Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L61/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
  • H04L61/45—Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
  • H04L61/4535—Network directories; Name-to-address mapping using an address exchange platform which sets up a session between two nodes, e.g. rendezvous servers, session initiation protocols [SIP] registrars or H.323 gatekeepers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W76/00—Connection management
  • H04W76/10—Connection setup
  • H04W76/14—Direct-mode setup
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W76/00—Connection management
  • H04W76/10—Connection setup
  • H04W76/11—Allocation or use of connection identifiers

Definitions

• Electronic communication method electronic communication system, communication terminal, and server
• the present invention relates to an electronic communication technique, and more particularly to an electronic communication method that performs both communication that does not use a base station and communication that uses a base station, and an electronic communication system, a communication terminal, and a server to which the electronic communication method is applied. .
• Ad-hoc communication establishes communication directly between terminals where radio waves can reach each other, and establishes communication between terminals that do not receive radio waves by relaying radio waves between other terminals. .
• communication between terminals can be performed inexpensively and easily without providing base stations or wired facilities.
• the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technique capable of easily and easily performing communication such as mail exchange. Means for solving the problem
• One embodiment of the present invention relates to an electronic communication method.
• an ad hoc communication is performed between a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal acquires identification information of a user who operates the second terminal, and the identification acquired by the ad hoc communication. It is characterized in that data is sent to the second terminal through the infrastructure communication with the information as the destination.
• ad hoc communication is communication in which communication between terminals is directly performed without relaying of the base station
• infrastructure communication is communication in which communication between terminals is performed by relaying between the base station and the server. It is.
• This electronic communication method is an electronic communication method in which data is transmitted and received between a plurality of terminals, and user identification information including information for identifying a user who operates the terminal within the terminal and information for identifying the terminal.
• a step of delivering the above is an electronic communication method in which data is transmitted and received between a plurality of terminals, and user identification information including information for identifying a user who operates the terminal within the terminal and information for identifying the terminal.
• data refers to text data such as addresses, mail text, objects such as characters and items included in images that can be displayed on a terminal, image data such as photographs, audio data, archives, etc.
• Data that can be sent and received by general e-mail, such as compressed data, compressed data, etc., may be misaligned and combined May be good.
• This electronic communication method includes a step of transmitting user identification information of a data destination user from a terminal operated by the destination user by direct communication to a data transmission source terminal, and user identification information of the destination user. Is transmitted from the transmission source terminal to the server, the server stores the received data in association with the user identification information of the destination user, and the server And identifying the user identification information of the connection source user who operates the newly connected terminal, and storing in the server in association with the user identification information of the destination user based on the user identification information of the connection source user. A step of searching for data and specifying the stored data corresponding to the user identification information that matches the user identification information of the connection source user And transmitting the specified data to the newly connected terminal.
• direct communication refers to directly transmitting / receiving a signal without using a base station or a server, using a radio signal transmitting means such as a radio wave, or via a cable.
• a radio signal transmitting means such as a radio wave
• cable a cable
• the electronic communication system includes a terminal that transmits / receives data and a server that mediates data transmission / reception between the terminals via a network.
• the terminal includes information that identifies a user who operates the terminal within the terminal and the terminal.
• a user information management unit that generates user identification information including information for identifying itself, and a transmission unit that is connected to the server and transmits the user identification information generated by the user information management unit to the server.
• the server receives a user identification information transmitted from the terminal, a data storage unit that stores the user identification information received by the reception unit, and a user data stored in the data storage unit based on the user identification information stored in the data storage unit.
• a data distribution unit that performs distribution.
• This communication terminal is a communication terminal that transmits and receives data directly between terminals and via a server, and identifies information that identifies a user who operates the communication terminal within the communication terminal and the communication terminal.
• a user information management unit that generates user identification information composed of information and a user of the data destination user.
• the user information acquisition unit that acquires the user identification information by direct communication with the communication terminal operated by the destination user and the user identification information of the destination user that is connected to the server and acquired by the partner information acquisition unit are added.
