WO2001065377A1

WO2001065377A1 - Contents providing service

Info

Publication number: WO2001065377A1
Application number: PCT/JP2000/007863
Authority: WO
Inventors: Toru Saito
Original assignee: Flex-Firm Inc.
Priority date: 2000-03-01
Filing date: 2000-11-08
Publication date: 2001-09-07
Also published as: WO2001065376A1; AU2001213027A1; AU2001213028A1

Abstract

A contents providing service of providing contents data to internet terminals (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) connectable to the Internet (4) through a server computer (6) connected to the Internet (4), comprising a contents specifying step of specifying, upon receiving a request message from one of the internet terminals (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) of access users, contents data requested to be distributed, a contents data acquiring step of acquiring the contents data specified, a description format converting step of converting the description format of the acquired contents data to a description format corresponding to the access method of the internet terminals (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) that have received the request message, and a distributing step of distributing the contents data the format of which is converted to the internet terminals.

Description

Description Content provision service Technical field

The present invention relates to a content providing service capable of distributing content data to various Internet terminals that can be connected to the Internet. Background art

In recent years, the spread of the Internet, which is an open network of computers, has been remarkable, and the usage of personal computers has been increasing, and the use of personal computers has been increasing. The number of Internet users is also increasing rapidly.

On the other hand, with the spread of mobile phones in recent years, Internet connection services that enable these mobile phones to connect to the Internet have been provided, and these mobile phones have become increasingly connected to the Internet. Because it is possible to obtain desired information and various contents such as music and images even while moving, the number of users is increasing rapidly, and in the future, these mobile phones and other wireless lines will be used. It is predicted that the number of people using mopile communication that can access the Internet will continue to increase due to its convenience and quick access to information.

As described above, the Internet PC, which was owned by some people until several years ago, has been widely used by many people with the spread of personal computers to homes and the spread of mobile phones with Internet connection functions. Has become an indispensable information tool (tool).

Therefore, it is indispensable to set up a Web server for companies to provide or disseminate information, etc. as a public relations and advertising and EC (Electric Commerce) site when considering corporate strategies. Is coming.

However, as mentioned above, ordinary PCs are used as Internet terminals. It is easy to set up a web server for such applications, but it is also necessary to set up a web server for these ordinary personal computers and mobile phones with the Internet connection function. This means that for each carrier (mobile phone operator) that provides mobile phone services, the access method to the Internet is different from the access method in browsing software that operates on ordinary personal computers. Because of the differences, the content provider must create and register the content to be provided in advance in a file format corresponding to each of these access methods, as shown in Figure 15. Therefore, when updating the content data, it is necessary to perform the update work for each content data of each access method. Remarkable properly it becomes complicated, both when the cost of maintenance of these updates, etc. is increased, the update period there has been a problem that there are cases that can not be quickly provide valuable Konten' Te summer long.

In the case of providing content data corresponding to the individual access methods, an individual address (URL) is required for each of these access methods. In-home—If you have both mobile phones with a network connection, you can get the same content by using an address (URL) that matches the type of terminal you are using. It is necessary for the user to access these addresses, and the user needs to manage these addresses (URLs) for each type of terminal, which is difficult for the user to understand and the management becomes complicated.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is not necessary to prepare a content provider corresponding to each access method for a content provider, and to provide various contents having different access methods. This service enables distribution to Internet terminals and provides services that facilitate the maintenance and development of these content data, while providing access users with the Internet terminal they are using. Even if the type is different, the same content can be obtained at the same address (URL) so that it is not necessary to be aware of the type of Internet terminal used. The purpose is to provide a content providing service that can provide the same address service that can be used. Disclosure of the invention

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the content providing service of the present invention provides an Internet terminal connectable to the Internet network with a server computer connected to the Internet network. This is a content providing service that provides a content delivery service using a content server. The content delivery service receives a request message from the internet terminal of an access user and specifies the content delivery service for which a distribution request has been made. A content specifying step, a content data obtaining step of obtaining the content data specified in the content specifying step, and an internet receiving the request message with the obtained content data. Format conversion step for converting to a description format corresponding to the access method of the terminal, and conversion in the description format conversion step. And delivering the content to the Internet terminal.

