HK1050788B

HK1050788B - Sound data delivering system and method, delivering server and client-side terminal thereof

Info

Publication number: HK1050788B
Application number: HK03102946.8A
Authority: HK
Inventors: 中村俊介; 长谷川丰; 国井崇; 寺田好成
Original assignee: 雅马哈株式会社
Filing date: 2003-04-25
Publication date: 2009-11-13

Description

Sound data transmission system and method, transmission server and client terminal

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a system having a client-side terminal (e.g., a portable telephone) and a sound data delivery server that can communicate with each other for delivering sound data (e.g., a tune for playing an incoming call (hereinafter referred to as "incoming call tune"), which is reproduced by the client-side terminal at a predetermined timing (e.g., when the portable telephone receives a call)) from the sound data delivery server to the client-side terminal.

Background

In accordance with the recent development of communication technology, portable telephones, mobile computers, and other devices utilizing wireless technology have become widely communicable client-side terminals. On the other hand, as services that can be received by these client terminals, a voice data transfer service (called an incoming call tune request service in the case of a portable telephone) is also prevailing.

Generally, in these services, a user of a client-side terminal can select desired sound data from a plurality of sound data prepared in a sound data delivery server. In addition, the voice data delivery server is configured to deliver the selected voice data to the client side terminal and to charge a fee to a user of the client side terminal.

However, in the above-described service, when sound data is transmitted to the client side terminal, the transmitted sound data is registered in the nonvolatile memory of the client side terminal, so that one sound data registered in the client side terminal is automatically deleted. For this reason, if the user of the client-side terminal finally feels that the music reproduced from the recently transmitted sound data is disliked or the user feels that the music reproduced from the deleted sound data is preferred, the user is not sufficiently satisfied with the above-described service.

Therefore, the apparatus disclosed in, for example, japanese patent laid-open No.11-127262/1999 is configured in such a manner that the transferred sound data is not registered in the nonvolatile memory immediately, but the transferred sound data is stored in the volatile memory capable of being audited (reproducible), and when a predetermined key operation is performed according to the result of the audition, the sound data is registered in the nonvolatile memory again.

However, in the above-described conventional technique, since the audio data for trial listening (trial listening audio data) is not distinguished from the audio data for registration (main audio data), even if the user of the client terminal wishes to transmit the audio data for trial listening, the user pays a fee each time the audio data is transmitted to the client terminal. For this reason, if the user dislikes as a result of the audition, the user is not sufficiently satisfied with the existing service described above. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system, a method, a transmission server constituting the system, a client terminal substantially being a computer, and a computer-readable recording medium, in which a user can perform trial listening of transmitted sound data without paying (or paying a lower fee than normally purchasing) the sound data.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, a characteristic aspect of the present invention is that a voice data transmission system has a client terminal and a transmission server which can communicate with each other, the transmission server comprising: request determination means and data transfer means for determining whether the request from the client side terminal is a request for formal sound data or a request for trial listening of sound data, the data transfer means transferring the formal sound data to the client side terminal while charging a fee to a user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for formal sound data, and the data transfer means transferring the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal without charging the fee to the user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for trial listening of sound data. The client side terminal includes: a storage means for storing said transmitted formal sound data and said transmitted trial listening sound data, and a reproduction means for generating a sound based on said stored sound data to reproduce the sound data.

The delivery server of the present invention may be configured to store a plurality of sound data in, for example, a sound data database, to deliver a list of sound data to the client terminal in accordance with a request from the client terminal and to deliver formal sound data or trial listening sound data corresponding to sound data selected from the list by the client terminal user to the client terminal. If the client side terminal is, for example, a portable telephone set, the sound data may be sound data for producing a tune of an incoming call of the portable telephone set (a tune as a ringing tone in response to the incoming call) or may be another sound data such as an acoustic effect. In addition, the formal sound data and the trial listening sound data may be configured to contain the same sound data as long as at least one of the two kinds of sound data contains data that can be distinguished from each other. The reproduction apparatus is a reproduction apparatus for a client side terminal to generate a sound based on sound data obtained from a transmission server under a predetermined condition, and if the client side terminal is, for example, a portable telephone, the reproduction apparatus is used to generate an incoming call tune corresponding to a sound source circuit, an effect circuit, and a sound system including an amplifier and a speaker.

According to the above-described aspect, if the user of the client side terminal wishes to listen on trial, the user can request the trial listening sound data, and when the request for the trial listening data is transmitted from the client side terminal to the transmission server, the transmission server transmits the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal without charging the user. The transmitted trial listening sound data is stored in the storage device of the client side terminal and reproduced by the reproduction device. As a result, the user can obtain trial listening to the sound data without paying a fee, and can consider whether to purchase the formal sound data according to the result of the trial listening. It is to be noted that "not to charge" in this specification includes "not to charge or charge less than the formal voice data" in the effect of the claims.

Another characteristic aspect of the present invention is a sound data transmission system having a client terminal and a transmission server which can communicate with each other, the transmission server comprising: request determining means and data transmitting means for determining that the request from the client side terminal is a formal sound data request or a request for trial listening of sound data, the data transmitting means transmitting the formal sound data to a user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the formal sound data request, and the data transmitting means transmitting trial listening sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for trial listening of sound data. The client side terminal includes: a storage means for generating a sound based on the stored sound data to reproduce the sound data, a reproducing means for generating a sound based on the stored sound data to reproduce the sound data, and a reproduction number limiting means for limiting the number of times the sound data is reproduced by the reproducing means to a predetermined limited number of times.

This allows the delivery server to deliver the formal sound data or the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal, which can reproduce the sound data by the reproducing apparatus, according to a request from the client side terminal. In addition, the number of times the trial listening data is reproduced is limited to a predetermined limited number of times by the reproduction number limiting means.

Here, it is preferable that the delivery server may charge a predetermined fee to the user when the formal sound data is delivered (or for delivering the formal sound data), and may charge a fee less than the predetermined fee to the user when the trial listening sound data is delivered (or for delivering the trial listening sound data). Alternatively, the delivery server does not charge the user at all when delivering the audition sound data.

In this case, the client-side terminal preferably further includes data deleting means for deleting the trial listening sound data from the storage means when (and after) the trial listening sound data is reproduced by the reproducing means a predetermined limited number of times.

Still another aspect of the present invention is a sound data transmission system having a client terminal and a transmission server which can communicate with each other, the transmission server comprising: request determining means and data transmitting means for determining whether a request from the client side terminal is a formal sound data request or a request for trial listening of sound data, the data transmitting means transmitting the formal sound data to a user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal is determined to be the request for the formal sound data, the data transmitting means transmitting trial listening sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal is determined to be the request for the trial listening of sound data, the client side terminal comprising: a storage means for storing said transmitted formal sound data and said transmitted trial listening sound data, a reproducing means for generating a sound based on said stored sound data to reproduce the sound data, and a reproduction permission time limiting means for prohibiting reproduction of the trial listening sound data when a predetermined time elapses after said trial listening sound data becomes reproducible by the client side terminal data or after the trial listening sound data is reproduced by the client side terminal for the first time.

This allows the delivery server to deliver the formal sound data or the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal, which can reproduce the sound data by the reproducing apparatus, according to a request from the client side terminal. In addition, the reproduction permission time limiting means prohibits reproduction of the trial listening sound data after the trial listening sound data becomes reproducible by the client side terminal or when a predetermined time elapses after the client side terminal reproduces the trial listening sound data for the first time. In this case, the time at which the trial-listening sound data becomes reproducible by the client-side terminal includes the time at which the trial-listening sound data is transmitted from the transmission server to the client-side terminal. In addition, the delivery server may charge a predetermined fee to the user when the formal sound data is delivered, and may charge a fee lower than the predetermined fee to the user when the trial listening sound data is delivered. Alternatively, the delivery server does not charge the user at all when delivering the audition sound data.

In this case, it is preferable that the client side terminal further includes data deleting means for deleting the trial listening sound data from the storage means after the trial listening sound data becomes reproducible by the client side terminal or when a period of time elapsed after the trial listening sound data is first reproduced by the client side terminal is not shorter than a predetermined period of time.

Another characterizing aspect of the present invention is that in the system according to each of the above aspects, at least one of the formal sound data and the trial listening sound data has data added thereto so as to distinguish the formal sound data from the trial listening sound data, and the client side terminal determines whether the data to be reproduced is the trial listening sound data or the formal sound data based on the distinguishing data, and changes the reproduction manner based on the determination. Specifically, the present invention is characterized in that the trial listening sound data is sound data in which data indicating that the sound data is trial listening sound data is added to formal sound data, and the reproducing device of the client side terminal is configured in such a manner that the reproducing device reproduces the sound data by generating sound based on only a part of the sound data when the reproducing device recognizes that the data to be reproduced is the trial listening sound data by determining whether or not the data indicating the trial listening sound data exists.

Alternatively, the present invention is characterized in that in the system according to each of the above-described aspects, the regular sound data is a sound data in which data indicating that the sound data is the regular sound data is added to the trial listening sound data, and the reproduction means of the client side terminal is configured in such a manner that when the reproduction means recognizes that the data to be reproduced is the trial listening sound data by determining whether or not the data indicating the regular sound data exists, the reproduction means reproduces the sound data by generating a sound based on only a part of the sound data.

According to these features, only a part of the formal sound data is reproduced at the time of trial listening. That is, in order for the client side terminal to perform reproduction next to the reproduction of the normal sound data itself at the time of trial listening (for example, to reproduce only a part of the sound data in length or to reproduce a part of the parts if the sound data is music data composed of a plurality of parts), the transmission server side may prepare only data in which data indicating that the sound data is the normal sound data or the trial listening sound data is added to one of the normal sound data and the trial listening sound data. By this feature, the storage capacity (of the database or the like) on the side of the delivery server can be reduced. In addition, the system may be constructed in such a manner that if the user requests (purchases) the formal sound data after the trial listening, only data indicating that the sound data is the formal sound data or the trial listening sound data is deleted from the formal sound data or the trial listening sound data, so that it is not necessary to transmit the entire sound data again and the time required for communication can be reduced.

