CN1131362A - Information processing terminals and information supplying system - Google Patents

Abstract

In an information processing terminal 10, a first communication controller 27 is capable of accessing to an information center 3 through an information communication network 7, a second communication controller 28 is capable of accessing to a charging center 1 through the charging communication network 5 having a charging function, and a hard disk 33 for storing the musical data received from the information center through the information communication network 7. An information processing terminal 10 asks a charging center 1 the information rental fee by the charging communication network and also gaining information.

Description

Information processing terminal and information providing system

The present invention relates to an information processing terminal for processing information transmitted from an information center and an information providing system capable of transmitting information from the information center to the information processing terminal and collecting a terminal usage fee for the transmitted information.

Various display text (Videotex) communication services have been used recently. Representative examples showing text-type communication services include: "Character and Graphics Telephony Access Information Network (CAPTAIN) System" provided in Japan, "North American Presentation Layer Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS) System" provided in North America; and "European Postal and Telecommunications Confederation (CEPT) System". In the display text communication service, the information center is connected to a plurality of user terminals through a charging transmission network. The information center stores various information such as character/graphic information. Once the request from the terminal is received, the information center transmits the information to the terminal through the charging transmission network. The charging transmission network has a charging function for charging terminal information usage fees. Fees can be determined arbitrarily depending on the content of the packet.

The "Q2 dial (Dia1 Q2)" communication service is another service that uses the charging transmission network to collect terminal information usage fees. The difference between the "QZ dialing system" and the display text service is that the information usage fee is basically calculated by time.

The communication system described above employs a charging transmission network with a charging function. These systems are therefore capable of delivering required information to terminals while automatically charging terminal information usage fees. In these systems, information is transmitted over the toll transmission network according to the transmission protocol established for the toll transmission network.

Generally, the toll transmission network adopts a predetermined transmission protocol. For example, the display text transmission network employs a transmission protocol determined by ITU (International Telecommunication Union). According to "Recommendations ITU-T, V.23 and ITU-T, V.27", the transmission rate for loading and downloading transmissions was originally limited to 75bps and 4800 bps respectively. Then "Recommendation ITU-T, V.22" was proposed to allow the transmission rate of both uploading and downloading transmission to reach the same value of 1200bps. A sub-recommendation of "Recommendation IUT-T, V.22" was also proposed to allow a transmission rate up to 2400 bps, which is equivalent to the basic interface of ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) services. Recently, "Recommendation ITU-T, V.32" was proposed to allow a further transmission rate of 9600 bps. Although the transmission rate has recently been increased, it is still necessary to transmit information at a transmission rate higher than that permitted by the toll transmission network.

Since the toll transmission network is built according to the network switching system, information cannot be transmitted by other switching systems, such as packet switching systems.

The present inventors also found that desired information cannot be freely transferred between the information center and the user terminal because the information is transferred only according to a predetermined protocol. Although the terminal profile information can be uploaded to the information center, the information on the operating state of the terminal cannot be uploaded to the information center. Therefore, the information center cannot know whether the information transmitted to the terminal has been successfully downloaded at the terminal in question. In this way, even when the terminal does not operate normally and cannot download information, the information center may erroneously charge the information usage fee of the terminal in question. In this case, the user will be angry at not being charged for the usage information.

The present invention attempts to solve the above-mentioned problems. An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing system capable of transmitting information to a terminal using a transmission protocol different from that determined for a toll transmission network. Another object is to provide a terminal effective for the information providing system. Still another object is to provide an information providing system capable of automatically and correctly charging terminal information usage fees. Still another object is to provide a terminal effective for the information providing system.

These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by an information processing device for processing information, the information processing device comprising: a first transmission device capable of accessing an information center through an information transmission network having an information transmission function; The second transmission device of the network access charging center, the charging transmission network has a charging function; the information storage device stores the information that the information center has transmitted through the information transmission network and has been received by the first transmission device; an information processing device; and a charging processing requesting device for requesting a charging transmission network to perform a charging operation.