• a transmitting unit that transmits the received data to the server, a receiving unit that receives from the server data that uses the user identification information of the user who connects to the server and operates the user's own communication terminal as the user identification information of the destination user, It is provided with.
• Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates to a server.
• This server is a server that mediates the transmission and reception of data between terminals via the network, and is composed of information that identifies the user operating the terminal within the terminal and information that identifies the terminal.
• a reception unit that receives the user identification information, a data storage unit that stores the user identification information received by the reception unit, and a data distribution that distributes data to the terminal based on the user identification information stored in the data storage unit And a section.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic communication system in the present embodiment.
• FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a terminal and a server in the present embodiment.
• FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of a management number table stored in a user information storage unit
• FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data structure of a friend ID table stored in a friend information storage unit.
• FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of a destination ID table stored in a data storage unit.
• FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transmitting data to the server in the terminal power.
• FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transmitting data from Sano to the terminal.
• FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on two terminals that execute the same application and perform communication.
• FIG. 9 In the situation where the image example of FIG. 8 is displayed, the processing performed at each terminal It is a flowchart which shows order.
• FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transmitting / receiving data including destination unspecified data between the terminal and the server. Explanation of symbols
• 20 ⁇ terminal, 22 ⁇ user information storage unit, 24 ⁇ user information management unit, 26 ⁇ data generation unit, 28 ⁇ server connection unit, 30 ⁇ transmission unit, 32 ... Incoming part, 34 ... Image processing part,
• 56 ... connected user information acquisition unit, 58 ... data transmission unit, 60 ... data storage unit, 62 ... transmission destination determination unit, 64 ... data search unit, 100 ... electronic communication system, 300 ... base station.
• FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the electronic communication system in the present embodiment.
• the electronic communication system 100 includes a server 50 that provides services to the terminals 20a and 20b by transmitting and receiving data to and from the terminals 20a and 20b and the terminals 20a and 20b, and the terminals 2 Oa and 20b and the server 50.
• the base station 300 that relays the signal to and from the base station.
• the number of terminals is not limited to two, but will be described as terminal 20a and terminal 20b hereinafter.
• the terminals 20a and 20b communicate with the server 50 by transmitting and receiving signals to and from the base station 300, and directly communicate with each other without using the base station 300.
• the former is called infrastructure communication
• the latter is called ad hoc communication.
• the terminal 20a communicates with other terminals 20b and the base station 300 by radio signal transmission means such as radio waves and infrared rays. Or you can connect cables to the terminals 20a and 20b to send and receive signals over the wire!
• the base station 300 and the server 50 can use the facilities generally used on the Internet as they are.
• FIG. 2 shows in detail the configuration of the terminal 20a and the server 50 in the present embodiment.
• the terminal 20a includes a user information management unit 24 that manages information on a user who operates the terminal 20, a user information storage unit 22 that stores user information, and data such as e-mails according to user input instructions.
• a unit 34 and a display unit 35 for displaying images are included.
• the server connection unit 28 includes a transmission unit 30 that generates a data set necessary for transmission and transmits the data set to the server 50, and a reception unit 32 that receives the data set from the sano 50 and performs appropriate processing.
• the data generation unit 26 includes a fixed phrase storage unit 21 that stores a plurality of fixed phrases that can be selected when creating a user curl.
• the terminal 20a is further connected to the other terminal 20b by ad hoc communication and transmits / receives data, the inter-terminal communication unit 38, and a friend who stores the information of the user who operates the other terminal 20b obtained by ad hoc communication
• An information storage unit 36 and an item storage unit 37 that stores image data of items that may be displayed on the display unit 35 together with identification information are included.
• the terminal-to-terminal communication unit 38 includes the user information exchange unit 40 that exchanges user information with the user who operates the other terminal 20b and processes the information appropriately, and the image data identification information of items displayed on the display unit 35. Includes data exchange unit 42 that exchanges information other than information! All the terminals 20 including the other terminal 20b include a configuration similar to the configuration of the terminal 20a described above.