Still another feature of the present invention resides in that in the system according to each of the above aspects, the trial-listening sound data is constructed with a part of the formal sound data, so that only a part of the formal sound data can be reproduced at the time of trial listening by the client side terminal. In this case, the audition sound data may constitute only a part of the length of the regular sound data, or if the regular sound data is constructed with a plurality of parts, the audition sound data may be constructed with only a part of the plurality of parts.

Still another feature aspect of the present invention resides in that in the system according to each of the above aspects, the client side terminal is a portable communication terminal, and includes registering means constructed in such a manner that if the sound data stored in the storing means is formal sound data, the registering means registers the sound data as incoming call sound of the portable communication terminal, alarm sound, or sound data of BGM of the portable communication terminal, and if the sound data is trial listening sound data, the registering means does not register the sound data as incoming call sound of the portable communication terminal, alarm sound, or sound data of BGM of the portable communication terminal, and the reproducing means is configured to perform call generation or generate (reproduce) a response message (response phone) of the portable communication terminal as a response phone set when the client side terminal receives a call, when the portable communication terminal enters a state in which alarm sound should be generated, or when call is effected or generated (reproduced) by the portable communication terminal using the portable communication terminal, respectively (response phone set) Service) reproduces registered incoming call sound, warning sound, or sound data of BGM. In this case, the predetermined condition described above includes an input operation that the user of the portable communication terminal registers the sound data as an incoming call sound, an alarm sound, or BGM (background music).

This allows the formal sound data to be registered as the incoming call sound, the warning sound, or the BGM, while the trial listening sound data is prohibited from being registered as the incoming call sound, the warning sound, or the BGM.

In this case, when an instruction to purchase the sound data is transmitted from the portable communication terminal to the delivery server, the registering means preferably allows the trial listening sound data to be registered as the sound data of the incoming call sound, the warning sound, or the BGM of the portable communication terminal. In this case, the delivery server may charge a fee to the user of the portable communication terminal according to the purchase instruction.

Still another aspect of the present invention is a sound data transmission system having a client terminal and a transmission server which can communicate with each other, the transmission server comprising: request determining means and data transmitting means for determining whether a request from the client side terminal is a formal sound data request or a request for trial listening of sound data, the data transmitting means transmitting the formal sound data to a user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal is determined to be the request for the formal sound data, the data transmitting means transmitting (data streaming) the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal in a data streaming manner if the request from the client side terminal is determined to be the request for the trial listening of sound data, the client side terminal comprising: -storage means for storing said transmitted formal sound data, -reproduction means for generating a sound based on said stored formal sound data for reproducing the formal sound data, the reproduction means being further adapted to store part of said audition sound data transmitted in a data stream in a buffer, and to generate a sound based on said stored data (for reproduction) in the buffer each time said client terminal receives said part of said audition sound transmitted in a data stream.

In this case, the delivery server may charge the user a predetermined fee when the formal sound data is delivered, and may charge the user a fee lower than the predetermined fee when the trial listening sound data is delivered. Alternatively, the delivery server does not charge the user at all when delivering the audition sound data.

According to this configuration, the audition sound data is transmitted from the transmission server to the client terminal in a data streaming manner. In addition, each time the client side terminal receives the portion of the audition sound data transmitted by way of the data stream, the client side terminal stores the portion of audition sound data in a buffer for reproduction. This can prevent the user from listening on trial again because the listening on trial sound data is not left in the client side terminal.

It is to be noted that, by this specification, "not to charge for transmitting the audition sound data" means "not to charge or to charge a fee less than the fee for transmitting the official sound data".

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a voice data delivery system of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the structure of a portable telephone set used in the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of an incoming call tune acquisition procedure executed by the CPU of the portable telephone set according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of an incoming call tune delivery process procedure executed by the sound data delivery server according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a data flow between the portable telephone and the sound data delivery server when the user of the portable telephone obtains trial listening to the music data in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 6A is a model diagram illustrating contents displayed on the display of the portable telephone set of the present invention;

FIG. 6B is a model diagram illustrating the display of content on the display of the portable telephone set of the present invention;

FIG. 6C is a model diagram illustrating the contents displayed on the display of the portable telephone set according to the present invention;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a procedure of a trial listening music data transfer process performed by the sound data transfer server according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 8A is a structural diagram describing regular music data and trial listening music data used in the present invention;

fig. 8B is a structural diagram describing the regular music data and the trial listening music data used in the present invention;

fig. 8C is a structural diagram describing the regular music data and the trial listening music data used in the present invention;

fig. 8D is a structural diagram illustrating the regular music data and the listening trial music data used in the present invention;

fig. 8E is a structural diagram describing the regular music data and the trial listening music data used in the present invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a trial listening music data processing program executed by the CPU of the portable telephone set according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of a formal music data processing program executed by the CPU of the portable telephone according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flowchart of a procedure of a formal music data transfer process performed by the sound data transfer server according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a flowchart of a trial listening music data processing routine executed by the CPU of the portable telephone set according to embodiment 2 of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a flowchart of a timer interrupt routine executed by the CPU of the portable telephone set according to embodiment 2 of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a flowchart of a trial listening music data processing routine executed by the CPU of the portable telephone set according to embodiment 3 of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a flowchart of a trial listening music data processing routine executed by the CPU of the portable telephone set according to embodiment 4 of the present invention;

fig. 16 is a flowchart of a procedure of a trial listening music data transfer process performed by the sound data transfer server according to embodiment 4 of the present invention;

fig. 17 is a flowchart of a trial listening music data processing routine executed by the CPU of the portable telephone set according to embodiment 5 of the present invention; and

fig. 18 is a flowchart of a procedure of a trial listening music data transfer process performed by the sound data transfer server according to embodiment 5 of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of a sound data transmission system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(example 1)

Fig. 1 is a schematic system diagram of a sound data transfer system (music data transfer system, tune transfer system for incoming call) according to embodiment 1 of the present invention. The system is constructed with the internet 10, a voice data transmission server 20, a charging server 30 and a relay server 40 are connected to the internet 10, and a wireless base station 50 is connected to the relay server 40. The portable telephone 60 serving as a client side terminal is constructed so as to be able to communicate with (exchange data with) the sound data transfer server 20 via the wireless base station 50, the relay server 40 and the internet 10. Here, the internet 10 may be a communication line such as an exclusive use line (this communication line is not limited to a wire but includes a wireless line such as a satellite communication line), and the client side terminal is not limited to the portable telephone 60 but may be a mobile computer or a PDA (personal digital assistant) which is a communicable device including a computer.

The sound data transmission server 20 is configured to include a computer for transmitting the formal sound data and the trial sound data to the portable telephone 60 in accordance with a request from the portable telephone 60. The sound data transfer server 20 includes a WEB server 21, a database 22 that stores, as contents, a plurality of sound data (in this example, a plurality of regular music data serving as incoming call tunes and a plurality of trial listening music data respectively corresponding to the regular music data), a charging database 23 that stores information of charging to the user of the portable telephone 60, and a portable telephone management database 24 that stores data about the user of the portable telephone 60, including a portable telephone number, a password number, a user name, and the like. The WEB server 21 is actually a program stored in a computer, fetches necessary data from the databases 22 to 24 according to a predetermined communication protocol (for example, HTTP) to provide the data to the charging server 30 or the relay server 40, and processes the data provided from the charging server 30 or the relay server 40 according to the predetermined communication protocol to store the data in the databases 22 to 24 as necessary.

The charging server 30 is constructed to include a computer for performing charging management for the user, and is adapted to charge the user of the portable telephone 60 based on data supplied from the voice data transfer server 20 via the internet 10. Specifically, the charging server 30 is configured to perform necessary data communication with a computer of a financial institution (bank) where the user has an account (bank account) from which a charge is automatically paid when the user uses the voice data transfer service. Here, the charging server 30 may be configured to issue a bill to the user and send the bill to the user by mail. The financial institution may be a management company that the user owns the credit card. In addition, the fee may be charged by adding the fee for purchasing the sound data to the telephone fee realized by the portable telephone set 60. The charging system may be a special fee charging system in which a predetermined fee (for example, 50 yen per music) is charged every time a piece of music (sound data of a piece of music) is purchased, or a fixed fee charging system in which a predetermined basic fee allows a predetermined number of pieces of music to be purchased for a predetermined period of time (for example, ten pieces of music can be purchased in 300 yen in one month), and the number of remaining pieces of music that can be purchased for a predetermined period of time is decreased by one piece per one piece of music purchased. Alternatively, a combination system of the above-described two systems, i.e., a special fee charging system and a fixed fee charging system may be employed (for example, if the number of pieces of music purchased within a predetermined period of time does not exceed a predetermined number, a predetermined basic fee is charged, and thereafter, a predetermined fee is charged for each purchase of a piece of music).

The relay server 40 is configured to include a computer for converting data supplied from the sound data transmission server 20 via the internet 10 into a predetermined signal to be transmitted to the wireless base station 50. The radio base station 50 serves to modulate a signal supplied from the relay server 40 and transmit the modulated signal to the portable telephone 60. In addition, the wireless base station 50 serves to demodulate a signal transmitted from the portable telephone 60 to supply the demodulated signal to the relay server 40. The relay server 40 serves to convert the signal supplied from the wireless base station 50 into predetermined data and supply the converted data to the sound data transmission server 20 according to the predetermined communication protocol described above.

As shown in the block diagram of fig. 2, the portable telephone 60 includes a CPU 61, a ROM 62, a RAM 63, a nonvolatile RAM64, an external storage device 65 such as a memory card, and a communication interface 66 that allows data communication with another computer via a wire line. These devices are connected to each other via a bus and adapted to be controlled by the CPU 61. Here, the nonvolatile RAM64 may be an EEPROM.

