigger signal upon entering the area covered by the center (100). Upon receiving the primary information, the terminal (200) decodes the primary information when its registered identification code coincides, performs personal certification, and transmits a transmission request for secondary information which is less frequently used but more versatile to the center (100). The terminal can unconditionally use the primary information. Therefore, the communication time per portable terminal is short as compared with the conventional personal computer communication, and the cost of the information transmitting equipment at the service center is low.

Description

Description Information service system for portable terminal and its method

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal moving to various places, and relates to a system and a method for providing information for the mobile terminal. Background art

As an information service for an unspecified number of users, there is so-called "personal computer communication" represented by Compu-Serve and PC-VAN. In personal computer communication, communication is performed between a computer, which provides information called a host machine, and an unspecified number of user terminals via a telephone line or the like, and information stored on the host machine is provided. Give a screw. In personal computer communication, the information service is used in the following procedure. First, the user starts communication software, etc. _{c, and} then performs a connection operation to connect to the host machine. Index information indicating what services can be provided is sent from the host machine. The user searches for a target service based on the index information. Usually, the types of services provided are enormous, and the index information sent at one time is often limited to a part. For this reason, the index information and the user's index selection command are repeatedly exchanged between the host machine and the user terminal until the user reaches the target service. For example, when searching for newspaper articles related to a specific person using personal computer communication, the user first searches for index service information for the entire personal computer communication and then provides a service for connecting to a commercial data pace. Find your eyes and select this. Next, from the index information of the commercial database sent from the host machine, it searches for and selects items in the newspaper database.

Upon reaching the target service, the user searches for the target information and obtains the information. In the above example, a newspaper database is accessed. A newspaper article is searched using the name of a person as a keyword, and an article deemed necessary is downloaded to the user terminal.

In most cases, billing is based on the usage time. In addition, if the provided service is separately charged, the user is notified that the service is charged, and then the user is often asked whether to use the service. The usage status of services for each user is collectively managed by the host machine. In personal computer communications, the identity of the user is confirmed using credit information such as a credit card to prevent unauthorized use of the service. And assigns an ID number to use the service. When connecting to the host machine, the ID number sent from the user terminal is checked to prevent unauthorized use.

The mobile terminal has a feature that it can be moved to various places. Therefore, it is conceivable to provide a variety of detailed information specific to the location, such as road guidance and shocking guidance, by taking advantage of this feature. For example, assuming an information service at a station where many people gather, information services such as a timetable for each station, nearby route guidance, or advertising / shocking information are conceivable. In addition, mobile terminals are expected to spread more widely than personal computers. Some estimates suggest that this could be about 10 to 100 times that of a personal computer. As a result, information services for mobile terminals are more diverse than current personal computer communications. It is expected that the same services will be provided and that the number of terminals targeted for the service will increase by tens of times.

However, if the personal computer communication service method is applied directly to such information services for mobile terminals, the following problems are expected to arise.

First, in order to realize various information services for a large number of mobile terminals using the interactive communication method of personal computer communication as it is, the communication load becomes enormous, causing a communication bottleneck and a delay in response. There is it. To avoid this, large-capacity communication lines and higher-performance host machines are required. For this reason, the capital investment of the information service provider becomes more expensive than before.

Second, protecting copyright for information is more difficult. In conventional personal computer communications, information services are provided in a public data format. For example, Toka JIS or shift JIS kanji code if the text information, if the image data in the TIFF format or JPEG format trough Migihitsuji, the _c user information service is performed on the decided beforehand data format, such data format Prepare a display program that can process the information and check the information. However, once the information was sent to the user, the data format was already known, and the user could have used it illegally without the permission of the copyright owner.

On the other hand, an article entitled “General Magic and Mag Cap” was published in ASCI I, Vol. 18, # 10 October 1994, p.277-280 as communication using mobile terminals. It introduces the content that remote programming using "Telescript" is possible. Certainly, in the network service using the Magic Cap, the processing required by the user is transmitted to the network as an agent described in Telescript, The agent has the advantage of shortening the network connection time because the agent returns after completing the necessary processing on the target server. However, even in the communication introduced in this article, there is a problem that if simultaneous access is made from a large number of mobile terminals, the load on the host (server) side becomes large, causing a re-communication bottleneck and delay in response. I do.

On the other hand, Nikkei Electronics, December 5, 1994, pp. 133-144, provides services for providing congestion information (FM data multiplex broadcasting, optical beacons, radio beacons) starting in 1996. Articles on navigation devices for automobiles are published. The congestion information service has the advantage that it can receive congestion information in a limited area, but the type of information is fixed and basically a unidirectional service from the host to the navigation device side It was provided, and two-way communication was difficult and lacked versatility. (Of the traffic congestion information provision services, the Hikari Vicon system is said to be capable of two-way communication and transmitting the position of the vehicle to the beacon from the vehicle. However, transmission from the vehicle is mainly It is used for traffic control, and it is difficult to selectively send various information from a car.) In addition, traffic congestion information obtained from a host is stored in a car navigation system. Since the traffic congestion information is accumulated in the storage device of the navigation device for automobiles one after another, there is a problem that if the traffic congestion information is not properly managed, useful devices on the navigation side overflow.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-138882 discloses a station-specific timetable for mobile terminals using wireless communication of a base station having a narrow area such as a PHS installed at a station or the like. What to display is described. However, in this conventional technology, a base station installed at a station or the like does not have a large amount of information (such as timetable information) inherent in the base station and does not transmit. It functions only as a source of ID collation information for simply selecting the information held in the mobile terminal. Therefore, in this prior art, the information desired by the user must be prepared in advance in the mobile terminal, which may increase the storage capacity of the mobile terminal, and the type of information is limited. It is not as versatile as personal computer communications.

