JP2001312507A - System for data transmission from host and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a method for data transmission from host, which enable users to be connected with shops that offer information by transmitting commodity information necessary for the users to a user's mobile communication terminal. SOLUTION: The user side inputs data to specify a commodity to a mobile communication terminal 2 and transmits them to a server 1. The system for data transmission from host prepares a database 27 at the server 1, which stores shop names, their locations, data of each commodity sold at the shops, and the specified information concerning commodities to be sold at the shops by making these data correspond to information. Then, the system specifys the present location of the mobile communication terminal depending upon a position specifying signal from a data communication network 10. The system searches for the shop that sells the commodity defined by the specified information and is located within a prescribed range from the mobile communication terminal 2 under the conditions of the present terminal location and the specified commodity information, and transmits the specified information concerning commodities sold at each shop whose information is obtained, to the communication terminal 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information distribution system and an information distribution method for distributing information according to a request from a user to a user's mobile communication terminal connected via an information communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, price competition in the market has progressed, and in many cases, the same product has different sales prices depending on stores. The same applies to services, and it is a general situation that prices for providing services having the same contents differ depending on stores. In such a situation, in order to purchase a product at a lower price or receive a service at a lower price, consumers are trying to access various information sources to obtain price information of a product or service.

[0003] As an information source of a product price or a service price, a newspaper advertisement is well known. Publications such as information magazines are also often used as information sources. Further, in recent years, a homepage for disclosing product price information or service price information for each store on the Internet has been opened, and has begun to be used as a new information source.

[0004]

However, newspaper advertisements generally include information on featured products at each store, and there is a bias in the source of information on prices of general products or services. In addition, since the information is related to a specific area, it can often be used as an information source within the area but cannot be used outside the area. Also,
Residents outside the region may not even be able to get one.

[0005] The same applies to publications such as information magazines, where most of the published information relates to specific goods and services.
Few are available as information sources of prices for general products or services. Also, in the case of a publication that can be easily carried by consumers, the amount of information is limited.
Further, in many cases, the freshness of information is reduced due to a time lag from publication to a consumer after publication or an advertisement request.

[0006] On the other hand, when the Internet is used, each store can publish the prices of goods or services in its own store on a homepage,
Further, since there is little restriction on the amount of information, it can be used as an information source of prices of general products or services which are wider than conventional printed matter. In addition, since information is only updated by uploading data to the server, the time lag until the information is transmitted to the consumer is extremely small, and fresh information can be always provided.

However, consumers do not want to know the price information of products or services when they operate a personal computer at home or the like. More often than not. This is because the selling price of the product you are trying to buy or the offering price of the service you are going to receive is not higher than other stores, or other stores sell or offer cheaper It is because we think that it may be. In such a case, a personal computer installed in a home or office is useless. Also,
Notebook PCs are portable, but they are not readily available in such situations.

Recently, mobile communication terminals such as mobile phones and PHS have become widespread, and these mobile communication terminals have made it possible to connect to the Internet. When connecting to the Internet using these mobile communication terminals, consumers can easily access information sources at the time of actually obtaining goods or receiving services. However, since the display capability and functions of the mobile communication terminal are limited, if the amount of provided information is too large, it takes time to find necessary information from the provided information. Such a waste of time is intolerable to consumers who are shopping, and in the end, using the Internet as an information source may be troublesome.

It is natural that the above situation is not desirable for consumers who want to purchase goods or receive services at a lower price, but at the same time, each store providing information is not desirable. Is also not desirable. That is, if the consumer knows that the product or service at their location is cheaper than the product they are currently getting or the service they are trying to receive, then move to their own store and purchase the product at their own store Consumers are not likely to access or seek to access the information, even though they are more likely to be offered or offered services, and lose the opportunity to direct them to their store. is there.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and promptly distributes only information relating to goods or services required by a user to a user's mobile communication terminal, thereby enabling a user to receive information to be provided with information. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information distribution system and an information distribution method, which make it possible to more reliably connect a store that provides the information.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, an information distribution system according to the present invention provides a mobile communication system for a user connected via an information communication network (for example, the Internet, an intranet, a mobile phone network, etc.). In an information distribution system that distributes information to a terminal (for example, a mobile phone, a PHS, or the like) in response to a request from the mobile communication terminal, a product sales store, a location of the product sales store, and a product sold at the product sales store. Each data on the product and information on the product at the product sales store (for example, sales price, stock, benefits, advertisement information, etc.), or a service providing store, a location of the service providing store, and a service providing store. Data on the service and information on the service at the service providing store (for example,
Offer price, waiting time, number of people who can accept, name of attendees, benefits,
Advertising information, etc.), receiving means for receiving data specifying goods or services transmitted from the mobile communication terminal, and current position specifying means for specifying the current position of the mobile communication terminal. The current position of the mobile communication terminal specified by the current position specifying means and the data specifying the product or service transmitted from the mobile communication terminal as search conditions, and a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile communication terminal Service providing a service that is located within the store and sells the product specified by the product specifying data, or a service that is within a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile communication terminal and specified by the service specifying data Search means for searching for a store from the database, and the specific product in each product sales store searched by the search means Broadcast, or is characterized in that the information about the specific service in each service providing store retrieved by the search means and a transmitting means for transmitting to the mobile communication terminal.