According to this feature, the content provider only provides the content information to the server computer, and converts the content into a description format corresponding to the access method of the Internet terminal accessed by the server computer. In the description format conversion step, the content data is converted and distributed, so that the trouble of the content provider preparing in advance the content data corresponding to these various access methods can be eliminated. It will be possible to provide services that can easily carry out maintenance and development, etc., and even if the access user uses the same type of Internet terminal, The same content can be obtained at the dress (URL), and the It will be able to ensure that there is no need to be aware of the type, and the like of Tsu door terminal will be able to provide these same addresses service to access users and content providers. The content providing service of the present invention includes a type information that can specify or estimate either the type of the Internet terminal or the type of browsing software mounted on the Internet terminal, and An extraction step having a terminal information database registered at least in association with the corresponding description format, and extracting the type information from a request message transmitted from the Internet terminal;

A description format specifying step of specifying a description format corresponding to the type information extracted in the extraction step with reference to the terminal information data base;

It is preferable to include

In this way, it is possible to eliminate the need for the access user to sequentially input the type of the Internet terminal used by the user or the type of the viewing software installed on the Internet terminal. Can be.

The content providing service of the present invention further includes a type information receiving step of distributing and receiving an input screen of the type information to the Internet terminal when the type information cannot be extracted in the extracting step. It is preferable to include it.

In this way, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience caused by the inability to identify the type of the Internet terminal used by the access user or the type of the viewing software installed in the Internet terminal.

In the content providing service according to the present invention, in the terminal information database, a file format of an image usable in an Internet terminal of the type is registered in association with the type information, and the content is distributed. An image file converting step of converting the quoted image into a file format of the image specified in the terminal information database when there is image data cited in the content data; And an image file name updating step of changing an image name to the converted image name.

In this way, the image data quoted in the content is converted for each image file format that can be used on various Internet terminals. Since the trouble of registering the image data can be avoided, updating of these image data can be easily performed.

The content providing service of the present invention includes a judging step of judging whether or not data of the file format corresponding to the image to be converted already exists. In this case, it is preferable to omit the image file conversion step.

By doing so, the processing load associated with unnecessary image file conversion can be reduced.

In the content providing service according to the present invention, in the terminal information database, display screen size information of the Internet terminal is registered in association with the type information, and the size of the quoted image file and the display When the size of the image file is larger than the display screen size in the comparison, the size of the image file is reduced to an image size smaller than the display screen size. It is preferable to include a reduction processing step. In this way, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the entire image is not displayed on the display screen of the Internet terminal.

In the content providing service according to the present invention, in the terminal information database, content size information receivable by the Internet terminal is registered in association with the type information, and the content converted in the description format converting step is registered. The size of the data is compared with the content size specified in the terminal information database, and in the case where the size of the converted content is larger than the content size specified in the terminal information database in the comparison, Preferably, the method further includes a page dividing step of dividing the converted content data, and in the distributing step, each of the divided pages is distributed for each individual page.

In this way, it is possible that the size of the content data exceeds the size of the content that can be received at the Internet terminal, and that the excess portion is not displayed or the entire content is not displayed. Can be resolved. In the content providing service of the present invention, in the page dividing step, It is preferable to insert a link display that enables selection to move to the previous page or the next page for each of the divided pages.

This makes it possible to move the divided pages quickly and easily.

In the content providing service of the present invention, when the content data includes a script language, a script execution step for executing the script, and display image data based on the script execution step are distributed. It is preferable to distribute in the shin step.

In this way, depending on the model of the terminal and the type of browsing software, there are some that can process the script and some that cannot, and the script also has a description language, so the type of terminal and the type of browsing software With this, it is possible to avoid restrictions on the use of scripts due to the inability to understand or not understand the scripts, and the content creator can use the user without being aware of the model of these terminals and the type of viewing software. Content that changes according to the operation content of can be created using a script.