As described above, there are various problems in the method of providing information services for personal computer communication and other special purposes.

The present invention aims to reduce the communication time of a mobile terminal while maintaining versatility such as personal computer communication without fixing the type of information, and a service system for providing information (mainly, Provided equipment) at low cost. Another object is to efficiently use a portable terminal having a limited storage capacity. It also aims to appropriately protect copyrights, which was difficult in the past. In addition, the objective is to reduce the cost required for maintenance of the entire system. The other purposes will become clear from the following description of the damages.

Disclosure of the invention

In the present invention, basically, three communication methods of (1) a broadcasting method, (2) an information object method, and (3) an area-limited method are combined to reduce the communication and calculation load of the service center.

The broadcast method is a method for transmitting information to terminals using a repetitive one-way protocol (broadcast), such as traffic information broadcasting performed on high-speed routes. In this method, the service center uses Since information can be transmitted to an unspecified number of mobile terminals at the same time without synchronizing communication, there is no communication load. However, this communication method does not take into account considerations for general-purpose information.

Therefore, the information transmitted by the broadcast system is Information (free-no notification of billing) and b) secondary information that is not used as frequently as primary information, but is required by some users (paid = notification of billing). The primary information is basically based on the broadcasting system, and the secondary information is interactive communication. The information is converted into an information object described below to reduce the communication load and increase the versatility.

The information object method is a method in which information data to be provided is in an encrypted or private format, and transmitted as a set together with a program for decrypting and displaying the information data. At that time, the decryption / display program has a built-in function to transmit the ID and billing notification built into the mobile terminal to the center as e-mail, and e-mails the notification only when the user uses secondary information. To be transmitted. As a billing method, the number of billing notification emails received by the service center is used as the number of information used by the user, and billing based on the number of cases is performed. As a result, it is possible to reliably charge the information to be provided and protect the copyright.

In this way, by combining the broadcasting method and the information object method, charging becomes possible while reducing the communication load on the service center side.

The area-limited method is a method for limiting information transmitted by the broadcast method to those related to “area”. This is because it is not practical to transmit all of the information that can be provided by the broadcast method, considering the capacity and communication band. For this reason, information to be provided, especially primary information, shall be sent with regional characteristics. Here, since the main object of the present invention is to reduce the communication load, it is desirable that the request frequency of the primary information transmitted by the broadcast method from the portable terminal is high to some extent. However, the frequency of requests for information is not always determined, and depends on the user's situation. It can change sharply. Therefore, an attribute called “place” where the user (mobile terminal) is located is introduced as a measure of the situation where the user is placed, and the information to be broadcast is changed by changing the information transmitted by the broadcast method for each “place”. And the information required from the user terminal.

Examples of information related to “region” include the timetables and nearby guidance information that are considered to be used relatively frequently in the information services at stations mentioned above.

One of the advantages of combining the area-limited method and the broadcast method is that the user (mobile terminal) can receive information in the information object method, especially primary information, by entering a certain “region” as a trigger. Thus, the apparent communication time as seen by the user can be reduced.

In addition, when the mobile terminal leaves the “region” or after a certain period of time, if there is no special instruction from the user, and the primary information transmitted by the broadcasting method is deleted from the mobile terminal, the region-specific Due to the large amount of information accumulated, the storage device of the mobile terminal can be used more efficiently. Combining the above, we will provide a mechanism that allows management (charging and copyright protection) while spilling information like a radio. In addition, since unknown service information can be easily handled, the service center has high versatility and can freely provide a variety of services. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus configuration of the present invention. Figure 2 shows the system configuration of the service center. Figure 3 shows the structure of the user information database. Figure 4 shows the structure of the information database. Figure 5 shows the system configuration of a mobile terminal. Figure 6 shows the structure of the information object. Figure 7 shows the information DB access method ( Program). Figure 8 shows the relationship between the mobile terminal and the information object. FIG. 9 shows an outline of a regional information service realized by the present invention. FIG. 10 shows a data tough at the time of information search in the present invention. <FIG. 11 shows a protocol in a conventional personal computer communication method. FIG. 12 shows a protocol in a communication method realized by the present invention. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transmitting an information object from the service center. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the mobile terminal receives the information object. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a procedure for starting the information DB access means (program) in the mobile terminal. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a procedure for using the DB access means. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a procedure for terminating the information DB access means (program). FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the service center at the time of CSS. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile terminal at the time of CSS. FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a user authentication procedure in the service center. FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the information search operation of the mobile terminal. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the timing of charging when using the service.

(Hereinafter the margin)

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, before describing the system configuration and communication protocol of the present invention, the basic concept of the present invention will be described.

To provide information services without expensive capital investment, it is conceivable to reduce the amount of communication between the mobile terminal and the host machine. However, since the information provided to the user cannot be reduced, the number of conversations between the mobile terminal and the host machine can be reduced to reduce the communication overhead, or the time required for one communication can be reduced. It is conceivable to reduce the occupation time of the host machine.

According to the present invention, it is conceivable that all or a part of the primary information, which is considered to be frequently used in the information service, is sent to the mobile terminal in advance, and the subsequent dialogue is reduced as much as possible. For example, in the information service at the station mentioned above, if a timetable or nearby guidance information that is considered to be used relatively frequently is sent to the mobile terminal, it is possible to eliminate the dialogue with such information. In addition, the secondary information that is not used as frequently as the primary information is charged, and only when the user uses the secondary information, the host machine is notified of the charge.