[0012] Preferably, the service providing store is based on input data from the product selling store and product data sold at the product selling store and sales price data of the product, or input information from the service providing store. And a data recording / updating means for recording or updating the service data and the price data of the service provided in the database. At this time, it is preferable that the input data is POS data transmitted via the information communication network. Preferably, the product specifying data is bar code data of a bar code attached to the product, and the service specifying data is bar code data of a bar code associated with the service.

[0013] More preferably, there is provided a reordering means for reordering the list of each merchandise store or each service resale store searched by the search means in the order of the sales price of the goods or the offer price of the service. The selling price data of the specific product at each of the merchandise selling stores or the providing price data of the specific service at each of the service providing stores is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal in the rearranged order. Alternatively, a reordering unit that sorts a list of each merchandise store or each service store searched by the search unit in order of distance from the current position of the mobile communication terminal to each merchandise store or each service store is provided. The selling price data of the specific product at each of the merchandise sales stores or the provision price data of the specific service at each of the service providing stores is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal in the order rearranged by the rearranging means.

[0014] Further, a product advertisement file storing advertisement information for each product recorded in the database and an advertisement information reading means for reading the advertisement information of the specific product from the product advertisement file are newly provided. The sales price data of the specific product at each product sales store searched by the search means is transmitted, and the advertisement information of the specific product read by the advertisement information reading means is transmitted or recorded in the database. A store advertisement file storing advertisement information for each merchandise store or each service providing store, and advertisement information reading for reading out the advertisement information of each merchandise store or each service providing store searched by the search means from the store advertisement file. Means, the sales price data of the specific product at each product sales store searched by the search means, or the search Means for transmitting the offer price data of the specific service in each service providing store searched by the means, and transmitting the advertisement information of each of the merchandise store or each service providing store read by the advertisement information reading means. Is also preferred.

Further, the database is prepared for each registration number (for example, an address on the Internet, a telephone number, etc.) registered for each mobile communication terminal, and based on the registration number data transmitted from the mobile communication terminal. A registration number recognizing means for recognizing a registration number of the mobile communication terminal; and a selecting means for selecting a database corresponding to the registration number recognized by the registration number recognizing means, using the database selected by the selecting means. It is also preferable to perform a search process.

Further, when a reservation request signal requesting a reservation for a product sold at any merchandise store or a service provided at any service providing store is transmitted from the mobile communication terminal, It is also preferable to provide a reservation processing means for making a reservation for the product or the service via the information communication network to the product sales store or the service providing store for which the reservation is requested. In this case, more preferably, the reservation processing means transmits a reservation completion signal to the mobile communication terminal when the reservation is completed at the merchandise store or service providing store where the reservation is requested.

Further, there is provided charging processing means for charging each store for information distribution to the user, and charging each merchandise store or service providing store corresponding to the information transmitted by the transmitting means. It is preferable that the configuration is such that when the reservation processing is performed, the reservation processing means charges the merchandise store or service providing store for which the reservation has been completed.

In order to achieve the above object, an information distribution method according to the present invention provides a method for connecting an information distributor's server and a user's mobile communication terminal (for example, a mobile phone or PHS) to an information communication network (for example, the Internet). , An intranet, a mobile phone network, etc.), and in the information distribution method of distributing information from the information distributor to the user at the request of the user, the user specifies a product or service for which information is desired. The data is input to the mobile communication terminal and transmitted to the server, and the information distributor sends to the server a merchandise store, the location of the merchandise store, and various data related to merchandise sold at the merchandise store. Information about the product at the product sales store (eg, sales price, inventory,
Privilege, advertisement information, etc.) or a service providing store, the location of the service providing store, various data on the service provided by the service providing store, and information on the service at the service providing store (for example, providing price,
A database in which the waiting time, the acceptable number of people, the names of attendees, benefits, advertisement information, etc.) are recorded in advance, and the current position of the mobile communication terminal is specified based on a signal from the mobile communication terminal. Using the specified current position of the mobile communication terminal and the data specifying the product or service transmitted from the mobile communication terminal as search conditions, and specifying the product located within a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile communication terminal. Search the database for a merchandise store that sells the merchandise specified by the data, or a service providing store that is within a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile communication terminal and that provides the service specified by the service specifying data. And information on the specific product in each product sales store obtained as a result of the search, or each service providing store searched by the search means It is characterized by transmitting to the mobile communication terminal information about the specific service in.