According to another aspect, the present invention provides an information providing system for providing information to an information processing terminal. The system includes: a business center, which includes an actual information storage device for storing actual information, and transmits actual information through an information transmission network having an information transmission function. The actual information transmission device for information, and the charging control device that uses the charging function of the charging transmission network to perform charging processing; the system also includes: a plurality of information processing terminals connected to the business center through the information transmission network and charging transmission network, each The terminal includes: a first transmission device capable of receiving the actual information transmitted by the service center through the information transmission network; a second transmission device capable of accessing the service center through the charging transmission network; an information storage device for storing the actual information transmitted by the service center; an information processing device for performing predetermined processing on information; and a charging processing requesting device for requesting the charging control device of the business center to perform charging processing.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the following description of the preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of an information processing terminal constituting the system of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of an information center and a charging center constituting the system of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 represents the transmission sequence realized between the information processing terminal and the information center that provides the song data of new publishing to this terminal;

Fig. 5 shows the transmission sequence realized between the information processing terminal and the charging center which collects the usage fee of the newly published song of the terminal.

An information providing system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to avoid repeated descriptions, the same parts and components in the drawings are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows the information providing system of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows each information processing terminal constituting the information providing system of FIG. 1 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , in the information providing system of this embodiment, a plurality of information processing terminals 10 are connected to the charging center 1 and the information center 3 through the charging transmission network 5 and the information transmission network 7 respectively. The charging center 1 and the information center 3 are connected to each other.

The information processing terminal 10 is used for karaoke performance. Information of a plurality of karaoke songs is stored in each information processing terminal 10 . Each terminal 10 requests the information center 3 to transmit information of newly published karaoke songs to itself at predetermined time intervals. The information center 3 transmits the newly published song data to the terminal 10 through the information transmission network 7 upon receipt of the request. The newly published song data is scrambled and therefore cannot be used as it is. When the user at the terminal 10 wanted to perform a karaoke performance of a newly published song, the user input a request for the newly published song to the terminal 10, so the terminal 10 accessed the charging center 1 through the charging transmission network 5 . The terminal 10 requests the charging center 1 to collect the usage fee of the newly published song. Specifically, the terminal 10 transmits a charging information request to the charging center 1 . The charging information request is used to request the charging center 1 to transmit charging information, and the charging information indicates that the usage fee for the song newly published by the terminal 10 in question should be charged. When the charging center 1 transmits charging information through the charging transmission network 5, the network 5 automatically collects the usage fee of the newly published song of the terminal 10 in question. The terminal 10 in question descrambles the newly published song data upon receipt of charging information from the network 5 . The user will perform a karaoke performance using the descrambled newly published song data.

The terminal 10 can transmit its operating records to the information center 3 through the information transmission network 7 . For example, the operation record may include: a reception record indicating whether the terminal in question has received newly published song data; and a failure record indicating whether the terminal in question has malfunctioned. Once the log of the terminal 10 is received, the information center 3 can determine whether the newly published song data has been correctly downloaded at the terminal 10 or not.

The toll transfer network 5 is described in more detail below.

The charging transmission network 5 in this example is a display text transmission network. As shown in the figure, the display text transmission network 5 is composed of a display text communication processor (VCP) 5a and a plurality of public telephone circuits 5b connected to the VCP 5a. The display text communication processor 5a is connected to the charging center 1 . A plurality of public telephone circuits 5 b are connected to the information processing terminal 10 . The display text communication processor 5a executes various transmission processes. Specifically, the VCP 5a connects the public telephone circuit 5b to the charging center 1 and exchanges the public telephone circuit 5b when the terminal 10 attempts to access the charging transmission network 5. In Japan, the user can dial "166" representing the toll center 1 and a 5-digit number to connect the corresponding public telephone circuit 5b to the toll center 1. The VCP 5a is also used to manage information processing terminals 10 and information related to users of the charging center 1. The VCP 5a is also capable of controlling telephone calls between the information processing terminal 10 and the charging center 1 and performing conversion processing such as protocol conversion and code/graphic conversion.

The VCP5a is also used to charge the information processing terminal 10 a transmission fee and an information usage fee. In this embodiment, the VCP5a is used to collect the usage fee of the newly published karaoke songs by the terminal 10. When VCP5a received the charging information representing the new publication song usage fee of the terminal 10 from the charging center 1, the VCP5a just collected the fee of the terminal 10 in question and sent the charging information to the terminal 10 in question. It is the telephone company and not the toll center 1 that will collect these charges.

The information transfer network 7 is described below.