In the content providing service according to the present invention, the terminal information database includes a pictogram that specifies a pictogram table used to convert pictograms used in various Internet terminals or browsing software into predetermined unified pictograms. A pictograph conversion in which the table identification information is registered and pictographs included in the request message transmitted from the Internet terminal are converted to unified pictographs using the pictograph table corresponding to the type of the Internet terminal It is preferable to include a step and a unique pictogram conversion step of converting a unified pictogram included in the content data converted in the description format conversion step into a pictogram of an Internet terminal to be distributed.

In this way, conventionally, when the terminal model and the like are usually different, the emoticons incorporated in the terminal are also different, so that the content of the emoticons for each type of the terminal is created. The content creator can use pictograms without having to master the differences in pictograms associated with these terminal models. The content providing service of the present invention includes an access step of accessing a management server in which the new terminal information database is registered, a terminal information database registered in the management server, An update information comparison step of comparing the update information with the terminal information database that is being updated, and, if the terminal information database registered in the management server is new in the comparison, updating to the new terminal information database De—It preferably includes an evening-based update step.

By doing so, the updating work for updating these terminal information databases to the latest ones can be performed easily and quickly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a server computer constituting the content providing system in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing processing contents in a “cross-subletter (X-Servlet) engine” which is a file conversion program used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an overall flowchart showing the processing contents of a “cross-sublets (X-SerV1et) engine” which is a file conversion program used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of acquiring terminal information from a request message sent from an Internet user of an access user in a terminal type identification process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents in the terminal type identification processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a terminal information database used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conversion process of the image data of the cited image in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the contents of the conversion process for contention in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen divided into pages in the content data conversion process in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing processing contents of session management in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the script processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing contents in pictogram / code conversion processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the contents of the updating process of the terminal information table and the pictograph table in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the status of the distribution process in the conventional content providing system. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Example)

Fig. 1 shows a content conversion server built with a “cross-sublet (X-Ser V1et) engine” that is a file conversion program created to implement the content distribution service of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the content providing system according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the content providing server used in the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of processing of a “cross sub-rate (X-Serv 1 et) engine” which is a file conversion program used in the present embodiment. FIG. 4 shows a file conversion program used in the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is an overall flow chart showing the processing contents of the “cross-subrate (X-Serv 1 et) engine”. FIG. 5 shows the Internet end of the access user in the terminal type identification processing. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a method for acquiring terminal information from a request message sent from the terminal, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing content in terminal type identification processing, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing used in this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a terminal information database, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the contents of a conversion process of image data of a quoted image, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the contents of a conversion process of content data. Yes, Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen divided into pages in the content data conversion process, Fig. 11 is a front view showing the content of the session management process, and Fig. 12 is FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing contents of the script processing. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing contents in the pictogram and code conversion processing. FIG. 14 is a terminal information table and a pictogram table. of FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the contents of an update process.

First, the content providing system of the present embodiment is configured as shown in FIG. 1, and a distribution center 5 that provides a content providing service has a server computer 6 that is a computer that distributes each content data. The server computer 6 is connected to Carrier Corporation, which provides ordinary telephone services via the Internet 4, and a mobile terminal such as a convenience store terminal la. It is connected to the central control stations 3b, 3c, and 3d of Carrier B, Carrier C, and Carrier D that provide services, respectively, and is a carrier that is a mobile phone service company. Each mobile phone 1b, mobile phone 1c, and mobile phone 1d, which is a wireless terminal subscribed to each of Company B, Carrier C, and Carrier D, is a carrier company. Base The local stations 2b, 2c, 2d and the central control stations 3b, 3c, 3d and a gateway server (not shown) can be connected to the Internet network 4, and the Internet配信 The server computer 6 of the distribution center 5 can be accessed via the network 4.

As the mobile phone used in these embodiments, a normal mobile phone having an Internet connection function corresponding to a predetermined access method of each of the carrier companies B, C, and D may be used. it can. In the present embodiment, the wireless terminal is a mobile phone. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is simple. An easy-type mobile phone (Personal Handy Phone; PHS) may be used, and further, a terminal such as an MCA radio may be used.