The primary information that is considered to be frequently used in mobile terminals is information that is strongly related to the location of the mobile terminal. Of the information services at the stations mentioned above, information such as station timetables, nearby route guides, advertisements, and shopping guides are all strongly related to the location of the mobile terminal, and are completely unrelated. The need for such information is unlikely.

Therefore, for such region-specific information, actively provide information services. Establish an area to carry out, and transmit all or part of the area information to mobile terminals in that area. At this time, if some signal is triggered and transmitted before the user starts using the service, the apparent communication time seen by the user can be reduced and the communication on the host machine side can be reduced. The load can be reduced. In addition, when the mobile terminal leaves the area where the information service is provided or after a certain period of time, the information (primary information) without special instructions from the user is deleted from the mobile terminal, and the area-specific information can be obtained. Due to the large amount of information accumulated, the storage device of the mobile terminal can be used more efficiently.

—On the other hand, since the secondary information is charged, the following method is considered as one of the methods to prevent the secondary information provided by the information service from being easily misused.

In other words, by converting primary information and secondary information into information objects, distributing programs or routines for decoding and displaying the data along with the data, and making the data format private or encrypted, Limit use. And, especially if you want to access secondary information, make the program that requires personal authentication. Further, if the copyright owner information is stored in the display program or the display routine, unauthorized use can be prevented. In addition, this secondary information is charged, and in this case, when the user uses the simultaneously transmitted display program or display routine to display the information, a routine for notifying the host machine of the billing must be provided. If you do, you can be surely charged. The secondary information may be configured so that the information (secondary information) without a special instruction from the user can be deleted from the mobile terminal. The storage of the mobile terminal can be used more efficiently by storing a large amount of local information. It should be noted that primary information can be realized without creating an information object, but it is more advantageous to view primary information and secondary information as a series of flows (algorithms) in system construction such as software development. Therefore, in the following embodiments, a description will be given of a method in which both primary information and secondary information are converted into information objects and transmitted.

Now, the configuration of such an apparatus for implementing the present invention will be described in detail. Next, information services realized by the present invention will be described by taking an information service assumed at a station as an example.

1 to 8 illustrate an apparatus configuration and a system configuration of the present invention. First, the system configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1, and then the system configuration and components of the service center and the mobile terminal will be described with reference to FIGS. Figures 6, 7, and 8 explain in detail the data format of information exchanged between the service center and the mobile terminal.

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus configuration of the present invention. The present invention includes a service center 100 that provides various information such as texts, voices, and images via a wireless or wired network, and a mobile terminal 200 that receives such information. In the following embodiments, a system using a wireless network will be described. Even with a system using a wired network, it is possible to build a system similar to a wireless system if the area of mobile terminals to be accessed is limited.

The service center 100 includes a CPU 101, a wireless communication device 102, a memory 103, a hard disk 104, and an antenna 105. The CPU 101 executes an information service program stored in the hard disk 104 on the memory 103 * to execute an information service for the portable terminal 200. The wireless communication device 102 receives a notification and a request from the mobile terminal 200 via the antenna 105 and, when requested by a conversation protocol or the like, a document or an image. Can be transmitted to the mobile terminal 200. The hard disk 104 stores service information for information service programs and users.

The portable terminal 200 includes a CPU 201, a wireless communication device 202, a memory 203, a hard disk 204, an antenna 205, and a screen 206 with a pen input function. The CPU 201 loads and executes the information access program stored in the hard disk 204 on the memory 203, and obtains and displays information serviced from the service center 100. The wireless communication apparatus 202 transmits a notification to the service center 100 and a processing request via the antenna 205, and receives service information. The hard disk 204 is a part for storing an information access program and received service information. The screen 206 with a pen input function receives a request from a user through an operation such as a pen input or the like, and outputs a processing result obtained from each control unit.

On this device, the programs constituting the system shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 are executed to realize the present invention. Of course, the configuration of the service center 100 and the portable terminal 200 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and various modifications are possible. For example, the portable terminal 200 may use an input device other than a pen, such as a button, a touch panel, a keyboard, or the like, or may use a storage device such as a semiconductor memory without the built-in hard disk 204.

FIG. 2 shows a system configuration of the service center 100. The service center 100 includes a communication control unit 110, a user information DB control unit 111, a trigger signal transmission unit 112, an information object transmission unit 113, a central control unit 114, an information data pace control unit 115, It consists of a user information database 300 and an information database 400, 400 '.

Central control unit 114, communication control unit 110, user information DB control unit 111, trigger one signal transmission unit 112, information object transmission unit 113, information data pace control Part 115 controls the user information database 300 and the information databases 400 and 400 '.

The communication control unit 110 implements means for controlling communication control commands and various information objects 500 that are exchanged between the service center 100 and the portable terminal 200. Here, the communication control command refers to a trigger signal, a transmission / reception command (transmission request, reception request, time-out, reception notification, retransmission command, checksum, etc.). Further, the information object 500 refers to data obtained by combining information or an information database and a means (program) for displaying and retrieving the information or the information database. The details of the information object are described in detail in FIG. Information object: The communication procedure of the object 500 and the communication control command will be described in detail in FIG. 11 and thereafter.

The user information database 300 implements information for authenticating a user, such as a pass-through-door use log, and means for managing billing information. As a result, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use of the information service, and to accurately grasp the usage history of each user and perform appropriate charging. The user information database 300 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The user information data pace control unit 111 is a part that implements means for controlling the user information data pace 300. The above-described acquisition of the user information is possible only through the user information data pace control unit 111. The trigger signal transmitting unit 112 outputs the signal that triggers the start of the service intermittently to the portable terminal 200 entering the area where the information service is received.