The network 7 is used to transmit newly published song data from the information center 3 to the information processing terminal 10 . The information transmission network 7 is also used to transmit the operating records of the terminal 10 to the information center 3 . The information transmission network 7 transmits information according to the required transmission protocol. The transmission protocol that can be adopted by the information transmission network 7 is not limited to the transmission protocol employed in the toll transmission network. Therefore, the information transmission network 7 can be used for high-speed transmission. For example, the information transmission network 7 can carry out the transmission by means of B-channels of ISDN circuits. In this case, the information transmission network 7 can transmit information at a transmission rate of 64 kbps, that is, at an effective transmission rate of 60 kbps. While the toll transmission network 5 performs transmission operations by means of a circuit switching system, the information transmission network 7 may perform transmission operations in accordance with a packet switching system such as a DDX-P packet switching network.

The information processing terminal 10 is described below with reference to FIG. 2 .

The information processing terminal 10 has a central control device 31 . The central control device 31 completes the karaoke performance according to its stored karaoke performance program. The central control device 31 also executes predetermined charging control processing based on the charging control program 31a stored therein. The central control device 31 also executes predetermined new-published song reception control processing in accordance with the reception control program 31b stored therein.

The central control device 31 is connected to: a log memory 32; a hard disk 33; a sound reproduction circuit 35; a screen display control device 26; a first transmission control device 27; The mixer/amplifier 38 is connected to the sound reproduction circuit 35 . A speaker 41 and a microphone 43 are connected to the mixer/amplifier 38 . A television monitor 29 is connected to the screen display control device 26 . The central control device 31 realizes the karaoke performance by controlling the sound reproduction circuit 35 and the screen display control device 26 according to the karaoke performance program. The central control device 31 is provided with a control panel or a remote control unit (not shown in the figure), and the user can utilize the control panel or the remote control unit to select desired karaoke songs.

The data of the thousands of karaoke songs stored in advance by hard disk 33. The data of newly published karaoke song is provided by information center 3 and additionally stored in hard disk 33 and goes. The data of each karaoke song is composed of song number data and actual song data. The song number data is used as identification information for distinguishing songs. Actual song data is composed of lyric data, background image data, and standard "Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)" performance data as performance sound information. The background image data is coded image information suitable for the corresponding song.

The signal of the actual song data of the newly published song transmitted from the information center 3 is scrambled and therefore cannot be used as it is. The scrambling is canceled only after the terminal 10 in question has been charged the new publication royalty. In order to accept the charge for the information processing terminal 10 in question, the user operates the operation panel or the remote control unit to input his/her desired newly published song. The central control device 31 starts a predetermined charging control process according to the charging control program 31a, and connects the terminal 10 to the charging center 1 through the charging transmission network 5, so that the charging transmission network 5 charges the terminal 10. When the terminal device is correctly charged the new publication song usage fee, the central control device 31 just descrambles the data of the new publication song into a state that can be performed by karaoke.

When the card-connected OK song data became usable format, the user operated the control panel or the remote control unit again to select the song he or she wanted to sing, and the central control device 31 carried out the karaoke performance according to the karaoke performance program stored therein deal with. The central control device 31 retrieves performance data, lyrics data and background image data corresponding to the selected song from the hard disk 33 according to the karaoke performance program. The play data is sent to the sound reproduction circuit 35 . Lyric data and background image data are sent to the screen display control device 26 .

The performance data output to the sound reproduction circuit 35 is converted into an analog performance signal, and then sent to the mixer/amplifier 38, where it is electrically amplified at a suitable ratio and compared with the input to the microphone 43. User voice is mixed. The mixed sound signal is output from the speaker as a music performance signal. The screen display control device 26 superimposes the song data on the background image data along with the performance data and displays the result on the television monitor 29 as a background image writing prompt.

The operation record storage 32 is used to store the operation records of the terminal 10 in question. The running records include various records of karaoke performances performed by the terminal 10 in question. For example, the operation log may indicate the number of times the information processing terminal 10 has performed karaoke performance and the date and time when the information processing terminal 10 performed the karaoke performance. The operation record may also include: an operation time record indicating the date and time when the power of the information processing terminal 10 is turned on or off, and a failure record indicating whether the terminal 10 has malfunctioned. The running record may also include: a reception record indicating whether the information center 3 has provided newly published song data and a charging request record indicating whether a request for charging information has been transmitted to the charging center 1.

The terminal 10 transmits these operating records to the information center 3 through the first transmission control device 27 and the information transmission network 7 . The terminal 10 transmits the operating records to the information center 3 periodically, that is, at predetermined time intervals. The information processing terminal 10 can transmit the log when requested by the information center 3 .