In addition, the portable telephone 60 includes an antenna 67, a transmission/reception circuit 68 connected to the antenna 67, a modulation/demodulation circuit 69 connected to the transmission/reception circuit 68 to demodulate a received signal received by the antenna 67 and modulate a signal given by the CPU 61 control for transmission from the antenna 67, an operation panel 70 having a plurality of key type switches or the like for inputting a telephone number or other instructions, a sensing circuit 71 connected to the operation panel 70 for sensing switching of the operation panel 70, a display 72 for displaying numerical and character information, a display circuit 73 for controlling display of the display 72, a sound source circuit 74, an effect circuit 75 connected to the sound source circuit 74, and a sound system 76 connected to the effect circuit 75 and including an amplifier and a speaker. Of these devices, the modulation/demodulation circuit 69, the sensing circuit 71, the display circuit 73, the sound source circuit 74, and the effect circuit 75 are connected to each other via a bus, and are adapted to be controlled by the CPU 61. Here, the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75, and the sound system 76 constitute a reproduction apparatus together with the CPU 62, the RAM 63, and the nonvolatile RAM 64.

The CPU 61 is configured to execute programs stored in the ROM 62 and the external storage device 65 while utilizing clock information of a timer 61a connected to the CPU 61. The RAM 63 is adapted to serve as a storage device that temporarily stores data such as data necessary for the CPU 61 to execute the above-described program and received sound data. The nonvolatile RAM64 is capable of storing and holding data that has been written when a main power supply (not shown) is turned on even when the main power supply is turned off, and is adapted to supply data stored and held in the CPU 61 according to a request from the CPU 61 when the main power supply is turned on. The nonvolatile RAM64 constitutes a part of registering means for registering by the portable telephone 60 the tune of the incoming call played by the sound system 76 when the portable telephone 60 receives a call.

Next, the operation of the thus-constructed sound data transmission system will be described with reference to fig. 3 to 11.

First, a case will be described in which the exclusive user of the portable telephone 60 purchases (obtains) a desired incoming call tune (sound data, music data) after trying to listen to the tune of the incoming call. When the user operates the operation panel 70 to enter the incoming call tune acquisition mode, and the main power supply (not shown) of the portable telephone 60 is turned on, the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 (hereinafter simply referred to as "portable telephone 60") starts the process of the incoming call tune acquisition program shown in fig. 3 from step 300.

Then, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 305 to determine whether an instruction to connect the portable telephone set 60 to the sound data delivery server 20 has been given. This connection instruction is a sending operation by which the user connects the portable telephone 60 to a destination (i.e., the sound data transfer server 20) having a specific telephone number or a specific URL (uniform resource locator). If this connection instruction has been given, portable telephone set 60 determines yes at step 305 and proceeds to step 310 to carry out a process of connecting portable telephone set 60 to sound data delivery server 20 (see arrow (1) of fig. 5).

On the other hand, the sound data transfer server 20 executes the transfer process program shown in fig. 4 and monitors whether the portable telephone 60 has been connected at step 405. Therefore, when connected to the portable telephone 60, the sound data transfer server 20 determines yes in step 405 and proceeds to step 410 to transfer a request to confirm data required by the user, such as the user's name and password number, to the portable telephone 60 (see arrow (2) of fig. 5).

At this time, the portable telephone 60 has proceeded to step 315, and performs a data input process for user confirmation in step 315. Specifically, the portable telephone set 60 displays a user confirmation data requested by the sound data delivery server 20 on the display 72 to prompt the user to input the data. When the user has input the required information, the portable telephone 60 transmits the input data to the sound data transmission server 20 (see arrow (3) of fig. 5). Here, the system may be constructed in such a manner that the name, password number, etc. of the user are inputted only at the time of initial connection of user registration, the required information is automatically transmitted from the portable telephone 60 at the time of second connection, and thereafter the user input data is omitted.

In step 410, the voice data transfer server 20 having received the user confirmation data confirms whether the connected portable telephone 60 is used by the exclusive user using the data stored in the portable telephone management database 24. In this case, since the user of the portable telephone 60 is the exclusive user, the sound data transfer server 20 determines yes in step 415 and proceeds to step 420 to read out a list of music data that can be transferred from the music database 22 to the portable telephone 60 and transmit the list to the portable telephone 60 ((see arrow (4) of fig. 5)) here, if the exclusive user is not connected, the sound data transfer server 20 determines no in step 415 and proceeds to step 455 to implement a process of ending the connection with the portable telephone 60 and ends this process to return to step 400 in step 495.

On the other hand, the portable telephone set 60 is configured to monitor whether a list of music data has been received at step 320, and if the list of music data is received, the portable telephone set 60 determines yes at step 320 and proceeds to step 325 to display the received list of music on the display 72 (see screen 1 in fig. 6A). Here, regarding the music data list, the system may be constructed in such a manner that the user inputs predetermined search conditions (music genre, artist name, lyrics at the start of music, etc.) from the portable telephone 60 to transmit the search conditions to the sound data delivery server 20, so that the sound data delivery server 20 can deliver a music list containing only pieces of music satisfying the transmitted search conditions to the portable telephone 60.

The user of the portable telephone 60 operates the operation panel 70 by marking the reference display to select a desired piece of music. Fig. 6A shows a state in which the second piece of music ("fghij") has been selected, at which time the portable telephone 60 has proceeded to step 330 and is monitoring whether any piece of music has been selected from the pieces of music displayed on the display 72. If a piece of music has been selected, portable telephone 60 proceeds to step 335 to transmit data describing the selected piece of music to sound data delivery server 20 (see arrow (5) of fig. 5).

The sound data delivery server 20 monitors whether a piece of music has been selected in step 425. Therefore, when receiving data transmitted from the portable telephone set and describing the selected piece of music, the sound delivery server 20 proceeds to step 430 to transmit data requesting that the user of the selected portable telephone set 60 wish to listen on trial to the selected piece of music (listen on trial music data) or purchase the selected piece of music (formal music data) (see arrow (6) of fig. 5).

At this time, in step 340, portable telephone 60 is monitoring whether data requesting selection of trial listening or purchase has been received. Therefore, when data requesting selection of trial listening or purchase is received, portable telephone set 60 determines yes in step 340 and proceeds to step 345 to display a screen prompting the user to make a selection of the user's desire for trial listening or purchase of the selected music data (see screen 2 in fig. 6B). Next, in step 350, the portable telephone set 60 waits for selection of "trial listening" or "purchase", and when the user selects "trial listening" or "purchase" by operating the operation panel 70, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 355 to transmit the selection result to the sound data transfer server 20 (see arrow (7) of fig. 5).

In step 435, the sound data delivery server 20 monitors the reception of the selection result, so when the selection result is received, the sound data delivery server 20 proceeds to step 440 to determine whether the user of the portable telephone 60 wishes to listen to the selected piece of music on trial according to the selection result. In this case, since the user wishes to listen on trial, the sound data delivery server 20 determines yes in step 440 and proceeds to step 445 to implement the process of listening on trial to the music data. Specifically, the sound data delivery server 20 starts the procedure of the listening trial music data delivery processing program shown in detail in fig. 7 from step 700, and transmits listening trial music data corresponding to the selected music in step 705 (see arrow (8) of fig. 5).

Here, for the purpose of describing the trial listening data, fig. 8A shows the regular music data, and fig. 8B shows the trial listening music data for this embodiment. The formal sound data includes four parts and is composed of eight segments. A header with a tone, beat, etc. for each section precedes the first segment. The trial listening music data is different from the regular music data in that data indicating that this music data is trial listening music data and data indicating the number of reproduction times (the number of reproduction permission times) are written in the header in addition to the tone, beat, and the like of each part.

Referring again to fig. 3, after proceeding to the process of step 355, the portable telephone 60 proceeds to step 360, and determines whether the result of the selection made by the user is "trial listening" in step 360. In this case, since the user has selected "listening on trial" music data, the portable telephone set 60 determines yes at step 360 and proceeds to step 365 to execute the listening on trial music data processing routine shown in detail in fig. 9.

Specifically, the portable telephone set 60 starts the process from step 900 of fig. 9, and at step 905, the portable telephone set 60 receives the trial listening music data and stores the received trial listening music data in the RAM 63 of the volatile memory. Next, the portable phone 60 proceeds to step 910 to set the number of reproductions (for example, "3", "1", etc.) of the music data header on trial listening written in the counter n, and monitors in step 915 whether the user has given an instruction to reproduce the music data on trial listening (instruction for trial listening).

Now, for the purpose of description, assuming that the user has issued an instruction to reproduce the trial listening music data, the portable telephone set 60 determines yes in step 915, proceeds to step 920 to decrement the value of the counter n by "1", and reproduces the trial listening music data using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75, and the sound system 76 in step 925. This allows the user to reproduce the transmitted trial listening sound data using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75 and the sound system 76 of the user's own portable telephone 60 and determine whether to purchase the regular music data based on the reproduction result.

Then, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 930 to determine whether the value of the counter n is "0", and if the value of the counter n is not "0", the portable telephone set 60 determines "no" at step 930 to return to step 915. This allows portable telephone set 60 to proceed to step 920 to decrement the counter n value every time a reproduction instruction is given, and to generate sound based on the trial listening music data to reproduce the data at step 925. Therefore, when the number of reproductions of the counter n has been set in step 910 before the trial listening music data is reproduced, the value of the counter n becomes "0", so that, in step 930, the portable telephone set 60 determines "yes", and proceeds to step 970 to delete the trial listening music data from the RAM 63, and then proceeds to step 975 to notify the user by displaying on the display 72 the content of the meaning of the trial listening music data having been deleted from the RAM 63 and making an alarm sound with the sound system 76. Thereafter, the portable telephone set 60 returns to step 395 of fig. 3 via step 995, and ends the incoming call tune acquisition procedure. Here, the above-mentioned steps 910 to 930 correspond to reproduction number limiting means for limiting the number of times the trial listening music data is reproduced, and the step 970 corresponds to data deleting means.