The information object sending unit 113 is a part that sends the information object 500 to the portable terminal 200. The information object sending unit 113 realizes means for simultaneously transmitting service information and access means such as display and search. Alternatively, a means for storing the copyright information in the service information and a means for adding a charging means to the access means are realized.

The information databases 400, 400 'implement a means for storing and managing information to be served to users. Examples of information stored in the information database include various information such as timetables and shopping information. This information is assumed to be a variety of information, and is limited to a limited amount of special information, such as information close to public information such as a timetable installed at a station or the like, or from private information such as shopping information. Wide range of information. Therefore, in preparing the system infrastructure, the information provider may limit the types of information within a range that does not impair versatility according to the purpose. It is also conceivable that the user ID who is the information user and the type of information to be provided are registered in advance without impairing the versatility, and the accessible range is limited.

The primary information and the secondary information in the present invention may be classified by a predetermined standard by an information provider in consideration of the frequency of use and the purpose of providing the information.

Incidentally, the information databases 400 and 400 'may be not only one but also a plurality. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the system center 100 has two information databases 400 and 400 '.

The information data pace control unit 115 controls access to the information data paces 400 and 400 '. Necessary information is extracted from the information database in response to a request from the central control unit 114 or the information object sending unit 113.

Here, the user information database 300 is shown as one component of the service center, but a form in which a plurality of service centers 100 share one user information database 300 may be used. For example, somewhere—a user information center consisting of 300 It is also conceivable that the service center 100 interacts with the service center.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the user information database 300. The user information database 300 is a part for managing user authentication information and billing information, and includes a user ID table 301 and a user information table 302.

The user ID table 301 is a table including the user ID 303. The user ID 303 is a number for identifying an individual, and is used for identification when a user receives an information service. The user ID 303 includes a pointer to the user information table 302.

The user information table 302 includes a password 304, user personal information 305, service use log 306, and billing information 307. The password 304 is a part in which a password to be collated at the time of user identification is stored. The user personal information 305 stores personal information such as the user's name, address, and telephone number. The service usage log 306 stores a usage history indicating when and how long the user has used the service. The user is charged based on the service usage log 306. The billing information 307 stores usage upper limit information indicating how much the user can use the service, the amount of money the user has used so far, and the like.

Normally, the user information database 300 is used as sales information of the service center 100, and cannot be used by general users.

Figure 4 shows the structure of the information database 400, 400 '. The information data paces 400 and 400 'are parts for storing and managing information such as texts, voices, and images provided to the user, and include information data pace definition information 401 and various types of information data 402.

The information database definition information 401 stores the database definition information. The table / query definition information 403 and the data record management information 4 Divided into 04. The table 'query definition information 403 stores information such as how the table #query stored in the database is defined. Here, the table refers to an arrangement of data defined on the data pace. A query is a dynamic table created by selecting related items from multiple tables when searching.

Further, the data record management information 404 stores information indicating where and how much such various information data 402 is stored for each table. The various information data 402 is a portion where actual data is stored, and is composed of a plurality of data records 405. One data record 405 corresponds to one service information. The data stored in the data records can be in various formats, such as text, audio, and images. This is because, when information is provided to the user, access means for the information can be transmitted at the same time, and the format of the information to be handled is not limited. FIG. 5 shows a system configuration of the mobile terminal 200. The mobile terminal 200 includes a communication control unit 210, a trigger signal detection unit 211, a central control unit 212, a display control unit 213, an input control unit 214, and a service information control unit 215.

The central control unit 212 controls the communication control unit 210, the trigger signal detection unit 211, the display control unit 213, the input control unit 214, and the service information control unit 215.

Communication control section 210 implements means for controlling communication of information object 500 and communication control commands exchanged between service center 100 and portable terminal 200. '

The trigger signal detector 211 detects a single trigger signal transmitted from the service center 100.

The display control unit 213 sends a display message 220 to the information object 500 received from the service center 100, and transmits the information such as text, audio, and video. Which to display in various forms.

The input control unit 214 is a unit that determines an instruction from a user input through the screen 206 with a pen input function and transmits the instruction to the central control unit 212.

The service information control unit 215 sends various messages to the information object 500 received from the service center 100 to perform control. Messages sent to the information object include an inquiry message 222 and an information retrieval message 223. Each message invokes various procedures in information object 500 for processing.

The above is the description of the system configuration of the service center 100 and the mobile terminal 200. The information exchanged between the two in addition to the communication control command is the information object 500, the information for authenticating the user, the search request, and the billing notification. 6 to 8, the information object 500 will be described.

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the information object 500. The information object 500 is data combining information or an information database and means (programs) for decoding, displaying and retrieving the information. The information database 300 described with reference to FIG. It consists of 600 access means (programs). The information DB access means (program) 600 implements means for accessing the information database 300. The mobile terminal 200 sends and displays various messages to the coast information DB access means (program) 600 to activate these means to display and search information.

In the present invention, the data structure of the information contained in the information object is concealed, and access by other means is disabled by limiting the access means. In this way, charging for paid information will be ensured, and the protection of copyright, which has been taken up as an issue, will be realized.

FIG. 7 shows the structure of the information DB access means (program) 600. Information DB Access means (program) 600, interface inquiry means (program) 700, DB access means (program) 800, user authentication means (program) 900, billing notification means (program) 1000, display means (program) 1 Consists of 100.