The first transmission control device 27 can be connected to the information transmission network 7 . When the network 7 transmits by means of the B channel of the ISDN circuit, the control device 27 performs a high-speed digital transmission operation, and when the network 7 is established according to the DDX-P packet switching system, the control device 27 is configured or capable of processing DDX -P packet switching system. If the network 7 is switchable between the DDX-P packet switched mode and the circuit switched mode, it enables the control device 27 to handle both the DDX-P packet switched system and the circuit switched system.

The control device 27 structured as described above is capable of receiving newly published song data transmitted by the information center 3 through the network 7 . The control device 27 transmits the received newly published song data to the hard disk 33, where they are stored after the previously stored data. The control device 27 also transmits the operating records of the terminal 10 in question from the memory 32 to the information center 3 via the network 7 .

The second transmission control record 28 can be connected to the toll transmission network 5 . The control device 28 adopts the transmission protocol adopted by the toll transmission network 5 . When the network 5 transmits information at a transmission rate of 2400 bps, the control device is made to transmit information at this transmission rate.

The control device 28 of the above-mentioned structure can transmit the charging information request to the charging center 1 through the charging transmission network 5 . The charging information request will request the charging center 1 to transmit the charging information to the terminal ω in question via the charging transmission network 5 . The charging information indicates that a usage fee for a newly published song that the terminal 10 in question has been provided to it by the information center 3 should be charged. When the charging center 1 sent the charging information to the terminal 10 in question by the charging transmission network 5, the VCP 5a in the network 5 just charged the usage fee of the newly published song of the terminal 10 in question. The control device 28 receives charging information from the network 5 and transmits it to the central control device 31, so as to inform the central control device 31 that the usage fee for the newly published song of the terminal in question has been correctly charged.

The charging center 1 and the information center 3 are described below with reference to FIG. 3 . The charging center 1 includes a host computer 51 and a memory device 53 connected to the host computer 51, an input device 55, a transmission control device 57, a printer 59 and a CRT 61. The memory device 53 prestores various control programs for the control host 51 to manage the charging status of each information processing terminal 10 . According to these control programs, when receiving a charging information request from a terminal 10, the host 51 generates charging information indicating that a usage fee for a song newly published by the terminal 10 in question should be charged. The host 51 also recognizes the terminals 10 when accessing them.

The memory device 53 also stores charging records of each information processing terminal 10 indicating that the corresponding terminal 10 has been charged a usage fee for a newly published song. The transmission device 57 can be connected to the toll transmission network 5 .

Various commands can be input through the input device 55 . For example, a command can be input to make the host computer 51 formulate a charge sheet for each information processing terminal 10 according to the charge record stored in the memory device 53, and then use the printer 5a to print out the charge sheet or display it on the CRT 61.

Similar to the charging center 1 , the information center 1 includes a host 71 and a storage device 73 connected to the host 71 , an input device 75 , a transmission control device 77 , a printer 79 and a CRT 81 . The memory 73 is supplied with data of newly published karaoke songs. The memory device 73 previously stores various control programs for the control host 71 . According to these control programs, the host computer 71 retrieves data of newly published songs from the memory 73 and transmits the data to the terminal 10 upon receiving a request from the terminal 10 . The memory device 73 also stores a new-published song transmission record indicating whether data of a newly published song has been transmitted to the information processing terminal 10 and an operation record of the information processing terminal 10 that has been transmitted by the information processing terminal 10 . The transmission device 77 can be connected to the information transmission network 7 .

Various commands can be entered through the input device 75 . For example, a command can be input to make the host computer 71 formulate a terminal operation list according to the operation records stored in the memory device 73, and then use the printer 79 to print out the terminal operation list or display it on the CRT 81. Additional commands can be input to make the main frame 71 formulate a transmission list based on the new publication song transmission records stored in the memory device 73, and then use the printer 79 to print the transmission list or display it on the CRT 81.

Transmission control devices 57 and 77 may be interconnected to communicate information between each other. The operation record, newly published song transmission record and charging record of each processing terminal 10 can be transferred between the devices 57 and 77 . According to the control programs stored in the memory devices 53 and 73, the hosts 51 and 71 can check these records to determine that the newly published song has been correctly provided to the terminal 10 and the usage fee has been correctly collected.