Next, a further description will be provided assuming that no reproduction instruction is given at the time of the determination at the above-described step 915 of fig. 5. In this case, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 935 to determine whether the user has given an instruction to store (register) the trial listening music data as an incoming call tune in the nonvolatile RAM 64. If it is determined in step 935 that the registration instruction has not been given, the portable telephone set 60 returns to step 915 to determine whether or not the reproduction instruction is given again. It is to be noted that when the portable telephone set 60 receives a call, the tune of the incoming call is a piece of music played as a paging sound (i.e., a ringing tone). In addition, the incoming call tune described for the explanation herein may be replaced with an alarm sound generated when the portable telephone 60 satisfies a predetermined condition (e.g., an alarm sound generated when a set time is reached), BGM used when the portable telephone 60 realizes a call or for answering a response message of the telephone, or an additional music data file that transmits an email to another portable telephone, another personal computer, or the like.

If the registration instruction has been given at the time of determination at the above-mentioned step 935, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 940 to notify the user by displaying on the display 72 the content that the trial listening music data cannot be registered as meaning of the incoming call tune of the portable telephone set 60 and generating a specific warning sound by the sound system 76. Next, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 945 to display a screen for confirming whether the user wishes to purchase the formal music data corresponding to the trial listening music data (see screen 3 of fig. 6C).

The portable phone set 60 waits for an instruction to "purchase" or "not purchase" the regular music data in step 950, and if the instruction has been given, the portable phone set 60 proceeds to step 955 to determine whether the instruction is an instruction to purchase the regular music data. If the given instruction is a purchase instruction, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 960 to delete the data specific to the trial listening music data written in the header of the trial listening music data, i.e., the data indicating that the music data is the trial listening music data and the data indicating the number of reproductions, thereby changing the trial listening music data to the regular music data. The portable phone 60 then proceeds to step 965 to transmit data indicating that the user wishes to purchase the regular music data to the sound data delivery server 20 (see arrow (9) of fig. 5). Thereafter, in order to perform the formal music data processing shown in fig. 10, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1010 to execute the later-mentioned process of registering purchase data.

On the other hand, after the sound data delivery server 20 has delivered the trial listening music data at the above-described step 705, the sound data delivery server 20 monitors at step 710 whether an instruction to purchase the formal music data has been received. Therefore, when the sound data delivery server 20 receives data indicating that the user wishes to purchase the formal music data, the sound data delivery server 20 determines yes in step 710, and proceeds to step 715 to determine whether the instruction is for purchase in step 715. In this case, the sound data delivery server 20 determines yes in step 715, and proceeds to step 1110 to perform a charging process in order to perform the formal music data delivery processing procedure shown in fig. 11. That is, the sound data delivery server 20 writes data with this meaning and the user who has purchased the music data into the charging database 23 at step 1110, and at a predetermined timing, the sound data delivery server 20 transmits data required for specifying the user, such as a telephone number or name and data on a fee, to the charging server 30 (see arrow (10) of fig. 5).

Based on this data, the charging server 30 executes a charging process required to extract a fee from the bank account of the user of the portable telephone 60. Thereafter, the sound data transfer server 20 proceeds to step 455 of fig. 4 to end the connection with the portable telephone 60 via step 1195, and then proceeds to step 495 to end this transfer processing procedure.

In addition, the portable telephone set 60, which has proceeded to step 1010 of fig. 10, searches for data having the earliest registered date and time from among the plurality of music data registered in the incoming call tune register of the nonvolatile RAM64 in step 1010, and deletes the data. Subsequently, the portable phone 60 proceeds to step 1015 to register the formal music data (including the data that has been changed from the trial listening music data to the formal music data) purchased now and the current date and time in the area where the deleted data is registered, and thereafter proceeds to step 395 of fig. 3 via step 1095. This allows the formal music data purchased now to become a registered music data that can be selected by the user of the portable telephone 60 to reproduce a tune when the portable telephone 60 receives a call.

Therefore, in processing the trial listening music data, the portable telephone set 60 first stores the received trial listening music data in the RAM 63, and sets the number of times of reproduction in the counter n at step 910. Then, the portable telephone set 60 monitors whether there is a reproduction instruction at step 915, and if the reproduction instruction has been given, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 920 to reproduce the trial listening music data. On the other hand, if there is no reproduction instruction, the portable telephone set 60 monitors whether there is a registration instruction, and if the registration instruction has been given, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 940 to notify the user by displaying on the display 72 a content with the meaning that the trial listening music data cannot be registered and emitting an alarm sound from the sound system 76. Thereafter, the portable telephone set 60 returns to step 915 again to monitor whether or not there is a reproduction instruction.

Next, a case will be described where the user has performed the operation of purchasing the regular music data while performing step 350 of fig. 3, that is, the user wishes to purchase the regular music data which has been transmitted from the portable telephone 60 to the sound data delivery server 20 at step 355. In this case, the portable telephone 60 and the sound data delivery server 20 perform the regular music data processing shown in fig. 10 and 11, respectively.

That is, if the sound data transfer server 20 determines in step 440 of fig. 4 that the request from the portable telephone 60 is not a request to transfer trial listening music data but a request to transfer regular music data, the sound data transfer server 20 proceeds to step 450 to execute a regular music data transfer processing procedure. Specifically, the process starting at step 1100 of fig. 11 is started, and the sound data transmission server 20 reads out the regular music data corresponding to the selected music from the sound data database 22 and transmits the regular music data to the portable telephone set 60 at step 1105. Thereafter, the sound data delivery server 20 performs the charging process at step 1110 described above and returns to step 455 of fig. 4 via step 1195.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 360 of fig. 3 that the user wishes to purchase the regular music data, portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 370 to start the regular music data processing program procedure shown in fig. 10 starting from step 1000, and in subsequent step 1005, portable telephone set 60 receives the regular music data to store the regular music data to RAM 63. Thereafter, at the above step 1010, the portable telephone set 60 searches for music data having the earliest registered date and time from among the plurality of music data stored in the nonvolatile RAM64 at step 1010, and deletes the data. Subsequently, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1015 to register the formal music data received in step 1005 in the area where the deleted data is registered and the current date and time, and thereafter proceeds to step 395 of fig. 3 via step 1095. This allows the formal music data purchased now to become a registered music data that can be selected by the user of the portable telephone 60 to reproduce a tune when the portable telephone 60 receives a call. Here, step 1010 may be constructed in such a manner that the user can specify music data to be deleted in place of deleting data having the earliest registered date and time among the plurality of registered music data.

As described above, according to embodiment 1, the trial listening music data is transferred to the portable telephone 60 without charge and can be reproduced in the portable telephone 60 a predetermined number of times, thereby providing a service that satisfies the user while effectively protecting the copyright. Here, the above-mentioned step 440 of fig. 4 constitutes determination means for determining whether the request from the portable telephone 60 is a request for regular music data or a request for trial listening music data, and the steps 440, 445 and 450 constitute data transfer means for transferring data according to the above-mentioned request. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the number of times of permitted reproduction is written in the header of the music data; but not limited thereto, the system may be constructed in such a manner that data having the number of reproductions allowed to be recorded is received together with the above music data regardless of the music data, and a process similar to the above-described process may be performed according to the received data regarding the number of reproductions allowed. Note that if the sound data delivery server 20 determines "no" in step 715, it proceeds to step 455 of fig. 4 to end the connection with the portable telephone 60 via step 795. It is also to be noted that the portable telephone set 60 transmits data indicating that the user does not want to purchase the regular music data to the sound data transfer server 20 in a step between step 970 and step 975, the sound data transfer server 20 determines yes in step 710 and no in step 715, and proceeds to step 455 of fig. 4 via step 795 to end the connection with the portable telephone set 60.

(example 2)

Next, embodiment 2 of the sound data transmission system according to the present invention will be described. Embodiment 2 differs from embodiment 1 only in that the trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 12 and 13 is executed by the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 instead of the trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 9, and in that the reproduction permission time is written in the head of the trial listening music data instead of the number of reproductions. Therefore, differences from embodiment 1 will be described hereinafter with reference to fig. 12 and 13.

In embodiment 2, when the user operates the operation panel 70 of the portable telephone 60 to enter the incoming call tune obtaining mode, the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 (hereinafter simply referred to as "portable telephone 60") executes the program shown in fig. 3. Therefore, when the user purchases a desired incoming call tune after listening on trial to the tune, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 365 to execute the listening on trial music data processing program shown in fig. 12.

Specifically, the procedure is started from step 1200 of fig. 12, and the portable telephone set 60 receives the trial listening music data and stores the received trial listening music data in the RAM 63 at step 1205. Like embodiment 1, the listening trial music data is transmitted from the sound data delivery server 20, and is the same as the regular music data shown in fig. 8A in that the music data includes four parts and is constituted of first to eighth pieces, and in that a header having a tone, a beat, and the like of each part is located before the first piece as shown in fig. 8B. On the other hand, the listening trial music data is different from the regular music data in that data (corresponding to reproduction permission time) representing an initial value TS of a timer T mentioned later is written in the header in addition to the tone, beat, and the like of each part.

Referring back to fig. 12, the portable phone 60 proceeds to step 1210 to set the value of the timer T to the timer initial time TS (e.g., 1 minute) written in the header of the listening trial music data, and determines whether the value of the timer T is less than or equal to "0" in step 1215.

As shown in fig. 13, the executed timer interrupt handler changes the value of the timer T every time a predetermined period of time elapses. Specifically, when the interrupt process is started, (the CPU 61 of) the portable telephone 60 starts the process from step 1300, decreases the value of the timer T by a predetermined positive value α in step 1305, and proceeds to step 1395 to end this interrupt processing routine. This procedure allows the value of the timer T to be decreased by a predetermined value α each time a predetermined period of time elapses.