The interface inquiry means (program) 700 is a part which provides definition information of the information DB access means (program) 600, and comprises an interface registration means (program) 701 and an inquiry means (program) 702. . The inquiry means (program) 701 provides information as to what means (function) is included in the information DB access means (program) 600. Further, the interface registration means (program) 701 registers these means in the service information control unit 215 and makes them available from the central control unit 214 and the display control unit 213.

The DB access means (program) 800 provides a means for actually accessing the information database 300. It consists of DB oven means (program), DB close means (program), DB structure information means (program), and DB search means (program).

The user authentication means (program) 900 is performed when starting the secondary information service because the information to be provided is at the service center side and it is necessary to perform normal interactive communication (interaction protocol). Provides a means for acquiring a user authentication key.

The charge notifying means (program) 1000 notifies the service center 100 of a charge when a user uses a paid secondary information service.

The display means (program) 1100 provides a means for displaying various data 302 of the information database 300.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the mobile terminal 200 and the information object 500. Here, messages and data exchanged between each control unit and the information object are described. -The flow of the data will be described. The operation flowchart of each control unit and means will be described in detail in FIG.

First, the portable terminal 200 receives the information object 500 from the service center 100 using the trigger signal as a trigger. First, the service information control unit 213 activates the interface inquiry means (program) 700 in the information DB access means (program) 600 to enable the use of the information DB access means (program) 600 included in the information object 500. I do. Next, the display control unit 213 sends a display message 220 and activates the information service program. When a user uses an information search request when using a service, the service information control unit 213 sends an information search message 221. Then, the DB access means (program) 800 is started.

At this time, if the information to be searched does not exist in the information object 500 but exists in the service center 100, the secondary information is accessed based on the user authentication between the mobile terminal 200 and the service center 100. Transition to an interactive communication (dialogue protocol) session. The user authentication is performed by activating the user authentication means (program) 900 by a user authentication message from the DB access means (program) 800.

When the information to be searched exists in the information object 500, an information search is performed for the information database 300 included in the information object 500, and the search result is returned to the service information control unit 213. It is. When the user makes a search request for paid secondary information, the DB access means (program) 800 activates the charging means 1000, notifies the user that charging is performed, and provides a charging notification service. Send to center 100.

9 to 12, the protocol (communication procedure) and operation procedure between the service center 100 and the mobile terminal 200 will be described using flowcharts. First, in FIGS. 9 and 10, a protocol (communication procedure) between the service center 100 and the mobile terminal 200 is schematically described, and then, in FIG. 11, a communication method according to the present invention and a conventional bus communication system are illustrated. The comparison with the method is shown.

FIG. 9 shows an outline of a regional information service realized by the present invention. This example assumes information services at each station, such as Japan's JR and Eidan subway stations. First, it is assumed that a user having the portable terminal 200 approaches the station A (service center 100) where information services are provided by moving by train or walking. At this time, a signal that triggers information distribution is emitted from Station A, and various information (information object 500) is transmitted to the terminal owned by the user in response to the signal. In this case, the information services provided by Station A include a “timetable” service and a “transfer information” service. The “timetable” service is a service that provides a timetable for this A station. The “transfer information” service is a service that tells you the best route to transfer from Station A to another station and transfer.

Upon completion of the transmission, the received information service program is started, and icons and character strings representing the contents of the transmitted information are displayed on the screen 206 of the mobile terminal 200. By clicking these icons and character strings, the user switches the main control to the information service program and starts the service. According to the service menu, the user can use the “timetable” service to check the departure time of the target train, and use the “transfer information” service to check the optimal route.

Finally, suppose that the user of the mobile terminal 200 moves out of the range of the trigger signal transmitted from the station A due to movement such as a train or a walk. At this time, if the user does not use the information service for a certain period of time or does not give an instruction to save the used information, the information sent from Station A will be deleted and the hard disk 204 of the mobile terminal 200 will be overwhelmed. Not to be If the user moves within the trigger signal range while using the service, or if the user wants to search again for the information that instructed storage, access Station A through the nearest wireless network. Can be.

(Hereinafter the margin)

FIG. 10 shows a data flow at the time of information search in the present invention. Usually, the information database 400 to be searched is of various sizes. In the example of Fig. 9, the timetable at Station A is expected to be several kilobytes at most, while the database that implements the transit j service has an information volume close to one CD-R0M. In the case of a small data base such as a “timetable”, all can be stored in the information object 500 and sent to the mobile terminal 200. However, in the case of a large-scale database such as a “transit” service, it is not practical to transmit all of them to the portable terminal 200. Therefore, in the present invention, a part of the data base definition information 401 and various information data 402 is stored in the information object 500 as a distributed database of the information database 400, and is transmitted to the portable terminal 200.

At the time of the information search, the information for determining whether the various information data 402 to be searched is located in the mobile terminal 200 or the service center 100 is stored inside the database definition 401 and based on this. Information DB access means (program) 600 switches the search target. These processes are hidden and cannot be seen by the service information control unit 210 at all. If it is stored in the information object 500 on the mobile terminal 200, it is searched. If not stored, a search request is sent to the service center 100 via the communication control units 110 and 210 and the antennas 105 and 205, and the information DB control unit 115 increases the information data pace 400 in the service center 100. Searched. The search results are sent back to the information DB access means (program) 600 of the portable terminal 200 via the communication control units 110 and 210 and the antennas 105 and 205, and the display control unit 213 and the display means (program) 1100 display the screen 206. Displayed above.

Next, FIGS. 11 and 12 show a comparison between the communication method according to the present invention and the conventional personal computer communication method.