In the information providing system having the above-described structure, each terminal 10 executes new-published song reception control processing at predetermined time intervals according to the reception control program 31b. In this reception control process, the terminal 10 accesses the information center 3 to request delivery of a newly published song. When newly published songs are provided to the memory device 73, the information center 3 transmits these newly published songs to the terminal 10 in question.

This newly published song providing method will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4 .

According to the control program 31b, the information processing terminal 10 is first connected to the information center 3 through the network 7. That is, the central control device 31 connects the first transmission control device 27 to the information center 3 . Then the terminal 10 transmits its password or telephone number to the information center 3 via the control device 27 and the network 7 . When the information center 3 received the password or phone number through the transmission control device 77, the host 71 compared the password or phone number with the password or phone number stored in the host 71 by the terminal 10 in question. If the password or telephone number is the password or telephone number registered by the terminal 10 in question, the information center 3 responds that the password and telephone number match correctly. At the same time, the information center 3 enters a state capable of receiving various signals from the terminal in question. After receiving the correct matching response, the terminal 10 in question inquires of the information center 3 whether any newly published karaoke song data has been input into the memory 73 .

The host computer 71 in the information center 3 searches the memory 73 for newly published song data. The information center 3 then transmits to the information processing terminal 10 in question a response signal indicating whether or not any newly published song data has been input into the memory 73 . Upon receipt of the answer signal, the terminal 10 determines whether any newly published songs have been entered into the memory 73 . If the newly published song has been imported to the memory 73, the terminal 10 will request the information center 3 to transmit it far away. Once the request is received, the information center 3 will retrieve the newly published song data from the memory 73 and send the data to the information transmission network 7. transmitted to the terminal 10 in question. If the network 7 is set in accordance with a high-speed transmission system such as the B channel of ISDN, the network 7 can quickly transmit newly published song data. The terminal 10 inputs the received data to the hard disk 33 .

In this way, newly published song data is provided to the terminal 10 by the information center 3 . However, newly published song data is scrambled and cannot be used as it is.

When the user at the terminal 10 in question wishes to perform karaoke with a newly published song provided, the user operates the control panel or the remote control unit to express his/her desire to use the newly published song. As a result, the information processing terminal 10 in question starts charging control processing according to the charging control program 31a. When the terminal 10 in question is correctly charged for the usage fee of the newly published song, the newly published song data is descrambled.

The charging control processing will be described below with reference to FIG. 5 .

The information processing terminal 10 first connects to the network 5 and calls the charging center 1 . When the terminal 10 is successfully connected with the charging center 1, the terminal 10 transmits its password or telephone number to the charging center 1 through the device 28. When the charging center 1 receives the password or phone number through the transmission control device 57, the host 51 compares the password or phone number with the password or phone number registered in the host 51 by the information processing terminal 10 in question. If the password or telephone number is the password or telephone number registered by the terminal 10 in question, the charging center 1 makes a response indicating that the password or telephone number matches correctly. At the same time, the charging center 1 enters a state capable of receiving various signals from the terminal 10 in question. When receiving a correct matching response, the terminal 10 in question transmits the charging information request to the charging center 1 through the charging transmission network 5 .

Upon receiving the charging information request, the charging center 1 retrieves from the memory device 53 charging information related to charging a usage fee for the newly published song data transmitted from the terminal 10 in question. It is assumed for the sake of illustration that the fee is 1000 yen. The fee may be a fixed monthly fee, or may vary depending on the number of newly published songs being delivered.

The charging center 1 then transmits the charging information to the information processing terminal 10 through the charging transmission network 5 . Therefore, the charging function of the charging transmission network 5, that is, the charging function of the VCP 5a automatically charges the fee for the information processing terminal 10 in question. In this example, the information processing terminal 10 in question is charged 1,000 yuan. This charge is added to the charge record corresponding to the information processing terminal 10 in question stored in the host computer 51 of the charge center 1 . The charges can be aggregated eg using the telephone bill of the terminal 10 in question.

When the information processing terminal 10 has received charging information from the network 5, the central control device 31 descrambles the newly published song data that has been stored in the hard disk 33 now. Thereafter, the central control device 31 executes the described karaoke performance.

As described above, the information center 3 transmits newly published song data to the information processing terminal 10 through the information transmission network 7 . The information processing terminal 10 inputs the newly published song data into the hard disk 33 . The information processing terminal 10 inquires the charging transmission network 5 and transmits the charging information request to the charging center 1 . Upon receiving the request, the charging center 1 charges the information processing terminal 10 using the charging function of the charging transmission network 5 . Therefore, the use fee of newly published song data can be collected automatically by using the charging transmission network 5 without manual operation.