Further, in this practical example, the server computer 6 is connected to the central control stations 3b, 3c, and 3d of each carrier company via the Internet network 4, but the present invention is not limited to this. There is no limitation, and it is optional to connect these central control stations 3b, 3c, 3d to the server computer 6 by a dedicated line or the like.

In addition, a content provider that transmits information and the like is also provided with a server computer 6 installed in the distribution center 15 via the Internet network 4 so as to be able to communicate with the server computer 6 overnight. A computer terminal 7 is installed, and the server computer 6 can obtain various information and the like necessary for the content source / content by using the computer terminal 7, and the content provider By accessing the server computer 6, the server computer 6 can change or update the content provided to the access user.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the server computer 6 stores terminal information of a mobile phone terminal used in each carrier and a carrier, information of a browser which is a viewing software, and the like. A registered terminal information table and a pictogram table in which conversion information such as pictograms used in each terminal and browser are registered.The terminal information table and pictogram table are new models. And new versions are released successively, and it is necessary to add and update information sequentially in order to cope with these. Therefore, an updating computer that updates these terminal information tables and pictogram tables A terminal 8 is installed at the management center, and the server computer 6 is connected to the update computer terminal 8 via the internet network 4. Through to be to regularly access, it is adapted to perform the update of the pictograph table as well as the terminal information table that is registered.

The configuration of the server computer 6 used in this embodiment is, as shown in FIG. Controls the operation of the server computer 6 on the bus 20, and in particular, manages the status of data transfer (session) with the computer terminal 1 a that has accessed and the mobile phone terminals 1 b, lc, and 1 d of the carriers of each company. Control is performed based on the specified processing program, and the content data is distributed to the distribution destination—a file format that conforms to the access method of each carrier of the evening terminal 1a and mobile phone terminals 1b, 1c, and 1d. A central processing unit (CPU) 21 that performs the process of converting to a file based on the file conversion program "X-servlet (XServlet) engine" to temporarily store processing data and the like in the conversion process. Real-time clock (RTC) 26 capable of outputting time information such as RAM 24 and access time, and data communication with the Internet network 4 Various kinds of control implemented by the central processing unit (CPU) 21 are composed of a communication interface 22 that can be used, a display device 23 such as a display, and a magnetic disk and a magneto-optical disk. A cross program (XServlet) engine, which is a control program in which the contents are described, and the file conversion program, a content database (DB) in which information provided by the content provider is registered, and each carrier. Also, a terminal information table in which terminal information of mobile phone terminals used in the carrier and information of a browser which is a browsing software are registered, pictograms used in each terminal and the browser, etc. A storage device 25 in which pictogram tables and the like in which the conversion information is registered are recorded, and a normal computer connected to and capable of performing relatively high-speed processing. The server has a single (common) server address that can be used when accessing from the combination terminal 1a or the mobile phone terminals 1b, 1c, and Id of each carrier. Dress (URL) is assigned.

Next, a summary of the process of distributing content data to the evening terminal 1a and the mobile phone terminals 1b, lc, and Id will be described with reference to Fig. 3. For example, when accessing the server computer 6 from the mobile phone terminal 1b of the carrier B, the server computer 6 first receives a request message from the mobile phone terminal 1b. Mobile phone terminal from the user agent information contained in the header of

1b Extracts information that can identify the type of carrier and the model of the terminal, and extracts information such as the type of access method (markup language) of the carrier corresponding to this information and the display performance of the terminal. In addition to obtaining the content data from the terminal information table, the content data requested by the request message is obtained from the computer terminal 7 of the content provider or a content data base formed as needed.