Fig. 11 shows a terminal and service using the conventional personal computer communication method. It explains the communication procedure with the center.

First, when the user starts using the service, a comprehensive index of the entire service information is required to inquire what kind of information is being serviced (step 1200) and transmitted to the portable terminal (step 1201). Since it is very likely that comprehensive index information is required, there are also personal computer communications that transfer such comprehensive index information in advance. The user searches for the service contents to be used based on the comprehensive index sent from the service center, and requests the service center for the service (step 1202). As a result, the request result is sent from the service center to the mobile terminal (step 1203). In the example shown in this figure, the user finds two services, a timetable service (free) and a transit information service (paid), from the sent comprehensive index. Next, while requesting a transit information service from “Kokubunji to Yokohama”, the service center was notified of permission for charging and received transit information. FIG. 12 illustrates a communication procedure between a terminal and a service center according to the present invention.

First, when the user moves into the area where the service is provided, the total index of the entire service information, all or a part of the service information, and the information service connection means are transmitted to the portable terminal ( Step 1300). For this reason, there is no "query" request for the comprehensive index information that occurs when the service is started. The user searches for the service content he / she wants to use based on the comprehensive index, and requests the service (step 1301). Even if it is a comprehensive index, if a communication protocol such as telescript introduced in the prior art is used, the user can search the menu screen repeatedly and select the desired service. Can be expected to be reduced. However, at this time, all or a part of the requested information has already been transferred to the mobile terminal, so no service request is issued to the service center ( Step 1302). In the example shown in this figure, the user has made a request for the timetable service, but since the timetable information has already been transmitted to the mobile terminal, no timetable request is issued to the service center. Thus, the main point of the present invention is to transmit all or a part of meaningful information directly or directly to the mobile terminal without establishing communication from the mobile terminal. In many cases, the target information is obtained from the primary information that is directly transferred to the mobile terminal, so the number of “inquiry” requests from the mobile terminal to the service center is reduced, and the traffic is reduced.

If directly transferred primary information is not sufficient and more detailed secondary information is used, such as toll information such as a transit information service, there is no request for the service itself, and billing is not performed. The system is configured to send only the permitted notifications to the service center (step 1303).

As described above, in the information service method according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the traffic of various request commands and results generated between the mobile terminal and the service center, and as a result, improve the response of the information service. In addition, by allocating the computational load required for information retrieval that occurred at the service center to mobile terminals, the computational load at the service center can be reduced.

Hereinafter, FIGS. 13 to 22 illustrate the operation and hiring of the service center 100 and the mobile terminal 200. In the service center 100 and the portable terminal 200, two processes are respectively executed independently. The service center 100 has two processes: a process for transmitting a trigger signal and an information object 500; and a process for interactively processing a processing request received from the portable terminal 200. In the mobile terminal 200, there are two processes: a process of collecting information objects, and a process of executing an information service by performing interactive processing.

FIG. 13 shows the process of transmitting the information object of the service center 100. The operation procedure will be described. 14 to 16 show an operation procedure in the reception process of the mobile terminal 200. 17 to 22 are flowcharts showing the operation procedure of the service center 100 and the portable terminal 200 during the interactive processing.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transmitting a trigger signal and an information object 500 from the service center 100. This is an independent process in Service Center 100. First, when the service center 100 is started (step 1400), one trigger signal is broadcast simultaneously (step 1401). Next, an information object is transmitted (step 1402). The above processing is repeated.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the mobile terminal 200 receives the information object 500. This is an independent process in the mobile terminal 200. First, it is assumed that the user holding the portable terminal 200 is moving by some means of transportation toward an area where the trigger signal transmitted by the service center 100 reaches (Step 1500). It is determined whether the portable terminal 200 has caught the trigger signal (step 1501). If not, return to step 1500 and wait until the trigger signal is caught. If the signal is caught, the identification code of the signal is extracted, and it is checked whether the identification code is registered in the table in the trigger-one signal detection unit 211. If registered, the process returns to step 1500 assuming that the corresponding information object 500 has already been received. If not registered, the service center 100 starts receiving the information object 500 (step 1503). Upon completion of reception of information object 500 (step 1504), service information control section 1505 activates information DB access means (program) 600 inside information object 500 and opens information database 400 (step 1). 505). Next, the display control unit 213 activates the display means (program) 1100 in the information object 500, displays the service as an icon, and uses the service. State (step 1506). Finally, the identification code is registered in the table inside the trigger signal detecting section 211, the process returns to step 1500, and the above processing is repeated.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a procedure for activating the information DB access means (program) 600 in the portable terminal 200, and explains the first half process of step 1505 in FIG. 14 in more detail. First, it is assumed that information object 500 is received in portable terminal 200 (step 1600). Next, the information object file 500 is divided into separate files for the information database 400 and the information DB access means (program) 600 (step 1601). Next, the information DB access means (program) 600 is loaded into the memory (step 1602). The interface inquiry means (program) 700 is started for the information DB access means (program) 600 loaded in the memory (step 1603). The interface inquiry means (program) 700 acquires addresses for all means (functions) in the information DB access means (program) 600 (step 1604). The acquired address is registered in the doctor table of the service information control unit (step 1605), and the activation process of the information DB access means (program) 600 is completed (step 1606).