In contrast to the toll transmission network 5, the information transmission network 7 is not restricted by any transmission protocol. When the information transmission network 7 is established to perform high-speed transmission operations, it is possible to rapidly transmit a relatively large amount of information such as karaoke song information, game software information, and image information. The information transmission network 7 can perform packet switching operations, such as DDX-P packet switching operations. When the information center 3 needs to transmit various kinds of information with relatively short data length intermittently, the data packet switching system can transmit these information in real time at a relatively low cost. Therefore, the utilization efficiency of the network is greatly improved.

Each information processing terminal 10 also stores a record of its operation in the memory 32 . The information processing terminal 10 transmits its operation log to the information center 3 . Since the information processing terminal 10 can upload the log information to the information center 3 through the information transmission network 7, the following various advantages can be realized.

The information center 3 can check the transmission record and operation record of the information processing terminal 10 . The operation records include a reception record indicating whether or not the information processing terminal 10 has received newly published song data and a failure record indicating whether or not the information processing terminal 10 has malfunctioned. Based on these records, the information center 3 can reliably determine whether the information processing terminal 10 in question has successfully obtained newly published song data.

The operation record of the information processing terminal 10 also includes a charging request record indicating whether the information processing terminal 10 has sent a charging information request to the charging center 1 . On the basis of these charging request records and transmission records, the information center 3 can also judge whether any information processing terminal 10 provided with newly published song data has not been charged for the newly published song data. The information center 3 may send a request letter to the information processing terminal 10, requesting the user to pay the unpaid fee.

When the judgment is made based on the charging record stored in the memory 53 of the charging center 1 and the transmission record stored in the memory 73 of the information center 3, this judgment can be made more reliable. The host computers 51 and 71 in the centers 1 and 3 can check these records in cooperation with each other to reliably find any information processing terminal 10 for which no fee has been charged. When the user controls the information processing terminal 10 to transmit a fake charging information request and generate a fake charging request record in order not to be charged by the charging center 1 . This approach will be particularly effective.

The newly published song data is scrambled so that it cannot be used while being transmitted by the information center 3 and stored in the hard disk 33. Only after the information processing terminal 10 is charged, the newly published song data is converted into a usable state. Therefore, it is possible to reliably charge the user's information usage fee to compensate for the use of newly published song information.

When the information center 3 transmits a plurality of newly released songs, the user sometimes wishes to sing only some of them. For example, newly published songs include several different types of songs, such as Japanese ballads and pop songs, and the user wishes to sing only Japanese ballads. In this case, for example, the user can request the charge center 1 to charge only the usage fee of Japanese songs. The charging center 1 will transmit to the information processing terminal in question the charging information indicating that only the information processing terminal 10 will be charged the Japanese song usage fee. Therefore, only the Japanese song usage fee is charged to the information processing terminal 10 . The information processing terminal 10 will only be able to descramble the information of Japanese songs.

As described above, according to the information providing system of this embodiment, a plurality of information processing terminals are connected to the information center through the information transmission network, and connected to the charging center through the charging transmission network. The information center is provided with: an actual information storage for storing actual information and an actual information transmission part for transmitting the actual information to the terminal through an information transmission network. At least a part of the actual information stored in the actual information storage is in an unusable state, the actual information transmission part will be in an unusable state, and the actual information transmission part transmits the unusable actual information to the terminal. The charging center uses the charging function of the charging transmission network to collect the actual information usage fee of the terminal. Each terminal is provided with: a first transmission part and a second transmission part capable of receiving the actual information transmitted by the information center through the information transmission network. The information memory of each terminal stores the actual information transmitted by the information center. The information processing section of each terminal is capable of performing predetermined processing on actual information. The charging processing request section of each terminal requests the charging detecting means of the charging center to perform charging processing. Specifically, the charging processing request section requests the charging control means to transmit charging information to the terminal. Upon receiving the request, the charging control device transmits the charging information through the charging transmission network, and then the charging transmission network performs charging processing. The charging information transmitted to the terminal functions as key information for converting actual information from an unavailable state to an available state. The information processing section then performs predetermined processing on the actual information converted into a usable state using the transmitted key information. Therefore, the predetermined processing can be realized only after the usage fee of the terminal actual information is correctly charged.