The obtained content data is converted into an HDML format file, which is the access method of the carrier company B of the mobile phone terminal 1b that has accessed the content data, and the mobile terminal obtained in the above is converted in the file conversion. Based on the information such as the display performance, which is the terminal information of the telephone terminal 1b, the layout of the display device (LCD panel) of the mobile phone terminal 1b should be adjusted to the number of display lines and the number of digits. The converted HDML file is appropriately modified, for example, divided into pages, and is transmitted and distributed to the mobile phone terminal 1b, and is accessed as shown in FIG. If the terminal is the carrier A's computer terminal 1a, the HTML file format is used. If the terminal accessed is the carrier C or carrier D, the terminal is accessed. All of these access terminals are converted from the same server computer 6 by the content data being transmitted and distributed after being converted to the MML and C-HTML file formats, respectively. Since the content data can be obtained, the content provider can register and update the information to be provided in the server computer 6 so that the same server address (URL) and a mobile phone with a different carrier can be used. Content can be distributed to all telephones and computer terminals.

Hereinafter, the details of the processing of providing the content data in the server computer 6 of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, a request message from the computer terminal 1a or a mobile phone, a mobile phone terminal lb, lc, Id (hereinafter collectively referred to as an Internet terminal) used by the access user is a server message. In Pewter 6 Cross-subset core program that is received by the running servlet engine and that can identify the carrier and terminal type included in the request message, the terminal type, session ID, and parameters Sent to

As a method of acquiring the terminal type ID, as shown in Fig. 5, the HTTP header transmitted at the beginning of the request message contains user agent information. As shown in Fig. 5, the user agent information describes information unique to each carrier, and also includes information such as the model of the Internet terminal that transmitted the request message and the version information of the browser. Since these are also described, it is possible to identify which carrier and which type of terminal these descriptions correspond to by referring to the terminal information table shown in FIG.

The specific processing content of the terminal type identification processing for specifying the terminal type based on the extracted descriptive data in the user agent information is as shown in FIG. Based on the acquisition of the description data of one agent information, a key name included in the description data and a word indicating the type (model) of the terminal are detected.

Next, the terminal information table is searched using the detected carrier name / terminal model name as a search keyword. In this case, if there is no corresponding registration, the terminal information table is searched again with the model-specific information set as “default”. If this does not apply, the carrier suggestion information is set to “default”. The registration information corresponding to the carrier suggestion information and the model identification information determined in this manner, such as the markup language format, the maximum number of bytes of the content, the number of lines and characters of the display screen, and the like are obtained from the terminal information table. Then, it is applied to the subsequent content conversion processing.

If a word suggesting the carrier name and the type (model) of the terminal has not been extracted or there is no corresponding word in the search of the terminal information table, it is registered in the terminal information table. A data entry screen configured to allow access users to select and enter information on each carrier and terminal model to the Internet terminal that sent the request message. In the case where a carrier company and a terminal model are selected by the access user, information on the selected carrier company and the terminal model is retrieved by searching the terminal information table.

In this way, if the carrier company and terminal model cannot be specified from the request message, the data entry screen is returned to the access user's Internet terminal to accept the information about the carrier company and terminal model. This is preferable because the carrier company and the terminal model are unspecified, so that it is possible to avoid the disadvantage that inappropriate conversion processing is performed in the subsequent content conversion processing and the like. It is not limited to.

The configuration of the terminal information table used in this embodiment used in the terminal type identification processing and the like is as shown in FIG. 7, and the “name” of “browser” corresponding to each carrier company, “Name” of “Terminal” corresponding to the model, information on receivable content (“Name” of “Markup language”, character code of content, maximum number of bytes of content), Information about the size (“number of horizontal characters” and “number of vertical lines” in “screen”), information about the images that can be displayed (“format”, “number of horizontal pixels”, “vertical number” in “image”) Pixel information, “aspect ratio”, “animation-possibility”, “color mode”, “color / gradation number”, etc. are registered. These terminal information tables are stored in the update process described later. More regularly updated It has been updated to those.

Next, in the cross-sublet core program, as shown in FIG. 4, session information acquisition processing is performed, and the specific processing contents of the session information are as shown in FIG. I have. In other words, if the request message does not include the session ID, it recognizes the session as a new session and creates a session ID. If the session is shorter than the standard life, it is stored and managed in the GO set, otherwise it is stored in the non-G (Other) set and managed.