Preferably, on the information distributor side, based on input data from the merchandise store, merchandise data sold at the merchandise store and sales price data of the merchandise, or an input from the service providing store. Based on the data, the service data provided at the service providing store and the provided price data of the service are recorded or updated in the database. In this case, the input data is
Preferably, the POS data is transmitted from the merchandise store or the service providing store via the information communication network, and the merchandise specifying data input at the mobile communication terminal is a bar code attached to the merchandise. Preferably, the service specifying data is barcode data of a barcode associated with the service.

Further, sales price data of the specific product at each of the product sales stores obtained as a result of the search, or
When transmitting the offer price data of the specific service at each of the service providing stores to the mobile communication terminal, the order is sorted in the order of the sale price of the product or the offer price of the service, or each product is ordered from the current position of the mobile communication terminal. It is preferable that the data be rearranged and transmitted in order of distance to the sales store or each service sales store.

Further, when transmitting the sales price data of the specific product at each product sales store obtained as a result of the search, the advertisement information relating to the specific product or the specific service, or the product sales store or It is also preferable to transmit the advertisement information related to each of the service providing stores as well. Further, the information distributor prepares the database for each registration number (for example, an address on the Internet, a telephone number, etc.) registered for each mobile communication terminal, and based on a signal from the mobile communication terminal. It is also preferable that the registration number of the mobile communication terminal is recognized, a database corresponding to the recognized registration number is selected, and a search process is performed using the selected database.

Further, on the user's side, any one of the selling price data of the specific product at each merchandise store transmitted to the mobile communication terminal or the specific service offering price data at each service providing store is transmitted. Select a product sold at the product sales store or a service provided at any service providing store, and the information distributor side selects the product selling store or the service providing store selected by the user. It is also preferable to make a reservation for the specific product or the specific service. In this case, it is more preferable to transmit a reservation completion signal to the mobile communication terminal when the reservation is completed at the merchandise store or service providing store where the reservation has been requested.

The fee for distributing information to the user may be charged to the user himself or to each store as the information provider. When charging for each store, it is preferable to charge a fee for information distribution to each merchandise store or service providing store included in the transmission information to the user.
It is also preferable to charge a fee for information distribution to the merchandise store or service store where the reservation is completed.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in the first embodiment, a user (consumer) who wants to find a favorite product at one store and to know how much the product is sold at another store in the information distribution system of the present invention. A case will be described in which the shopping agent is configured to promptly distribute the price information of the product for each store located at a short distance from the current position of the user to the mobile communication terminal of the user.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the information communication network according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this information communication network is a mobile phone network 1
1, a fixed telephone network 12, and the Internet 10. The server 1 as an information distribution system is disposed on the Internet 10. A gateway (access point) 6 from the mobile phone network 11 to the server 1
And can be connected from the fixed telephone network 12 via gateways (access points) 13A and 13B. Although a plurality of gateways are provided for each region, here, for simplicity, one is provided for the mobile telephone network 11.
Only two fixed telephone networks 12 are shown.

Mobile phone (mobile communication terminal) owned by user
2 is connected to the mobile telephone network 11 via the base stations 3A to 3C. Specifically, the mobile phone 2 and each of the base stations 3A to 3B
The switching unit 4 determines the nearest base station 3B based on the strength of the radio wave between the mobile phone 2 and the nearest base station 3B (in the case shown in FIG. 1), communication between the mobile phone 2 and the nearest base station 3B is established. ) Is connected to the mobile telephone network 11. When the user moves, the nearest base stations 3A to 3C also change.
Is switched. The current location of the mobile phone 2, that is, the nearest base stations 3A to 3C, is always stored in the location registration memory 5.
Has been updated.

The conversation between the portable telephones is realized by transmission and reception of signals in the portable telephone network 11, and the conversation with the fixed telephone is performed by a gateway (not shown) connecting the portable telephone network 11 and the fixed telephone network 12. This is realized by transmission and reception of signals via the PC. Further, when the mobile phone 2 is provided with an Internet connection function, connection with the Internet 10 via the gateway 6 is also possible. It is assumed that the mobile phone 2 according to the present embodiment has the Internet connection function (Internet connection mode). The mobile phone 2 is connected to the server 1 via the Internet 10.
Can be displayed on the display unit 2a, and various signals can be transmitted to the server 1 on the other side by operating buttons on the input unit 2b.