• the server 50 establishes communication with the terminal 20, forms a data for transmission and transmits / receives data, a terminal connection unit 52, and a data storage unit that stores received data for each user as a transmission source 60, a data search unit 64 that detects data to be transmitted to the terminal 20a from the data storage unit 60, and a transmission destination determination unit 62 that determines the transmission destination of the destination unspecified data transmitted from the terminal 20a with the destination unspecified.
• the terminal connection unit 52 includes a reception unit 54 that receives a data set from the terminal 20a, a connected user information acquisition unit 56 that specifies information of a user who operates the connected terminal 20 when communication is established with the terminal 20, and the like. And a data transmission unit 58 that generates a data set necessary for transmission and transmits the data set to the terminal 20a.
• each element described as a functional block for performing various processes can be composed of a CPU, a memory, and other LSIs in terms of hardware. This is realized by a program that accepts an input instruction and displays it as an image. Therefore, these functional blocks are hardware only, software It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be realized in various forms by a combination thereof, or a combination thereof, and is not limited to any one.
• FIG. 3 shows a data structure of a management number table, which is one piece of user information stored in the user information storage unit 22 of the terminal 20a.
• the management number table 70 is a table in which identification information of a plurality of users who can operate one terminal 2 Oa, that is, a management number is described, and includes a user name column 72 and a management number column 74.
• the user information storage unit 22 may store information on users other than the management number table 70, but the description is omitted because it is out of the scope of the present embodiment.
• the user information management unit 24 is unique to the user when the user first starts application software (hereinafter simply referred to as an application) that implements the present embodiment on the terminal 20a. Assign a management number.
• the management number uses the time stamp for a specific process with different execution times depending on the user, such as when the user initially sets the information required for the application or when the program progress information is saved for the first time. By doing so, it can be determined uniquely.
• the management number determined in this way is associated with the user name described in the user name field 72, described in the management number field 74, and stored in the user information storage unit 22.
• the user name listed in the user name field 72 is displayed on the login name or the display unit 35 if it is uniquely determined for the user who wants to use the user's favorite name set at the initial setting of the application. Depending on the content of the application, such as the name of the character to be played!
• the management number for each user managed in the management number table 70 is the login of the user operating the terminal when performing ad hoc communication with another terminal 20b or performing infrastructure communication with the server 50. One is selected for each name. Then, as will be described later, by adding a uniquely determined identification number to the terminal 20a, a user ID that can identify the user at the server 50 or another terminal 20b is generated.
• FIG. 4 shows the data structure of the friend ID table, which is one of the information of the user who operates the other terminal 20b stored in the friend information storage unit 36.
• the friend ID table 80 is a table in which identification information of a user who operates the other party's terminal 20b, that is, an ID, which has been obtained through past ad hoc communication, that is, an ID, and includes a user name column 82 and an ID column 84.
• friend The information storage unit 36 may store information of the other user other than the friend ID table 80. The description is omitted because it is out of the scope of the present embodiment.
• the user information exchanging unit 40 searches the user information storage unit 22 according to a user input instruction or the like, and Get the management number. Then, a data set in which the user ID composed of the management number and the identification information of the terminal 20a is added to the user ID is transmitted to the terminal 20b. The user can be identified even if the node is a node other than the terminal 20a by the user ID in which the identification information of the terminal 20a is added to the management number for each user.
• the identification information of the terminal 20a uses, for example, a MAC (Media Access Control) address that is a physical address of the terminal 20a.
• the user information exchanging unit 40 receives the partner user ID from the partner terminal 20b if received, and associates it with the user name of the partner user in the user name column 82 and the ID column 84 of the friend ID table 80. Describe each.
• the ID described in the ID column 84 of FIG. 4 has a format of “182.376”, for example. This is because “182” is the user management number in the terminal 20a, and “376” is the terminal. It means the identification information of 20a. Therefore, the user ID corresponding to each user name in the management number table 70 stored in the terminal 20a shown in FIG. 3 is the terminal identification information common to the management number described in the management number column 74. "Is added. However, the ID format is not limited to this.