Here, the GO set manages all sessions that have been accessed between a certain time and the reference life time (however, those whose lifespan is less than the reference life). Set. If the current time has passed “the time obtained by adding the reference life time from a certain time”, the G • set is managed by changing its name to the G1 set. Then, the GO set is newly defined as “from the current time to the time obtained by adding the reference life time”. When the G0 set is changed to the G1 set, if the G1 set already exists, all its contents are discarded. This enables efficient deletion of invalid sessions.

Here, if the request message includes the session ID, the expiration date of the session ID is checked. If not, the session is discarded and a new session ID is obtained as described above. . If valid, the last access time of the session is updated and stored in the GO set or a set other than G (Other).

The session is determined in this manner, and the session is identified using the session D as a key. After that, processing such as content acquisition and conversion is performed, and before responding to the processing result to the user, if HTTP Cookie is available, the session ID is set to Cookie and the user is responded to with the processing result. You. If the Cookie cannot be used, it responds to the user by adding the session ID information to all the link destination URLs included in the content. Even if the above-mentioned HTTP Cookie can be used, the HTTP Cookie may not be used.

Next, the pictograms and character codes included in the request message are converted based on the conversion contents registered in the pictogram table corresponding to the carrier company and terminal model information acquired in the terminal type identification processing. The corresponding pictograms or character codes are converted to the specified ones.

Based on the request message converted into the predetermined character code, the requested content data is specified, and the content data or the content information is transmitted to the computer of the content provider. A document object model (D〇M) is created by obtaining it from the terminal 7 or a content database (DB) created as needed.

After creating these document object models (D〇M), Script execution processing is performed. The processing contents of the script execution processing in this embodiment are as shown in FIG. 12, and the contents of the script (user) are added to the contents obtained from the content database (DB) based on the request message as described above. If it includes a program that is processed on the terminal, execute the script on the server, set the values of variables, etc., and confirm the contents of the screen to be displayed.

The content conversion processing and pictogram conversion processing are performed on the determined content, and a response is made to the user. At this time, standard style sheets are provided for content conversion. In this embodiment, the script is used to change the value of a variable or the like according to the operation of the user, and to change the display screen only by processing on the user terminal. The operation result is transmitted to the server as a request message, and the server performs this processing.

This will not only enable the provision of content to Internet terminals that do not have the ability to process scripts in the format contained in the content, but will also allow Internet terminals to process these scripts. Although it is preferable because the processing load can be significantly reduced, the present invention is not limited to this.

After these scribing processes, the content data conversion process is performed. The content data conversion process in this embodiment is as shown in Fig. 9.If the content requested in the request message has already been converted and exists in the cache, the content is converted from the cache. Retrieves the specified page for the specified content and responds to the user. If the content does not exist in the cache, the content is obtained by executing an application program on the server side, such as a servlet, and the content is converted based on the terminal information.

At this time, if the converted size exceeds the content size that can be received by the terminal (specified in the terminal information table), the acquired content is viewed from the end and the part that can be separated (selection list , Checkbox, ), And convert the content and pictograms again for the first divided part. This process is repeated until the size of the content becomes receivable by the terminal, and one or both of the “previous page” and “next page” links are assigned to each page. The page responds to the user. Then, for the unprocessed part of the first content, the content conversion, pictograph conversion, and size check are repeated in the same manner, all the content is converted, all pages are created, and registered in the cache. After that, the user is returned to the specified page (or the first page if no page is specified).

The display situation by page division in these file conversion processes will be described with reference to Fig. 10. If the content size exceeds the size (number of characters) that can be received (displayed) by the terminal, the content is divided into pages. Otherwise, some of the content will not be displayed or the entire content will not be displayed, as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when page division is performed as described above, as shown in Fig. 10, it is possible to display all contents without omission by sequentially moving each divided page. When moving these divided pages, it is easy to move between pages by adding one or both of the “previous page” and “next page” links as in this embodiment. Preferred power because it can be implemented in the present invention The present invention is not limited to this

If a citation image exists in the file-converted content data, an image data conversion process of the citation image is performed. Specifically,

As shown in Fig. 8, when an image is requested in the request message, the specified image name (for example, a.gif) and the identified terminal name (for example, N502i) are used as keys. Search the cache. If the corresponding data exists in the cache, calculate the digest value of the specified image a.gif and compare it with the saved digest value.