Referring back to fig. 12, since the current time is after the initial value TS given to the timer T, the portable telephone 60 determines "no" in step 1215, and proceeds to step 1220 to determine whether there is an instruction (instruction for trial listening) for the user to reproduce the trial listening music data. If the user has instructed reproduction of the trial listening music data, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1225 to reproduce the trial listening music data using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75 and the sound system 76. Through this process, the user can reproduce the transmitted trial listening sound data using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75, and the sound system 76 of the user's own portable telephone 60, and can determine whether to purchase the formal music data according to the reproduction result. Thereafter, the portable telephone 60 returns to step 1215.

On the other hand, if there is no reproduction instruction while the above-described step 1220 is being performed, the portable telephone set 60 determines no in step 1220, and proceeds to step 1230 to determine whether the user has given an instruction to store (register) the trial listening music data as an incoming call tune in the nonvolatile RAM 64. If no registration instruction exists as determined in step 1230, portable telephone 60 returns to step 1215.

Further, it is determined in the above-mentioned step 1230 that there is a registration instruction at the time, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1235 to notify the user by displaying on the display a content with the meaning that the trial listening music data cannot be registered as the incoming call tune of the portable telephone set 60 and that the formal music data must be purchased for registration and generating a specific warning sound from the sound system 76, and thereafter returns to step 1215.

When this operation is repeatedly performed, the value of the timer T is gradually decreased when a predetermined period of time elapses, and the value of the timer T becomes equal to or less than "0". Thus, the portable telephone 60 determines yes in step 1215, proceeds to step 1240 to delete the trial listening music data from the RAM 63, and proceeds to step 1245 to notify the user by displaying on the display 72 the content with the meaning that the trial listening music data has been deleted from the RAM 63 and making a warning sound with the sound system 76. Subsequently, the portable telephone set 60 returns to step 395 of fig. 3 via step 1295 and ends the incoming call tune acquisition mode.

As described above, according to embodiment 2, the trial listening music data is transferred to the telephone set 60 without charge and can be reproduced in the portable telephone set 60 until a predetermined period of time elapses, thereby providing a service that satisfies the user while effectively protecting the copyright. Here, the above-mentioned steps 1210, 1215, 1240 and 1245 constitute reproduction permission time limiting means for prohibiting reproduction of the trial listening music data after the elapse of the predetermined period of time, and also constitute data deleting means for deleting the trial listening music data from the RAM 63 serving as the storage means after the elapse of the predetermined period of time.

Here, in embodiment 2 described above, the initial value TS is set in the timer T when the portable telephone 60 receives the music data on trial listening and stores the data in the RAM 63, and when a period of time elapses, that is, the value of the timer T is equal to or less than "0", the music data on trial listening is deleted from the RAM 63. In other words, in the above-described embodiment 2, the time count is started from the point of time when the portable telephone 60 receives the trial listening music data and stores the data in the RAM 63 (i.e., the point of time when the trial listening music data becomes reproducible), and after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the point of time, the trial listening music data is deleted from the RAM 63. However, the time point at which the timer time count is started may be set at the time point when the reproduction of the trial listening music data is performed for the first time in step 1225. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the timing at which reproduction of the trial listening music data is prohibited is the same as the timing at which the trial listening music data is deleted; however, the system may be constructed in such a manner that the trial listening music data is deleted after reproduction of the trial listening music data is prohibited. In other words, the system may be configured in such a manner that the trial listening music data is deleted after a lapse of a period of time not shorter than a period of time from the time count of the timer until reproduction of the trial listening music data is prohibited.

In addition, in embodiment 2, when the user wishes to register the trial listening music data as an incoming call tune in the nonvolatile RAM64, the portable telephone set 60 notifies only that the trial listening music data cannot be registered (step 1235); however, as in embodiment 1, the user may be prompted to purchase formal music data, and when the user gives a purchase instruction, data specific to the trial listening music data (data indicating that the music data is trial listening music data and reproduction permission time) is deleted from the trial listening music data header to convert the trial listening music data into formal music data for posting as an incoming call tune in the nonvolatile RAM64 (or for marking registerable data), and the sound data delivery server 20 performs charging for the user. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the reproduction permission time is written in the header of the music data; but not limited thereto, the system may be constructed in such a manner that data having a reproduction-permitted recording time is received together with the above music data independently of the music data, and a process similar to the above-described process may be performed according to the received data about the reproduction-permitted time.

(example 3)

Next, embodiment 3 of the sound data transmission system according to the present invention will be described. Embodiment 3 is different from embodiment 1 in that a trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 14 is executed by the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 instead of the trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 9, and in that only data indicating that the music data is trial listening music data is written in the header of the trial listening music data in addition to data in which the header of the main music data is written. Therefore, differences from embodiment 1 will be described hereinafter with reference to fig. 14.

In embodiment 3, when the user operates the operation panel 70 of the portable telephone 60 to enter the incoming call tune obtaining mode, the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 (hereinafter simply referred to as "portable telephone 60") executes the program shown in fig. 3. Therefore, when the user wants to purchase a desired incoming call tune after listening on trial to the tune, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 365 to execute the listening on trial music data processing program shown in fig. 14.

Specifically, starting the process from step 1400 of fig. 14, the portable telephone set 60 receives the trial listening music data and stores the received trial listening music data in the RAM 63 at step 1405. The listening trial music data is transmitted from the sound data delivery server 20, and is the same as the regular music data shown in fig. 8A except that data indicating that the music data is the listening trial music data is written in the header of the listening trial music data as shown in fig. 8C.

Then, the portable telephone 60 proceeds to step 1410 to determine whether there is an instruction of the user to reproduce the trial listening music data (instruction for trial listening). If the user has instructed reproduction of the trial listening music data, the portable telephone 60 proceeds to step 1415 to reproduce only part of the trial listening music data or a part of the section of the trial listening music data such as the first section to the fourth section using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75 and the sound system 76. More specifically, the portable telephone 60 determines in step 1415 that the music data to be reproduced stored in the RAM 63 is regular music data or trial music data based on the data written in the header of the music data. In this case, the music data stored in the RAM 63 is obtained in the previous step 1405 and is the trial listening music data, and therefore the portable telephone set 60 partially reproduces the music data in step 1415.

Through this process, the user can reproduce the transmitted trial listening sound data, although only partially, using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75 and the sound system 76 of the user's own portable telephone 60, and can determine whether or not to purchase the formal music data based on the reproduction result. Thereafter, the portable telephone 60 returns to step 1410.

On the other hand, if there is no reproduction instruction at the time of execution of step 1410, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1420 to determine whether the user has given an instruction to store (register) the trial listening music data in the nonvolatile RAM64 as an incoming call tune. If it is determined in step 1420 that there is no registration instruction, portable telephone set 60 returns to step 1410 to determine again whether there is a reproduction instruction.

In addition, if there is a registration instruction at the time of determination at step 1420 described above, mobile phone 60 proceeds to step 1425 to notify the user by displaying on the display a content in which the trial listening music data cannot be registered as meaning of the incoming call tune of mobile phone 60 and generating a specific warning sound from sound system 76. Then, the portable phone 60 proceeds to step 1430 to display a screen for confirming whether the user wishes to purchase the formal music data corresponding to the trial listening music data (see fig. 6C at screen 3).

Then, the portable telephone set 60 waits for an instruction to "purchase" or "not purchase" the regular music data at step 1435, and if the instruction has been given, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1440 to determine whether the instruction is an instruction to purchase the regular music data. If the given instruction is a purchase instruction, portable phone 60 proceeds to step 1445 to delete the data specific to the trial listening music data written in the header of the trial listening music data, that is, the data indicating that the music data is the trial listening music data and the data indicating the number of reproductions, thereby changing the trial listening music data to the regular music data. The portable phone 60 then proceeds to step 1450 to transmit data indicating that the user wishes to purchase the regular music data to the sound data delivery server 20. Thereafter, in order to realize the formal music data processing shown in fig. 10, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1010 to execute the above-described process of registering purchase data. Here, in this case, the sound data delivery server 20 executes step 710 of the trial listening music data delivery processing program of fig. 7 in the same manner as in embodiment 1. Therefore, when the sound data delivery server 20 receives the purchase instruction described above, the sound data delivery server 20 determines yes in steps 710 and 715, and proceeds to step 1110 of fig. 11 to implement the charging process for the user of the portable telephone 60.

As described above, according to embodiment 3, the same trial listening music data as the regular music data is transferred to the portable telephone 60 as music data necessary for generating a sound without charge, and in the portable telephone 60, the trial listening music data is partially reproduced, thereby providing a service that can satisfy the user while effectively protecting the copyright.

Here, in embodiment 3, data indicating that music data is trial listening music data is written in the header of the trial listening music data; however, in addition to this, or instead of this, the system may be constructed in such a manner that data indicating that the music data is the regular music data is written in the header of the regular music data. In this case, the system may be configured in such a manner that when the portable telephone set 60 determines that there is a reproduction instruction at step 1410, the portable telephone set 60 determines whether the music data stored in the RAM 63 is trial listening music data at step 1415 based on whether there is data representing regular music data. In addition, if the data representing the music data on trial is written in the header of the music data on trial, the portable telephone set 60 is configured to delete the data representing the music data on trial from the header of the music data stored in the RAM 63 and write the data representing that the music data is the regular music data in the header in step 1445. Here, as described above, the data representing the trial listening data is written in the header of the music data; but not limited thereto, the system may be constructed in such a manner that data indicating that the music data is for trial listening is received together with the music data independently of the music data, and a process similar to the above-described process may be performed based on the data indicating that the music data is for trial listening. In addition, in embodiment 3, the system may also be configured in such a manner that after reproduction is effected a predetermined number of times or a predetermined period of time has elapsed as in embodiment 1 or 2, the trial listening music data is deleted, in which case the user is prompted to purchase the regular music data.