• the information exchange unit 40 adds the acquired information to the friend ID table 80.
• the user can delete some user IDs from the friend ID table 80 by an input instruction. As will be described later, it is possible to equip the function of actually rejecting incoming calls by not displaying incoming calls of data transmitted by the user without being described in the friend ID table 80.
• the transmission source user When data such as e-mail is transmitted from the terminal 20a to the other terminal 20b via the server 50, the transmission source user generates data such as e-mail in the data generation unit 26, and the destination is the friend information storage unit 36. Select from the user names stored in.
• the transmitting unit 30 of the terminal 20a first generates a user ID of the transmission source user from the management number of the transmission source user stored in the user information storage unit 22 and the identification information of the terminal 20a. And Then, a data set in which the user ID of the destination user selected by the user and the user ID of the transmission source user are added to data such as mail is transmitted to the reception unit 54 of the server 50.
• the receiving unit 54 stores the transmitted data set in the data storage unit 60 for each user ID of the destination user. .
• FIG. 5 shows the data structure of the destination ID table in which the user ID of the destination user stored in the data storage unit 60 is associated with the storage location of the data body.
• the destination ID table 90 includes a destination ID column 92 and a storage address column 94. For each user ID of the destination user included in the data set transmitted from the terminal 20a or the like, a storage area in the data storage unit 60 for storing the data main body and the user ID of the transmission source user is allocated. The address is described in the storage address field 94. In other words, this storage area serves as a mail box, and all the data received from the transmission source terminal 20a, etc. and not transmitted to the destination terminal 20b, etc. are stored in this storage area.
• the data may be stored in the same storage area as long as it does not exceed a certain capacity or a certain period. ,.
• transmission and non-transmission are distinguished by setting a flag that identifies that the data has already been transmitted.
• the storage area is allocated to the user ID of the new destination user when the receiving unit 54 receives the data.
• a storage area dedicated to destination unspecified data is secured. The destination unspecified data will be described in detail later.
• the user power for operating the terminal 20a transmits data such as mail in the infrastructure mode to the user who operates the terminal 20b with the above configuration.
• the data generated by the transmission source user at the terminal 20a is transmitted to the server 50 and stored.
• the destination user connects the terminal 20b to the server 50, the stored data is transmitted to the terminal 20b.
• FIG. 6 shows a procedure until the server 50 stores the data from the terminal 20a.
• the transmission source user performs data generation input such as mail to the data generation unit 26 of the terminal 20a (S12).
• the image processing unit 34 causes the display unit 35 to display a list in which only the user name of the partner user is included in the information stored in the friend information storage unit 36 to generate data.
• the composition unit 26 receives a destination selection input.
• the transmission unit 30 of the terminal 20a generates a data set in which the user IDs of the transmission source and destination users are added to the data sent from the data generation unit 26, and transmits the data set to the reception unit 54 of the server 50 ( S14).
• this transmission is performed after the server connection unit 28 of the terminal 20a establishes communication with the terminal connection unit 52 of the server 50.
• the receiving unit 54 of the server 50 Upon receiving the data set from the terminal 20a (S16), the receiving unit 54 of the server 50 searches the destination ID table 90 of the data storage unit 60 based on the user ID of the destination user included in the data set, It is confirmed whether or not the user ID has been registered (S18).
• registration means allocation of a storage area for storing data addressed to the user ID. If a user ID exists in the destination ID column 92 of the destination ID table 90, “registered” is set.
• the address of the storage area described in the storage address field 94 of the destination ID table 90 and starting from the address of the data storage unit 60 is stored.
• data other than the user ID of the destination user in the received data set is stored (S22).
• N in S18 a new storage area in the data storage unit 60 is allocated for the user ID of the destination user, and the user ID and the newly allocated storage area start address are stored in the destination ID table 90. Is additionally described (S20). Then, data other than the user ID of the destination user in the received data set is stored in the allocated storage area (S22).