If the two match, the designated image has not been changed and the The converted image data stored in the cache is responded to the user as a response. Except in this case, when the size of the specified image _a.gl f is large, the compression processing is performed, when the number of colors is large, the color reduction processing is performed, and when the format is different from the specification of the user terminal. Performs format conversion and responds to the user with the processing result. At this time, if the digest value for a.gif already exists in the cache and it is different from the value calculated this time, all cache contents related to _a.gl f are discarded. Then, the converted image is stored in the cache using the digest value of a.gif and the image name a.gif and the terminal name N502i as keys.

In this way, when converting image data, it is determined whether or not the data corresponding to the converted image data already exists in the cache, and if so, the conversion process is not performed. is preferred correct force ^s because it can reduce the processing load associated with these image conversion process, the present invention rather than being limited thereto, to update the data of the calibration Tsu shoe by implementing uniquely image conversion It may be.

In addition to the conversion of these image data, conversion processing of pictograms and character codes in the converted content data is performed. These processing contents are described as a series of processing along with the conversion of pictograms and character codes in the above-mentioned request message as specific processing contents based on the flow of FIG. 13. If the URL specified in step 4 is for execution of a server-side program such as a servlet, the pictograph code included in the request message is converted into a unified pictograph code by searching the “pictograph table”. Also converts the request message into the character code assumed by the specified server-side program. After that, the server side program is executed, and the content is obtained as a result.

If the URL specified in the request message is not the execution of the server-side program, the content may be obtained from the specified URL, for example, the computer terminal 7 of the content provider.

The character code of the content obtained in this way is converted to the character code of the output terminal. In addition to converting to a pictograph, all pictographs included in the content are converted to pictographs for the output terminal by searching the "pictograph table" and responding to the user.

The “pictogram table” and the “information terminal table” are updated periodically by performing the update process shown in FIG. 14 and accessing the computer terminal 8 of the management center for updating. It is updated to the data of. Specifically, it accesses the computer terminal 8 of the management center periodically and issues an inquiry, and acquires the update time of the “terminal information database” registered in the computer terminal 8. If this time is later than the time managed by the server computer 6, a request message is issued to the combination terminal 8, and the terminal information table is transmitted from the computer 8 to the terminal information table. "And update the information registered in ServerComputer6.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the content capability corresponding to the request message from the access user's Internet terminal is provided to the Internet terminal of each carrier company from the same server combination 6 When content is distributed, the content is converted into a file in a format compatible with the access method of each carrier company, and the files in each format are managed individually. Efforts can be greatly reduced, and these contents can be distributed easily and quickly to many users at low cost.

In addition, a single server address (URL) can be used for access from each wireless terminal, that is, a mobile phone terminal, and this makes it easy to manage users. It can be easy to understand.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in the above embodiments with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and changes and additions may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say, the present invention is included in the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, an example in which the number of carrier companies is four has been described. The invention is not limited to this, but may be four or more carrier companies, and furthermore, both mobile phone companies and PHS service companies may be connectable.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the format of the conversion file converted from the content data registered in the content database is exemplified by the HDML format, the C-HTML format, and the MML format, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, these file formats may be XHTML format, which is the next generation file format.

Further, in the present embodiment, conversion from the content registered in the content database to the file format is performed directly, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the conversion to the file format, the file may be converted to an XML file once as an intermediate file, and then converted to a file in each desired format.