The charging processing request section may request the charging control section to transmit only part of the charging information (key information) capable of switching the corresponding part of the actual information from the unavailable state to the available state.

Once the request is received, the charging control part transmits the partial charging information through the charging transmission network, and the partial charging information will charge only the corresponding part of the actual information. This part of the charging information thus transmitted to the terminal serves as part of the key information for converting the corresponding part of the actual information into a usable state. The information processing section thus performs predetermined processing on the corresponding portion of the actual information.

When the actual information includes data of multiple game software or multiple karaoke songs, the user at the terminal may wish to use only certain types of game software or certain karaoke songs. A user may wish to use only one game software for certain months and another game software for subsequent months. Partial delivery of critical information is required in these situations.

While the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In addition to karaoke song information as an example of information provided by the information center 3 to the information processing terminal 10, the present invention can also be applied to other various information such as game software information. The present invention can also be applied to character/graphic information such as weather forecast and traffic information that has been provided in display text transmission systems.

When the first transmission control device 27 can switch to the circuit switching mode and the data packet switching mode, the device 27 can be connected to multiple information centers through multiple circuit switching networks and data packet switching networks.

In the above-described embodiments, the charging center 1 and the information center 3 are provided separately. However, a service center may be provided to function as a charging center and an information center 3 . The service center is connected to the terminal 10 through the charging transmission network 5 and the information transmission network 7 . In this case, the business center can be provided with a host computer, an input device, a printer, and a CRT. The service center may be provided with a memory storing programs for charging processing and information transmission processing. The memory may be constituted by an area for storing records about charging processing and information transmission processing.

Claims (9)

1. the messaging device of process information comprises:

Can be by first transmitting device at information transmission network visit information center, this information transmission network has information transfer capability;

Can be by second transmitting device of charge transmission network visit toll center, this charge transmission network has the charge function;

The information stores apparatus of information that has transmitted by information transmission network at the stored information center, that received by first transmitting device;

Can carry out the information processor of predetermined process to information; And

Request charge transmission network is carried out the charge of charge operation and is handled request unit.

2. the messaging device of claim 1, also comprise by information transmission network for information about the information of processing unit log send the log conveyer of information centre to.

3. the information processor of claim 1, information transmission network wherein transmits information according to first transmission method, and the transmission network of wherein charging approximately transmits pay imformation according to second transmission method different with first transmission method.

4. the messaging device of claim 3, information transmission network wherein is to transmit information than the high speed of charge transmission network speed.

5. the messaging device of claim 3, first transmission method wherein is according to a kind of transmission information in circuit switching system and the packet exchange system, and first transmitting device can switch between another pattern of the pattern of transmission network that can the access circuit switching system and transmission network that can the visit data packet switching system.

6. the information providing system of information is provided to the information processing terminal, and this system comprises:

The service center that comprises the actual information storage arrangement of storing actual information, transmits the actual information conveyer of actual information and utilize the charge control device that the charge function executing charge of charge transmission network handles by information transmission network with information transfer capability; And

By a plurality of information processing terminals that information transmission network and charge transmission network are connected with this service center, each terminal comprises:

Can receive first transmitting device of service center by the actual information of information transmission network transmission;

Can be by second transmitting device at charge transmission network access service center;

The information stores apparatus of the actual information that transmit at the storage service center;

Can carry out the information processor of predetermined process to actual information; And

The charge control device at requested service center is carried out the charge processing request unit that charge is handled.

7. the information providing system of claim 6, service center wherein is made up of information centre with actual information storage arrangement and actual information conveyer and toll center with charge control device.

8. the information providing system of claim 6, wherein, at least a portion actual information is to be stored in the actual information storage arrangement with down state, the actual information conveyer transmit the actual information that is in down state and

Charge is handled request unit and is transmitted the control device of the key message that actual information is converted into upstate from down state can being asked to charge by request and carry out charge and handle, the charge control device transmits this key message by the charge transmission network, so that carrying out charge handles

The information processor utilization has been converted to the actual information execution predetermined process of available information by the key message that transmits.

9. the information providing system of claim 8, in this system, request unit request translator unit key message is handled in charge, this part key message can be converted into upstate from down state with the appropriate section of actual information, the charge control device transmits this part key message by the charge transmission network, so that collect the expense of this appropriate section of actual information.

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