• FIG. 7 shows a procedure until the terminal 20b receives data from the server 50 and notifies the destination user.
• the server connection unit 28 of the terminal 20b makes a connection request to the server 50 by an instruction input by the user (S30).
• the user may give a connection instruction to the server 50 for the purpose of sending / receiving mail or for the purpose of enjoying another service provided by the server 50.
• the connected user information acquisition unit 56 is the user ID of the user operating the terminal 20b.
• the connection source user ID is specified (S32). Specifically, a connection source user ID may be included in the connection request signal from the terminal 20b and obtained, or only the identification information of the terminal 20b may be acquired during the connection procedure. You may make it acquire separately.
• the data search unit 64 of the server 50 searches the destination ID table 90 of the data storage unit 60 based on the connection source user ID acquired by the connection user information acquisition unit 56, and corresponds to the connection source user ID.
• a storage area is specified, and it is confirmed whether or not unsent data exists in this storage area (S34). If there is no corresponding data (N in S34), the mail processing is terminated, and another service desired by the user is appropriately processed. If there is unsent data destined for the connection source user ID (Y in S34), the data transmitting unit 58 transmits the data to the receiving unit 32 of the terminal 20b (S36).
• the data to be transmitted at this time is a data set including a data body such as e-mail and the user ID of the data transmission source user.
• the incoming unit 32 of the terminal 20b is based on the friend ID table 80 of the friend information storage unit 36 based on the user ID of the sender user included in one or more data sets received in one connection to the server 50.
• the image processing unit 34 displays on the display unit 35 a message indicating that new data has been received only for the data of the sender user included in the friend ID table 80 (Y in S38). S40), other data is not displayed ( ⁇ ⁇ of S38).
• the transmission of data from the terminal 20a to the terminal 20b is completed by the procedure described above.
• data is sent and received based on the user ID that is automatically generated on the terminal side, so it is not necessary for the user to secure an email address in advance, as is the case with email in general infrastructure communications. There is no need to assign and manage e-mail addresses in advance on the server 50 side!
• the user ID is automatically generated and the destination user ID is automatically determined by selecting the user name, the user is not aware of the existence of the user ID. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of human errors such as forgetting one's own address or mistaken the other party's address, and to easily obtain an email environment.
• processing such as user ID generation, user ID exchange between users, and incoming call rejection can be performed on the terminal side, reducing the processing load on the server.
• An application including the above-described functions is a program recorded on a recording device such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Random Access Memory) or a hard disk for each function related to the terminal 20a and each function related to the server 50. This is done by loading each at 50.
• a recording device such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Random Access Memory) or a hard disk for each function related to the terminal 20a and each function related to the server 50. This is done by loading each at 50.
• FIG. 8 shows an example of an application image to which the present embodiment is applied.
• Such an image is displayed on the display unit 35 in cooperation with the image processing unit 34 and a user information exchange unit 40, a data exchange unit 42, a functional block for executing another function of an application (not shown).
• the user appears as one character on the display unit 35 of the terminal 20a operated by the user.
• the corresponding function is realized by moving the character or performing various actions in response to user input.
• this application has game characteristics when various items and characters are represented in the image world, and when a character representing the user acquires or raises it.
• FIG. 8 is an example of an image when two terminals 20a and 20b that are executing the same application establish ad hoc communication.
• a self-character 204 symbolizing the user's confidence operating the terminal 20a
• a partner character 202 symbolizing the user operating the partner terminal 20b are displayed.
• the partner character 202 appears on the display unit 35 of the terminal 20a only after ad hoc communication is established, and at this time, a similar image is also displayed on the display unit 35 of the partner terminal 20b.
• the movement of the opponent character 202 is also reflected in the image of the terminal 20a as the terminal 20a sequentially receives information related to the character action, which is input by the opponent user at the terminal 20b.
• the terminal 20a sequentially receives information related to the character action, which is input by the opponent user at the terminal 20b.