Further, in the above embodiment, the server computer 6 and the computer terminal 7 of the content provider are connected via the internet network 4, but the present invention is not limited to this. The server computer 6 and the computer terminal 7 of the content provider may be connected by a dedicated line or the like from the viewpoint of improving the response to the access user. Is a server accessible to the access user, and the server computer 6 of this embodiment is connected to the server computer 6 via a dedicated line or the like, and the server computer 6 is connected to the Internet terminal of the access user. The content data converted into a file format conforming to the above may be delivered to the access user through the server of the content provider. The form of these systems may be appropriately selected. Explanation of reference numerals

1 a Computer terminal

1b, 1c, 1d mobile phone terminals

2b, 2c, 2d base stations b, 3c, 3d central control station

Internet network

Delivery Sen Yuichi

Server computer

Computer terminal (content provider) Computer terminal (management center) 0 Data bus

1 Central processing unit (CPU)

2 Communication interface

3 Display device

4 R AM

5 Storage

6 Real time clock (RTC)

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. Internet—a content providing service that provides content data to an Internet terminal that can be connected to an Internet network using a server computer connected to the Internet network. A content identification step of receiving a request message from the Internet terminal of the user and identifying content data for which a distribution request has been made, and content data for obtaining the content data identified in the content identification step An obtaining step, a description format conversion step of converting the obtained content data into a description format corresponding to an access method of the Internet terminal that has received the request message, and a description format conversion step. A distribution step for distributing content data to the Internet terminal. Content providing services, characterized in that it comprises a flop, a.

2. Type information capable of specifying or estimating either the type of the Internet terminal or the type of browsing software mounted on the Internet terminal; and the description format corresponding to the type; Has a terminal information database registered at least in association with

An extracting step of extracting the type information from a request message transmitted from the Internet terminal;

A description format specifying step for specifying a description format corresponding to the type information extracted in the extraction step with reference to the terminal information database;

The content providing service according to claim 1, comprising:

3. The type information receiving step according to claim 2, further comprising a type information receiving step of distributing and receiving an input screen of the type information to the Internet terminal when the type information cannot be extracted in the extracting step. Content Provision Service,

4. In the terminal information database, a file format of an image that can be used on the Internet terminal of the type is registered in association with the type information, and the file format is cited throughout the distributed content. In the case where image data is present, the cited image is converted to an image specified in the terminal information database. 4. An image file converting step of converting the image file into a file format of the following, and an image file name updating step of changing the name of the cited image in the distributed content to the converted image name. Content provision service described in.

5. Including a determination step of determining whether or not data in the file format corresponding to the image to be converted already exists, and in the case where determination is made in the determination step that the image file already exists, the image file The content providing service according to claim 4, wherein the conversion step is omitted.

6. In the terminal information database, display screen size information of the Internet terminal is registered in association with the type information, and the size of the quoted image file is compared with the display screen size. And a reduction processing step of reducing the size of the image file to an image size smaller than the display screen size when the size of the image file is larger than the display screen size in the comparison. Content providing service according to any of the above.

7. In the terminal information database, content size information receivable by the in-net terminal is registered in association with the type information, and the size of the content data converted in the description format conversion step. Is compared with the content size specified in the terminal information database, and in the comparison, the size of the converted content data is larger than the content size specified in the terminal information database. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a page dividing step of dividing the converted content data, wherein the divided pages are distributed for each individual page in the distribution step. The described content providing service.

8. The content providing service according to claim 7, wherein, in the page division step, a link display that can be moved to a previous page or a subsequent page by being selected is inserted for each divided page.

9. When the content data includes a script language, a script execution step for executing the script; and a script execution step for executing the script. The content providing service according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein display image data based on the content is distributed in the distribution step.

10. In the terminal information database, pictograph table specifying information for specifying a pictograph table used to convert pictographs used in various Internet terminals or browsing software into predetermined unified pictographs is registered. A unified pictogram conversion step of converting pictograms included in the request message transmitted from the Internet terminal into unified pictograms using a pictogram table corresponding to the type of the Internet terminal; and the description format conversion The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising: a unique pictogram conversion step of converting a unified pictogram included in the content data converted in the step into a pictogram of an Internet terminal to be distributed. Content providing service.

1 1. An access step for accessing a management server in which the new terminal information database is registered, and updating of the terminal information database registered in the management server and the terminal information database at that time. Claims comprising: an update information comparison step of comparing information; and a database update step of updating the new terminal information database when the terminal information database registered in the management server is new in the comparison. 2. The content providing service according to any one of 2 to 10.