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the information database 400 by the DB access means (program) 800, and explains the latter half of the processing of step 1505 in FIG. 14 in more detail. First, the information DB access means (program) 600 is activated according to the procedure described in FIG. 15 (step 1700). Next, the information database 400 is opened by the DB oven means (program) 801 (step 1701). Next, various definition information 401 of the information database 400 is acquired by the DB structure information means (program) 802, and is made available (step 1702). When the information search message is sent from the service information control unit 215, the DB search means (program) 802 is started and the information data is sent. A search of the database 400 is performed (step 1703). When the use of the information service is completed, the information database 400 is closed by the DB closing means (program) 804 (step 1704).

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the procedure for ending the information service. Release processing starts as soon as the user finishes using the information service (step 1800). First, after all pointers of each means (function) registered in the vector table in the service information control unit 215 are released, the pointer table is released (step 1801), and the pointer is released on the memory. Discard the information DB access means (program) 600 (step 1802). Next, it is checked whether or not the user has specified the storage of the information object 500 (step 1803). If storage is not specified, the information object file 500 (information database file 400 and information DB access means (program) file 600) is discarded from the hard disk 204 (step 1804). If storage is specified, the process directly proceeds to step 1805 and ends.

Hereinafter, an operation flow chart of the mobile terminal 200 and the service center 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. Normally, the mobile terminal 200 searches the information database 400 in the information object 500, which is the primary information sent together with the trigger signal, so that most communication with the service center 100 is performed. Absent. However, when the information to be searched exists in the service center 100 as secondary information, the communication between the mobile terminal 200 and the service center 100 is not performed by the broadcast method, but is performed in the same manner as general personal computer communication. Communication is performed and the operation is different from the above.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the service center when the interactive communication (interactive protocol) is performed. The service center performs three processes: user authentication, information search, and billing. The user authentication process is performed only when the information to be searched for exists in the service center 100 and an interactive communication session is performed between the mobile terminal 200 and the service center 100 based on the user authentication.

First, when the service center is activated (Step 2000), the process waits for a processing request from the portable terminal 200 (Step 2001). When a processing request is received from the mobile terminal, it is determined whether or not it is a request for user authentication processing (step 2002). In the case of a user authentication processing request, the process proceeds to step 2003, where an authentication key is created, the key is registered in the authentication table in the user information DB control unit, and the request waits again (step 2001). If it is not a user authentication processing request, it is determined whether the authentication key sent at the same time as the processing request is valid (step 20044). If invalid, the rejection is notified to the mobile terminal (step 2005). If the authentication key is valid, it is determined whether the processing request is a service termination processing (step 2006). In the case of termination processing, the corresponding key on the authentication table is deleted (step 2007). If the processing request is a search process (Step 2008), the requested information is searched from the information database and the search result is returned to the mobile terminal (Step 2009). If the processing request is for billing (step 2101), the billing information in the user information DB is updated. When the processing is completed, the request waits again (step 2001).

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile terminal when using the service. First, the information service program is started, and the use of the service is started (step 2100). Next, enter the user ID and password to perform user authentication. At this time, the system is in a standby state until the user authentication is successful (step 2101). If the user authentication is successful, an authentication key is obtained from the service center (step 2102). Next, the main menu of the information service is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal, and the use of the service is started (step 2103, and the result of the information search is displayed according to the user operation (step 2105). Is repeated until the end is selected (step 2106). At the end of using the service, the user is asked whether to save the acquired information in the mobile terminal (step 2107). If saving is specified, the information object is saved in the mobile terminal, and the process ends (step 2110). If storage is not specified, the communication control unit of the mobile terminal checks for a trigger signal (step 2108). If one trigger signal is no longer detected, the information object in the mobile terminal is discarded, and the process ends (step 2110).

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a user authentication procedure in a service center. When the information service program is started by the user, the service center starts the user authentication process (step 2100). First, the user ID and the passcode input by the user are sent to the user information DB control unit 211 (step 2101). Here, the validity of the user ID and the passcode are checked (step 2102). If it is valid, an authentication key is created (step 2203). If not, a rejection notification is sent to the mobile terminal (step 2104). The created authentication key is registered in the authentication table of the user information DB control unit (step 2105). Finally, the authentication key is transmitted to the portable terminal (step 2106), and the process ends (step 2107).

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the information search operation of mobile terminal 200. This process is started when an information search request is made by a user (step 2200). It is determined whether the search data exists in the portable terminal 200 or the service center 100 (step 2201). If it exists in the mobile terminal, the information DB in the mobile terminal is searched (step 2202). If it exists in the service center 100, a search request is issued (step 2203). It waits until the search result is received (step 2204). If the search is rejected by the service center (step 2205), the rejection is displayed on the terminal screen 206 (step 2207). If you get the requested search results, This is displayed on the terminal screen 206 (step 2206). After displaying the result, the search process ends (step 2208).

FIG. 22 is a chart showing the timing of charging when using the service. The charge notification from the mobile terminal 200 to the service center 100 occurs when the user uses paid information. First, it is assumed that the user authentication is successful and the use of the information service is started (step 2300). With the start of the service, a list of available services is displayed on the screen 206 (step 2301). The user selects a target item from the displayed service list (Step 2302). Here, it is determined whether or not the selected item is the end of the use of the service (step 2303), and if it is completed, the process proceeds to step 2308 to end the processing. If not, it is determined whether the item is a paid service (step 2304). If it is a free service, go to step 2407. In the case of a fee, a message indicating that the user is to be charged is displayed, and an inquiry is made as to whether or not to use the fee-based service (step 2305). If the use has been canceled, the process returns to step 2302. If the use is decided, a billing notice is transmitted to the service center (step 2306), and the service is used by the user (step 2307). The above process is repeated until the user selects termination.