• a business card 206 is displayed as an item in addition to the character.
• the business card 206 contains the name of the character that owns it.
• the character name corresponds to the user name described in the user name column 82 of the friend ID table 80.
• the user sends a user ID by having his character exchange the business card 206 in the image world. Receive.
• the opponent character 202 passes a business card describing his character name “Tana power” to the self-character 204.
• FIG. 9 shows a processing procedure performed in each terminal 20a and terminal 2 Ob in a situation where the image example 200 is displayed.
• the inter-terminal communication unit 38 of the terminal 20a and the terminal 20b establishes ad hoc communication according to a connection instruction from either the terminal 20 or the third terminal 20 (not shown) (S70, S74). This may be realized, for example, by moving the self-character 204 in the image world to a town where a plurality of characters are gathered according to a user input instruction.
• the image processing unit 34 receives information related to the movement of the partner character 202 generated by an input instruction of a user operating the partner terminal, and displays the partner character 202 on the display unit 35. Display (S72, S76).
• the partner user operating the terminal 20b gives an input instruction, and the partner character 202 symbolizing the user performs an operation of handing a business card to the self character 204 (S78).
• the partner character 202 symbolizing the user performs an operation of handing a business card to the self character 204 (S78).
• the user information exchanging unit 40 of the terminal 20b transmits the user name and user ID of the partner user who operates the terminal 20b to the user information exchanging unit 40 of the terminal 20a (S80).
• the user information exchanging unit 40 of the terminal 20a associates the received user name and user ID with each other and writes them in the friend ID table 80 stored in the friend information storage unit 36 (S82).
• the user ID of the other user who operates 20b is stored in terminal 20a.
• the user operating the terminal 20a selects, for example, a business card with the user name written from the business card holder in the image world and attaches it to an email created by the user, the user ID of the destination user is added to the data, Data can be sent and received in the infrastructure mode described in Figs.
• the user's ability to operate the terminal 20a by passing a business card from the self-character 204 to the opponent character 202 may send his / her user ID to the user who operates the terminal 20b.
• FIG. 10 shows a procedure in which the terminal 20a and the server 50 perform data transmission / reception when transmission of unspecified destination data is enabled.
• the data transmission process in which the user ID of the destination user is defined is the same as in FIG. Accordingly, as shown in S18 and S20 in FIG. 6, the power that the user ID registration confirmation is naturally performed in the server 50 is omitted here.
• the user inputs data generation such as mail to the data generation unit 26 of the terminal 20a (S50). If the user wants to create data with an unspecified destination, the user selects and inputs a button or the like that makes the destination unspecified.
• the mail included in the data can be input only by a sentence composed of the fixed sentences stored in the fixed sentence storage unit 21 of the data generation unit 26. This prevents misuse of functions such as sending miscellaneous text to unspecified users. Boilerplate such as "Hello” or "I will do our best", may be a sentence have very short.
• the data generation unit 26 includes the identification information of the image data of the selected item in the transmission data.
• the image data identification information is information for identifying the image data of each item stored in the item storage unit 37 by both the terminal 20a and the terminal 20b.
• the transmitting unit 30 of the terminal 20a generates a data set similar to that in FIG. 6, and transmits it to the receiving unit 54 of the server 50 (S52).
• the data that has been selected and entered with an unspecified destination is sent with identification information indicating that the destination is unspecified in the destination field. It is.
• the identification information indicating that the destination is unspecified the common information previously determined by the terminal 20a and the server 50 should be used, and it may be a number, character string, etc., and the destination field shall be blank.
• the receiving unit 54 of the server 50 Upon receipt of the data set from the terminal 20a (S54), the receiving unit 54 of the server 50 is assigned to each based on the user ID or identification information described in the destination field, as in FIG. Data or the like is stored in the storage area of the data storage unit 60 (S56).
• the data or the like is stored in a storage area dedicated to the destination unspecified data in the data storage unit 60.