(example 4)

Next, embodiment 4 of the sound data transmission system according to the present invention will be described. Embodiment 4 is different from embodiment 1 in that the trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 15 is executed by the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 instead of the trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 9, in that the sound data transfer server 20 executes the trial listening music data transfer processing program shown in fig. 16 instead of the trial listening music data transfer processing program shown in fig. 7, and in that the trial listening data itself is composed of a part of the regular music data instead of writing the number of reproductions in the header of the trial listening music data. Therefore, differences from embodiment 1 will be described hereinafter with reference to fig. 15 and 16.

In embodiment 4, when the user operates the operation panel 70 of the portable telephone 60 to enter the incoming call tune obtaining mode, the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 (hereinafter simply referred to as "portable telephone 60") executes the program shown in fig. 3. Therefore, when the user purchases a desired incoming call tune after listening on trial to the tune, the portable telephone set 60 transmits a request for transfer of specified listening on trial music data to the sound data transfer server 20 in steps 335, 355 and proceeds to step 365 to execute the listening on trial music data processing program shown in fig. 15.

At this time, the sound data delivery server 20 performs step 440 of fig. 4. Therefore, upon receiving the request for transfer of the specific trial listening music data from the portable telephone 60, the sound data transfer server 20 determines yes in step 440, and proceeds to step 445 to execute the trial listening music data transfer processing routine shown in fig. 16. Specifically, the sound data delivery server 20 starts the process from step 1600 and proceeds to step 1605 to perform delivery of the trial listening music data corresponding to the music specified (selected) by the user.

On the other hand, the portable telephone set 60 starts the process from step 1500 of fig. 15, receives the trial listening music data in step 1505 and stores the received trial listening music data in the RAM 63. In this example, as shown in fig. 8A, the regular music data includes four parts and is constituted of first to eighth pieces; as shown in fig. 8D, the above-mentioned trial listening music data includes four parts identical to those of the regular music data, and is constituted of the first to fourth pieces. In other words, the trial listening music data is constituted by a part of the length of the main music data (data obtained by taking out a part from the section of the main music data).

Then, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1510 to determine whether there is an instruction of the user to reproduce the music data for trial listening (instruction for trial listening). If the user has instructed reproduction of the trial listening music data, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1515 to reproduce the trial listening music data using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75 and the sound system 76. In this case, since the trial listening music data is only a part of the regular music data, the reproduced music is also a part of the regular music. However, the user can reproduce a part of the music data that the user is considering purchasing by using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75 and the sound system 76 of the user's own portable telephone 60, so that the user can appropriately determine whether to purchase the regular music data based on the reproduction result. Thereafter, the portable telephone set 60 returns to step 1510 to monitor again whether or not there is a reproduction instruction.

On the other hand, if there is no reproduction instruction at the time of execution of step 1510, portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1520 to determine whether or not the user has given an instruction to store (register) the trial listening music data in nonvolatile RAM64 as an incoming call tune. If it is determined in step 1520 that there is no registration instruction, portable telephone set 60 returns to step 1510 to determine again whether there is a reproduction instruction.

In addition, if there is a registration instruction at the time of determination at the above-described step 1520, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1525 to notify the user by displaying on the display a content in which the trial listening music data cannot be registered as meaning of the incoming call tune of the portable telephone set 60 and generating a specific warning sound from the sound system 76. The portable phone 60 then proceeds to step 1530 to display a screen for confirming whether the user wishes to purchase the formal music data corresponding to the trial listening music data (see fig. 6C at screen 3).

Then, portable phone 60 waits for an instruction to "purchase" or "not purchase" regular music data in step 1535, and if the instruction has been given, portable phone 60 proceeds to step 1540 to determine whether the instruction is an instruction to purchase regular music data. If the given instruction is a purchase instruction, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1545 to transmit an instruction (request) to the sound data delivery server 20 that the user purchases the regular music data.

At this time, since the sound data delivery server 20 executes step 1610 of the trial listening music data delivery processing program of fig. 16, the sound data delivery server 20 determines yes at step 1610 to proceed to step 1615, and also determines yes at step 1615 to proceed to step 1105 of the regular music data delivery processing program shown in fig. 11, in which the sound data delivery server 20 transmits regular music data of the selected music to the portable telephone 60, and the above-described charging process is executed at subsequent step 1110.

Then, the portable telephone set 60 receives the regular music data at step 1550 and proceeds from step 1010 to the regular music data processing shown in fig. 10 to execute the above-described process of registering purchase data.

(modification of embodiment 4)

In embodiment 4 described above, the regular music data includes four parts and is constituted by the first to eighth pieces, and the trial listening music data includes four parts of the first to fourth pieces. In contrast, in the modification of embodiment 4, the regular music data includes four parts and is constituted by the first to eighth pieces, and as shown in fig. 8E, the trial listening music data is constituted by the first to eighth pieces but has only one part of the four parts of the regular music data. Other features are the same as those of embodiment 4. Here, it should be understood that the trial listening music data may be configured to have a smaller number of parts than the number of parts constituting the formal music data. That is, the trial listening music data need not be structured to have only one portion as described above.

When the portable telephone set 60 reproduces the trial listening music data at step 1515, this allows reproduction of only one of the parts constituting the regular music data, although having the same length as the regular music data, the user can consider whether or not to purchase the regular music data based on the result of this reproduction. It is to be noted that, as in the above-described embodiment 4, the trial listening music data cannot be registered as the incoming call tune.

As described above, according to embodiment 4 and its modification, trial listening music data constituting a part of regular music data is transmitted to the portable telephone set 60 without charge and can be reproduced in the portable telephone set 60, thereby providing a service which can satisfy a user while effectively protecting copyright.

(example 5)

Next, embodiment 5 of the sound data transmission system according to the present invention will be described. Embodiment 5 is different from embodiment 1 in that the trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 17 is executed by the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 instead of the trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 9; in that the sound data delivery server 20 executes the trial listening music data delivery processing program shown in fig. 18 instead of the trial listening music data delivery processing program shown in fig. 7; also, the audition data is identical to the regular music data, but is transmitted to the portable telephone 60 in a data stream. Therefore, differences from embodiment 1 will be described hereinafter with reference to fig. 17 and 18.

In embodiment 5, when the user operates the operation panel 70 of the portable telephone 60 to enter the incoming call tune obtaining mode, the CPU 61 of the portable telephone 60 (hereinafter simply referred to as "portable telephone 60") executes the program shown in fig. 3. Therefore, when the user purchases a desired incoming call tune after listening on trial to the tune, the portable telephone set 60 transmits data specifying the desired music to the sound data delivery server 20 at step 335, and transmits data indicating that the user wishes to listen on trial to the sound data delivery server 20 at step 355. Thereafter, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 365 to execute the trial listening music data processing program shown in fig. 17.

At this time, the sound data transfer server 20 starts the trial listening music data transfer process of fig. 18 from step 1800, and monitors whether or not the timing of generating sound based on the trial listening music data (in this embodiment, since the trial listening music data is the same as the regular music data, these two data will be simply referred to as music data hereinafter) has arrived at step 1805.

Through this procedure, when the timing to generate a sound based on music data is reached, the sound data delivery server 20 determines yes at step 1805 and proceeds to step 1810 to deliver a sound generation matter (information necessary for the portable telephone 60 to generate a new sound), after which it is determined at step 1815 whether the music data has ended. If the music data is not finished, the sound data delivery server 20 determines "no" in step 1815, and returns to step 1805 to wait for the arrival of the next sound generation timing. Through the above-described procedure, each time the sound generation timing arrives, the sound data delivery server 20 transmits the sound generation event to the portable telephone 60 (by packet communication) until the music data ends. In other words, the sound data delivery server 20 delivers the music data to the portable telephone 60 in a data stream. In addition, when the music data to be transferred ends, the sound data transfer server 20 determines yes in step and proceeds to step 1820 to transmit data indicating that the music data has ended to the portable telephone 60.

On the other hand, in step 1705 of fig. 17, mobile phone 60 temporarily stores the sound generation item transmitted from sound data transmission server 20 in a buffer (which may be RAM 63), and generates sound based on the content stored in the buffer in step 1710. Then, the portable telephone 60 immediately deletes the content of the buffer in step 1715, and proceeds to step 1720 to determine whether the music data has ended, based on whether there is data indicating that the music data has ended, which is transmitted from the sound data transmission server 20. If the music data has not ended, the portable telephone 60 determines "no" in step 1720, and if the music data has ended, the portable telephone 60 determines "yes" in step 1720 to proceed to step 1725.

As a result, the portable telephone set 60 successively reproduces music streamed from the sound data delivery server 20 by using the sound source circuit 74, the effect circuit 75, and the sound system 76. Therefore, the user can confirm how the user's own portable telephone 60 actually reproduces the music data, and can correctly determine whether or not the formal music data should be purchased according to the reproduction result.

When the music data transferred in the data streaming manner ends, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1725 to display a screen for confirming whether the user wishes to purchase the selected music data (see screen 3 of fig. 6C). Then, portable telephone set 60 waits for an instruction to "purchase" or "not purchase" the formal music data at step 1730, and if the instruction has been given by the user, portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1735 to determine whether the instruction is an instruction to purchase the formal music data. If the given instruction is a purchase instruction, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds to step 1740 to transmit an instruction (request) to the sound data delivery server 20 that the user purchased the formal music data, and thereafter returns to step 395 of fig. 3 via step 1795. If the above-mentioned instruction is not an instruction to purchase the official music data, the portable telephone set 60 proceeds directly from step 1735 to step 1795 and returns to step 395 of fig. 3.

At this time, the sound data delivery server 20 executes step 1825 of the trial listening music data delivery processing program of fig. 18. For this reason, if the above-mentioned instruction from the portable telephone 60 is a purchase instruction, the sound data transfer server 20 determines yes in step 1825 to proceed to step 1830, and also determines yes in step 1830 to proceed to step 1105 of the formal music data transfer processing routine shown in fig. 11, in which the sound data transfer server 20 transmits the formal music data of the music selected in step 1105 to the portable telephone 60, and performs the above-mentioned charging process in subsequent step 1110.