In this method, when the user uses the paid information, the charge notification can be reliably performed. Therefore, an advertising service is used instead of the billing notification means, and instead of the billing notification, a notice that the advertisement has been viewed is received. In other words, it will be possible to accurately grasp the audience rating of the advertisement. <If you perform the advertisement, you will be able to share a part of the paid service · cost to the sponsor of the advertisement, Inexpensive, high-quality information can be provided to users.

In the present invention, the information object 500 in the service center 100 is transmitted. The service process by the interactive process between the mobile terminal 200 and the mobile terminal 200 can be executed independently. When the communication load of both processes is estimated, it is considered that the process of transmitting the information object 500 far exceeds the communication load of the process performing the interactive processing. Therefore, the service center 100, which executes the process of transmitting the information object 500, and the service center 100 ', which executes the service process by interacting with the mobile terminal 200, are separately divided, and the host machine 100' is adapted to the communication load. By switching the performance of communication devices and communication equipment, the equipment cost of service centers can be reduced.

In addition, since the processes for each of the two processes are independent for each of the two processes, it is possible to execute a large number of inexpensive personal computers in parallel. Costs can be further reduced by adjusting the difference in load between the two processes by the number of personal computers that can be allocated.

The present invention can be applied not only to information services at stations, but also to information services in large-scale and crowded places such as department stores, government offices, hospitals, and construction sites by changing the information stored in the information database. is there. In the case of a construction site, the information database 500 stores information such as the process drawings and work procedure damage from the design drawings of the entire building in the information database 500, and provides instantly changing information to various places on the work site. It becomes possible to do.

The effect of the present invention is that the communication time per portable terminal can be reduced as compared with the communication method used in the conventional personal computer communication. This means that the number of terminals that can be processed per unit time can be increased. Since terminal processing at the service center can be greatly reduced, the equipment at the service center can be realized with inexpensive hardware. You. In general, mobile terminals are expected to become 100 to 1000 times more popular than personal computers, so the cost reduction effect of the present invention is considered to be very large.

Also, by providing information display and retrieval means, it is not necessary to disclose the data format of the information to be served, so that copyright protection, which was difficult in the past, can be easily realized. Become.

Furthermore, the mobile terminal system and the information provided are completely isolated by message control. Even if the data structure changes due to a specification change or technological innovation, it is not necessary to change the system on the mobile terminal side, so the cost required for the maintenance of the entire system can be reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above embodiment, the information is divided into the primary information and the secondary information, but the zero-order information is further added. In other words, the 0th-order information is not converted into an information object having a program or the like, and only the information (data) is transmitted to the portable terminal in a unidirectional broadcast system and in a limited area. '

In this way, by dividing information into three levels (three types), such as zero-order information, primary information, and secondary information, it becomes possible to provide services that further meet user needs. Since the 0th-order information is simply a unidirectional communication of information (data), the communication load is relatively light. If information with high publicity is transmitted as the 0th-order information, only the 0th-order information is received. It is expected that the needs of mobile terminals will be fulfilled.

This zero-order information is also a combination of the area-limited system and the broadcast system, and is triggered by the user (portable terminal) entering a certain “area” to enable the user to use the service (primary information, secondary information). Information) can be received before starting, reducing the apparent communication time seen by the user. be able to. When the mobile terminal goes out of the area, the zero-order information may be deleted.

As a modification of the present embodiment, a combination of the zero-order information and the primary information, and a combination of the zero-order information and the secondary information are also possible. Industrial applicability

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention can be widely applied to the service system using a portable terminal. As a service, it is applicable to both public and private information. In addition, the present invention can be applied to a wired information service in addition to an information service in wireless mobile communication.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A service center for storing information and transmitting the stored information, a plurality of mobile terminals for receiving the transmitted information, and transmitting and receiving information between the service center and the plurality of mobile terminals. In the information service system for mobile terminals provided with a wireless or wired network according to (1), the service center triggers when at least one of the mobile terminals has moved into the coverage area, and On the other hand, a means for transmitting frequently used primary information through the network, including a program for decoding information, is provided.

The mobile terminal that has moved into the area receives the primary information transmitted from the service center, decrypts the primary information when the primary information matches the identification code registered in the mobile terminal, and performs personal authentication. Means for transmitting a transmission request for secondary information whose use frequency is lower than that of the primary information to the service center via the network. Information service system.

2. The portable terminal that has received the primary information has a means provided in the portable terminal for discarding the received primary information in response to the movement outside the area as a trigger. The information service system for mobile terminals described in paragraph 1.

3. The portable terminal that has received the primary information has a means for disposing of the received primary information in the portable terminal after a lapse of a predetermined time after receiving the primary information. Information service system for mobile terminals.

4. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting a notice of accepting the charge to the service center via the network. An information service system for mobile terminals as described in Paragraph 1.

5. The information service system for portable terminals according to claim 1, wherein said portable terminal is provided with means for transmitting owner information (copyright) to said service center via said network. .

6. A service center for storing information and transmitting the stored information, a plurality of mobile terminals receiving the transmitted information, and transmitting and receiving information between the service center and the plurality of mobile terminals. In an information service method for a portable terminal having a wireless or wired network,

The service center triggers the movement of at least one of the mobile terminals into the area covered by the service center, and sends the frequently used primary information including the information decryption program to the mobile terminal to the network. Send through

The mobile terminal that has moved into the area receives the primary information transmitted from the service center, decrypts the primary information when the identification information matches the identification code registered in the mobile terminal, and performs personal authentication. Transmitting a transmission request for secondary information whose use frequency is not higher than that of the primary information to the service center via the network.