• the transmission destination determining unit 62 has previously designated the destination unspecified data dedicated to the data storage unit 60. From the unspecified destination data stored in the storage area, select one piece of data, such as the previously stored data, and determine the destination as the user ID of the user of the terminal 20a that sent the unspecified destination address this time. (S62). Specifically, the user ID of the transmission source user is acquired from the data set transmitted by the terminal 20a this time, and the selected past destination unspecified data is moved to the storage area assigned to the user ID.
• the data transmission unit 58 transmits the selected destination unspecified data to the incoming unit 32 of the terminal 20a, similarly to S36 of Fig. 7 (S64).
• the data transmitted at this time may not include the user ID of the user who transmitted the data.
• the image processing unit 34 displays the incoming data display on the display unit 35 without collating with the friend ID table 80 (S66).
• the image processing unit 34 searches the item storage unit 37 based on the identification information of the image data of the item included in the data. Then, the image data of the sent item is acquired and output to the display unit 35 together with the mail body (S68). This allows the user to recognize the acquisition of a new item. If the image data of the item is included in the data as it is, output it
• two communication modes an ad hoc mode and an infrastructure mode, are used to combine a short-distance real-time communication and a long-distance communication with a time difference.
• the user ID is automatically generated at the terminal, and is automatically registered in the server along with the data transmission. Furthermore, functions such as incoming call rejection are processed on the terminal side. As a result, the number of items to be managed on the server side and the items to be executed are reduced, so that the load on the vendor that provides the service is reduced, and the cost for operation can be reduced. In addition, since it is possible to give items to strangers using infrastructure communication, chances of collecting items are increased and users can enjoy higher entertainment.
• connection source user ID which is the user ID of the user operating the terminal 20a
• the connection source user ID is specified as described above. Then, it is confirmed whether or not the connection source user ID has already been registered in the destination ID table 90. If it has not been registered, the same registration process as S20 in FIG. 6 is performed.
• the registration confirmation process to the destination ID table 90 is performed.
• the user ID may be registered prior to the mail transmission performed by each terminal, and the processing load performed by the server 50 at the time of mail transmission can be reduced.
• Unspecified mail with no item attached may be stored in the data storage unit 60 of the server 50 in combination with the unspecified mail with the item attached, or stored depending on the presence or absence of the attached item. You may also distinguish areas. In the latter case, an email with an item attached is replied to a user who sent an unspecified email with an item attached, and an email without an item is sent back to a user who did not attach an item. be able to.
• a plurality of items may be attached to one data. Also in this case, if a data storage area is prepared for each item attached to the data storage unit 60, for example, three items are attached to a user who sent data with three items attached. Data can be returned.
• the types of items may be ranked based on the appearance rate, and the storage areas may be distinguished based on the rank and number of items attached to the unspecified mail address.
• a user who has sent an email with a high appearance rate attached with multiple items can receive an email that is equivalent to the total value of them, for example, with one item with a low appearance rate attached.
• the opportunity to acquire a variety of items is given. Even in such a modification, the same effect as in the present embodiment can be obtained.
• the data exchange unit 42 in each terminal may exchange items different from the business card 206 shown in FIG.
• the user who operates each terminal may select and input the item to be handed over, and the items may be exchanged.
• the data exchange unit is independent of the user input instruction. Even if the item selected by 42, ie the propagation item, is automatically given to the other party.
• the image processing unit 34 starts displaying the propagation item on the image display unit 35 based on the information related to the image data.
• the display of the propagation item on the image display unit 35 is stopped. This allows the user to visually recognize that the propagation item has automatically propagated between terminals that have established communication.
• a data exchange unit is selected from them.
• the selected item may be passed only to the opponent who is randomly determined by 42.
• the data transmitted to the other party's terminal when transferring the item may be the identification information of the image data or the image data itself, as in the email with the item described in FIG. This contingency gives users the opportunity to get the items they want unexpectedly and increases the enjoyment of communicating with other users.
• the present invention can be used for electronic devices such as game devices, mobile phones, and computers.

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