On the other hand, if the above-mentioned instruction from portable telephone 60 is not a purchase instruction, sound data transmission server 20 determines "yes" in step 1825, and thereafter determines "no" in step 1830 to proceed from step 445 shown in fig. 4 and onward via step 1835.

Therefore, in embodiment 5, as with the other embodiments, the sound data transfer server 20 stores the regular music data transferred to the portable telephone 60 in the RAM 63 of the portable telephone 60 all at once according to the request of the portable telephone 60, and thereafter registers as the incoming call tune in the nonvolatile RAM 64. In contrast, with respect to the trial listening music data, every time a sound production event arrives, data necessary for the sound production event is sequentially transmitted from the sound data transmission server 20 to the portable telephone set 60, so that the portable telephone set 60 produces a sound every time data is transmitted. At this time, since the mobile phone 60 does not hold the trial listening music data in the RAM 63, the trial listening music data is automatically erased (deleted) from the mobile phone 60, and thus cannot be registered in the nonvolatile RAM64 as an incoming call tune.

As described above, according to embodiment 5, the trial listening music data is transmitted to the portable telephone 60 in a data streaming manner without charge, and reproduced in the portable telephone 60 one after another (each time a sound generation event arrives for each transmission), and the transmitted trial listening music data is deleted from the portable telephone 60, thereby providing a service that can satisfy the user while effectively protecting the copyright. It is to be noted that the music data for trial listening transmitted in the data streaming manner in embodiment 5 may be a part of the regular music data in embodiment 4. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, in transmitting the sound generation items in a data streaming manner, the sound data transmission server 20 transmits packet data for each sound generation item, but is not limited to this, and the system may be configured in such a manner that a plurality of sound generation items whose sound generation times are close to each other are grouped. The packet data may include data on sound generation time differences for each matter. In this case, a plurality of matters received by the portable telephone 60 included in one packet are sequentially reproduced based on the data on the sound generation time difference.

As described above, in each embodiment according to the present invention, a transfer request of trial listening music data or regular music data regarding music that a user wishes to obtain is transferred from the portable telephone 60 to the sound data transfer server 20, so that the sound data transfer server 20 transmits music data corresponding to the request to the portable telephone 60. In addition, the sound data transfer server 20 charges the user of the mobile phone 60 located at the transfer destination for transferring the regular music data, but does not charge the user for transferring the trial listening music data. This allows the user to obtain trial listening music data corresponding to the music data the user considers purchasing the music data for free and to actually reproduce (produce sound based on the trial listening music data) the trial listening music data with the user's own portable telephone 60. As a result, the service provided by the voice data transmission system is satisfied by the user of the portable telephone.

Also, in each of the above-described embodiments, as long as an instruction to purchase music data is transmitted, the transmitted music data may be registered in the nonvolatile RAM64 as an incoming call tune. This can effectively protect the copyright of the transferred music data. It is to be noted that, in each of the above-described embodiments, the user of the portable telephone 60 can select and set music data for producing a sound upon receiving a call from among a plurality of music data registered as incoming call tunes in the nonvolatile RAM 64.

It is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the formal music data is automatically registered in the nonvolatile RAM64 as an incoming call tune at the same time as the formal music data is purchased. However, after the formal music data is obtained (after the formal music data is stored in the RAM 63), when the registration instruction is further provided by the user, the formal music data may be registered in the nonvolatile RAM64 as an incoming call tune.

Also, in each of the above-described embodiments, the delivery server does not charge the user a fee when delivering the audition sound data. However, the system may be constructed in such a manner that the sound data delivery server 20 charges less than the fee for delivering the regular music data when delivering the trial listening music data. For example, in a proprietary charging system, the trial listening music data has a price of half of the regular music data, or in a fixed charging system, the trial listening music data may be calculated as 0.5 music piece of the regular music data.

Claims

1. A voice data transmission system has a client terminal and a transmission server which can communicate with each other,

the delivery server includes:

request determining means for determining that the request from the client side terminal is a request for formal sound data or a request for audition of sound data; and

data transfer means for transferring the formal sound data to the client side terminal while the charging server charges the user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the formal sound data, and for transferring the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal without the charging server charging the user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the trial listening sound data;

the client side terminal includes:

a storage device for storing the transmitted formal sound data and the transmitted trial listening sound data; and

and a reproducing means for generating sound based on the stored sound data to reproduce the sound data.

2. The voice data transmission system according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the trial listening sound data is data in which data indicating that the sound data is trial listening sound data is added to the normal sound data; and

the reproduction means of the client side terminal reproduces the trial listening sound data by generating sound based on only a part of the trial listening sound data when the reproduction means confirms that the data to be reproduced is the trial listening sound data by determining whether or not data representing the trial listening sound data exists.

3. The sound data transmission system according to claim 1, wherein said reproduction means of the client side terminal comprises:

means for reproducing the audition sound data by generating sound based on only a part of the audition sound data when the reproducing means confirms that the data to be reproduced is the audition sound data; and

and a device for reproducing the formal sound data, which is used for reproducing the formal sound data by generating sound according to all the formal sound data when the reproducing device confirms that the data to be reproduced is the formal sound data.

4. The sound data transmission system according to claim 3, wherein said reproduction means of the client side terminal comprises: and means for reproducing the trial listening sound data by generating a sound based on only a partial length of the trial listening sound data when the reproducing means confirms that the data to be reproduced is the trial listening sound data.

5. The sound data transmission system according to claim 3, wherein said reproduction means of the client side terminal comprises: and means for reproducing the trial listening sound data by generating sound based on only a part of the plurality of parts constituting the trial listening sound data when the reproducing means confirms that the data to be reproduced is the trial listening sound data.

6. The voice data transmission system according to claim 1, characterized in that: the audition sound data is constructed using a portion of the formal sound data.

7. The voice data transmission system according to claim 6, wherein: the official data is configured to have a plurality of portions, and the audition sound data is configured to have a part of the plurality of portions.

8. The voice data transmission system according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the client side terminal is a portable communication terminal and includes a register device including: means for registering the sound data stored in the storage means as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alarm sound, or background music of the portable communication terminal when the sound data is formal sound data; and means for not registering the sound data as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alert sound or background music of the portable communication terminal when the sound data is trial listening sound data; and

the reproduction means is configured to reproduce the registered sound data of the incoming call sound, the warning sound, or the background music, respectively, when the client side terminal receives a call, when the portable communication terminal enters a state in which the warning sound should be generated, or when a call is made using the portable communication terminal or an answer message of the portable communication terminal as an answering telephone is generated.

9. The voice data transmission system according to claim 8, wherein: the registering means further includes means for allowing the trial listening sound data to be registered as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alert sound or background music of the portable communication terminal when an instruction to purchase sound data is transmitted from the portable communication terminal to the delivery server.

10. A voice data transmission system has a client terminal and a transmission server which can communicate with each other,

the delivery server includes:

request determining means for determining that the request from the client side terminal is a formal voice data request or a request for trial listening to voice data; and

a data transmission device that transmits the formal sound data to a user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the formal sound data, and transmits the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the trial listening sound data;

the client side terminal includes:

a storage device for storing the transmitted formal sound data and the transmitted trial listening sound data;

reproducing means for generating sound based on the stored sound data to reproduce the sound data; and

reproduction number limiting means for limiting the number of times the trial listening sound data is reproduced by the reproducing means to a predetermined limited number.

11. The voice data transmission system according to claim 10, wherein said data transmission means comprises:

means for transmitting formal sound data to a client side terminal, when a request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the formal sound data, transmitting the formal sound data to the client side terminal, while a charging server charges a charge to a user of the client side terminal; and

means for transmitting the audition sound data to the client side terminal, when the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is for the audition sound data, for transmitting the audition sound data to the client side terminal without the charging server charging a user of the client side terminal.

12. The voice data transmission system according to claim 10, wherein: the client side terminal further includes data deleting means for deleting the trial listening sound data from the storage means when the trial listening sound data is reproduced by the reproducing means a predetermined limited number of times.

13. A sound data transmission system has a client terminal and a transmission server which can communicate with each other;

the delivery server includes:

a data transmission means for transmitting the formal sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the formal sound data, and transmitting the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for trial listening sound data;

the client side terminal includes:

reproduction permission time limiting means for prohibiting reproduction of the trial listening sound data after the client side terminal reproduces the trial listening sound data or when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the client side terminal reproduces the trial listening sound data for the first time.

14. The voice data transmission system according to claim 13, wherein said data transmission system comprises:

15. The voice data transmission system according to claim 13, wherein: the client side terminal further includes data deleting means for deleting the trial listening sound data from the storage means after the trial listening sound data is changed into reproducible sound data by the client side terminal or when a period of time elapsed after the trial listening sound data is first reproduced by the client side terminal is not shorter than the predetermined period of time.

16. A sound data transmission method having a client side terminal and a transmission server communicable with each other, the transmission server including request determination means and data transmission means, the client side terminal including storage means and reproduction means, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

determining, by a request determining means, that a request from the client side terminal is a formal voice data request or a request to listen to voice data on trial;

transmitting, by a data transmitting apparatus, the formal sound data to a client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines to be the request for the formal sound data, and transmitting, by a data transmitting apparatus, the audition sound data to the client side terminal in a data streaming manner if the request from the client side terminal determines to be the request for the audition sound data;

storing the transmitted formal sound data in a storage device; and

reproducing, by a reproducing apparatus, regular music data by producing sound based on the stored regular music data, and storing a part of the trial listening music data in a buffer, and producing sound based on the stored data in the buffer each time the client-side terminal receives the part of the trial listening music data by means of data streaming.

17. The sound data transmission method according to claim 16, wherein said data transmission means transmits formal sound data to the client side terminal when the request from said client side terminal is determined to be a request for said formal sound data, while the charging server charges the user of the client side terminal; and transmitting the audition sound data to the client side terminal when the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for audition sound data, without the charging server charging a user of the client side terminal.

18. A sound data transmission method having a client side terminal and a transmission server which can communicate with each other so that sound data is transmitted from the transmission server to the client side terminal, comprising the steps of:

transmitting, by the delivery server, formal sound data to the client side terminal when a request for delivery of formal sound data is transmitted from the client side terminal to the delivery server, while a charging server charges a user of the client side terminal,

when a request for trial listening sound data different from the formal sound data is transmitted from the client side terminal to the delivery server, the trial listening sound data is transmitted to the client side terminal by the delivery server without the charging server charging a fee to a user of the client side terminal.

19. The sound data transmission method according to claim 18, characterized in that: the audition sound data is reproduced by generating sound based on only a portion of the audition sound data.

20. The sound data transmission method according to claim 18, characterized in that: the audition sound data is constructed using a portion of the formal sound data.

21. The sound data transmission method according to claim 18, characterized in that:

the client side terminal is a portable communication terminal;

the formal sound data is allowed to be registered in the portable communication terminal as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alert sound, or background music of the portable communication terminal;

the audition sound data is prohibited from being registered in the portable communication terminal as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alarm sound or background music of the portable communication terminal;

the sound data registered as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alarm sound or background music is reproduced when a client side terminal receives a call, when a portable communication terminal enters a state in which an alarm sound should be generated, or when a call is made with a portable communication terminal or an answer message of a portable communication terminal as an answering telephone set is generated, respectively.

22. The sound data transmission method according to claim 21, characterized in that: when an instruction to purchase sound data is transmitted from the portable communication terminal to the transmission server, the trial listening sound data is allowed to be registered as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alert sound or background music of the portable communication terminal.

23. A sound data transmission method for transmitting sound data from a transmission server to a client terminal by using a client terminal and a transmission server communicable with each other, comprising the steps of:

transmitting, by the delivery server, formal sound data to the client side terminal when a request for delivery of formal sound data is transmitted from the client side terminal to the delivery server;

transmitting, by the delivery server, audition sound data to the client side terminal when a request for transmission of audition sound data from the client side terminal to the delivery server is made; and

reproducing the formal sound data and the trial listening sound data by the client side terminal, and limiting the number of times of reproducing the trial listening sound data to a predetermined limited number, wherein

The formal sound data is transmitted to the client terminal while charging a fee to the user of the client terminal, and the trial listening sound data is transmitted to the client terminal without charging the fee to the user.

24. The sound data transmission method according to claim 23, characterized in that:

formal sound data and trial listening sound data transmitted to the client side terminal are stored in a storage device of the client side terminal, and when the trial listening sound data is reproduced to the predetermined limited number of times at the client side terminal, the trial listening sound data is deleted from the storage device.

25. A sound data transmission method for transmitting sound data from a transmission server to a client terminal by using a client terminal and a transmission server communicable with each other, comprising the steps of:

transmitting, by the delivery server, audition sound data to the client terminal when a request for transmission of the audition sound data is transmitted from the client terminal to the delivery server, and allowing the formal sound data to be reproduced indefinitely by the client terminal, while allowing the client terminal to reproduce the audition sound data only after the audition sound data has become reproducible sound data by the client terminal or for a predetermined period of time after the audition sound data has been reproduced for the first time by the client terminal, wherein the audition sound data is transmitted from the client terminal to the delivery server in a manner that allows the client terminal to reproduce the audition sound data only after the audition sound data has become reproducible sound data by the

26. The sound data transmission method according to claim 25, characterized in that:

the formal sound data and the trial listening sound data transmitted to the client side terminal are stored in a storage device of the client side terminal,

deleting the listening trial music data from the storage means when a period of time elapsed after the listening trial sound data is changed to reproducible sound data by the client side terminal or after the listening trial sound data is first reproduced by the client side terminal is not shorter than the predetermined period of time.

27. A sound data transmission method using a client side terminal and a transmission server communicable with each other to transmit sound data from the transmission server to the client side terminal, wherein

Transmitting, by the transmission server, formal sound data to the client side terminal when a request for the formal sound data is transmitted from the client side terminal to the transmission server;

transmitting, by the delivery server, the audition sound data to the client terminal in a data stream when a request for audition sound data is transmitted from the client terminal to the delivery server;

reproducing the normal sound data after all the data are stored in the client side terminal, and continuously reproducing the trial listening sound data each time a part of the data is transmitted by streaming, wherein

The formal sound data is transmitted to the client side terminal and simultaneously charges a fee to the user of the client side terminal; the audition sound data is streamed to the client side terminal and is not charged to the user of the client side terminal.

28. A sound data delivery server communicable with a client side terminal having a device for reproducing and delivering sound data, the delivery server comprising:

and a data transfer means for transferring the formal sound data to the client side terminal while the charging server charges the user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the formal sound data, and transferring the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal without the charging server charging the user of the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the trial listening sound data.

29. A sound data delivery server communicable with a client side terminal having a device for reproducing and delivering sound data, the delivery server comprising:

and a data transmission device that transmits formal sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the formal sound data, and transmits trial listening sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for trial listening sound data, the trial listening sound data including data indicating the number of times the trial listening sound data is allowed to be reproduced by the client side terminal.

30. A sound data delivery server communicable with a client side terminal having a device for reproducing and delivering sound data, the delivery server comprising:

and a data transmitting device that transmits formal sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the formal sound data, and transmits trial listening sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the trial listening sound data, the trial listening sound data containing data for a period of time after the trial listening sound data is made reproducible by the client side terminal or after the trial listening sound data is first reproduced by the client side terminal until the client side terminal prohibits sound generation with the trial listening sound data.

31. A sound data delivery server communicable with a client terminal having a reproduction device configured in such a manner that if the delivered sound data is formal sound data, the reproduction device reproduces the formal sound data, and if the delivered sound data is trial listening sound data, the reproduction device reproduces only a part of the trial listening sound data; the delivery server includes:

and a data transmitting means for transmitting the formal sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the formal sound data, and transmitting the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal if the request from the client side terminal determines that the request is the request for the trial listening sound data, wherein at least one of the formal sound data and the trial listening sound data has data added thereto, thereby distinguishing the formal sound data from the trial listening sound data.

32. A sound data delivery server communicable with a client side terminal having a device for reproducing and delivering sound data, the delivery server comprising:

and a data transmission device for transmitting the formal sound data to the client side terminal if the portion from the client side terminal determines that the formal sound data is a request for the trial listening sound data, and transmitting the trial listening sound data to the client side terminal if the portion from the client side terminal determines that the trial listening sound data is a portion of the trial listening sound data, the trial listening sound data including a portion of the formal sound data.

33. A sound data delivery server communicable with a client terminal having a reproduction means for reproducing sound data delivered after storing the sound data in a storage means, storing a part of the sound data streamed in a buffer, and generating sound based on the stored data in the buffer upon receiving the part of the sound data by streaming; the delivery server includes:

and a data transmission means for transmitting the regular sound data to the client side terminal if the portion from the client side terminal determines that the request is the regular sound data, and transmitting the trial sound data to the client side terminal in a data streaming manner if the portion from the client side terminal determines that the request is the trial sound data.

34. A client side terminal communicable with a sound data delivery server, the client side terminal comprising:

request means for sending a request for formal sound data or trial listening sound data to the delivery server;

a storage device for storing the formal sound data or the audition sound data transmitted from the transmission server according to the request;

a reproducing means for reproducing the regular sound data or the trial listening sound data stored in the storing means; and

reproduction number limiting means for limiting the number of times the trial listening sound data is reproduced to a predetermined limited number.

35. The client terminal of claim 34, wherein: further comprising data deleting means for deleting the trial listening sound data from the storage means after the trial listening sound data is reproduced by the reproducing means a predetermined limited number of times.

36. A client side terminal communicable with a sound data delivery server, the client side terminal comprising:

37. The client terminal of claim 36, wherein: further comprising data deleting means for deleting the trial listening sound data from the storage means when a period of time elapsed after the trial listening sound data is changed into reproducible sound data by the client side terminal or after the trial listening sound data is first reproduced by the client side terminal is not shorter than the predetermined period of time.

38. A client side terminal communicable with a sound data delivery server, the client side terminal comprising:

a storage device for storing the formal sound data or the audition sound data transmitted from the transmission server according to the request; and

and a reproducing unit that reproduces the regular sound data if the sound data stored in the storage unit is regular sound data, and reproduces only a part of the trial sound data if the sound data stored in the storage unit is trial sound data.

39. A portable communication terminal communicable with a sound data delivery server, the portable communication terminal comprising:

request means for transmitting formal sound data or a request for auditioning sound data to the transmission server;

registering means constructed in such a manner that, when a predetermined condition is established, if the sound data stored in the storing means is formal sound data, the registering means registers the sound data as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alarm sound or background music of the portable communication terminal, and if the sound data is trial listening sound data, the registering means does not register the sound data as sound data of the incoming call sound, the alarm sound or the background music of the portable communication terminal; and

an incoming call sound, warning sound or background music generating means for reproducing the sound data registered as sound data of an incoming call sound, warning sound or background music, respectively, when the client side terminal receives a call, when the portable communication terminal enters a state in which the warning sound should be generated, or when a call is effected by the portable communication terminal or an answer message of the portable communication terminal is generated as an answer telephone.

40. The portable communication terminal according to claim 39, wherein: the registering means is configured to allow the trial listening sound data to be registered as sound data of an incoming call sound, an alarm sound, or background music of the portable communication terminal when an instruction to purchase sound data is transmitted from the portable communication terminal to the transmission server.

41. A portable communication terminal communicable with a sound data delivery server, the portable communication terminal comprising:

request means for transmitting formal sound data or a request for auditioning sound data to the transmission server; and

and a reproducing means that reproduces the formal sound data transmitted from the transmission server in accordance with the request after storing the transmitted formal sound data in the storing means, stores a part of the trial listening sound data transmitted in a data streaming manner from the transmission server in a buffer, and the portable communication terminal generates a sound in accordance with the stored data in the buffer every time the part of the trial listening sound data is received by data streaming.