On the other hand, the fixed telephone network 12 is connected to POS terminals 7A to 7D installed at, for example, a checkout place in each store (commercial store) 9A to 9D. POS terminal 7
A to 7D can read the barcode 14a attached to the product 14 by the attached barcode readers 8A to 8D, and compare the read barcode 14a with a pre-stored price list. Accounting is performed. In addition, the POS terminals 7A to 7D may be, for example, a dedicated device or a device in which dedicated software is incorporated in a personal computer, but have an Internet connection function.
It is connected to the Internet 10 via the nearest gateways 13A and 13B.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the server 1 as an information distribution system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 1 includes a plurality of functional elements 20 to 30 for realizing various functions.
Hereinafter, the function of each of the functional elements 20 to 30 of the server 1 will be described. The server 1 includes a CPU (not shown) and R
The OM and the RAM are built-in, and the CPU executes various processes for information communication according to a program stored in the ROM. Also, the RAM has CP
Data necessary for the U to execute various processes is stored and updated as appropriate. That is, these CPUs,
Functional elements 20 to 3 described below using ROM and RAM
0 are realized.

First, the receiving unit 20 and the transmitting unit 21 correspond to an interface with the Internet 10. Receiver 20
Receives a signal or data sent via the Internet 10 and sends it to a search unit 22, a current position specifying unit 25, a data recording and updating unit 26, and a data rearranging unit 23, which will be described later, according to the content of the received signal and data. They are sorted and output. On the other hand, the transmitting unit 21 transmits data input from the data rearranging unit 23 and the advertisement information reading unit 24 described later to the Internet 10.

[0031] The current position specifying unit 25 is connected to the Internet 1
It has a function of specifying the current position of the mobile terminal 2, that is, the current position of the user, based on the position specifying signal transmitted via the “0”. In the present embodiment, the position specifying signal is transmitted from the gateway 6 based on a request from the mobile phone 2. That is, the gateway 6 reads information on the current position of the mobile phone 2 (the nearest base station of the mobile phone 2) from the location registration memory 5 in response to a request from the mobile phone 2 and transmits the information to the server 1 as a position specifying signal. It has become. A position specifying table (not shown) for associating the position specifying signal with the position of the base station is stored in the current position specifying unit 25 in advance, and the received position specifying signal is compared with the table, so that the mobile terminal 2 The current position (nearest base station) is specified.

The search section 22 has a function of searching the database 27 based on the current position of the portable terminal 2 specified by the current position specifying section 25 and the price information request signal transmitted from the mobile phone 2. ing. As shown in FIG. 3, for example, the database 27 stores a store, a location of the store, a product in the store, and data on a product price in the store in association with each other.

The search unit 22 first narrows down stores based on the current position of the portable terminal 2 and further narrows down products based on a price information request signal. Specifically, the narrowing down of stores based on the current position of the mobile terminal 2 is as follows.
It is determined whether the location of the store stored in the database 27 is within a predetermined range with respect to the current position of the mobile terminal 2. The predetermined range may be, for example, an area of a base station with which the mobile terminal 2 is communicating,
The radius may be within a range of several meters from the current position of the mobile terminal 2. Alternatively, the vicinity of the nearest station to the current position of the mobile terminal 2 may be set as the predetermined range. Furthermore, the user himself may arbitrarily define it. The search unit 22 compares the location of each store with the current location of the mobile terminal 2 on a table (not shown),
It is determined whether or not each store is within a predetermined range with respect to the current position of the mobile terminal 2, and the data is narrowed down (see FIGS. 6A and 6B). In the embodiment, as the price information request signal, data corresponding to the bar code of the product (a plurality of digits attached below the bar code)
Is transmitted from the mobile phone 2 to the server 1.
For example, in the case shown in FIG. 1, if the user wants to know the price information of the product 14,
(3,5,4,6,7,0,0,2)
(1, 0) may be input to the mobile phone 2 by operating a button on the input unit 2b. Barcode data is used to specify products in the database 27, and the barcode data is stored for each product. And
The search unit 22 further narrows down the data by using the received barcode data as a search condition [FIGS. 6B and 6C].
Reference], final data obtained as a result of the search, that is, list data of selling prices of products desired by the user in each store within a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile phone 2 [FIG.
(See (c)).

The data rearranging section 23 rearranges the data (price information for each store) retrieved by the retrieval section 22 in an appropriate order.
It has a function of outputting to the transmission unit 21. This data rearrangement is for the convenience of the user, and is performed in order of price [FIG.
(See (d)) or the order from the current position of the mobile phone 2 to each store (see FIG. 6 (e)). Here, first, at the time of the first transmission, data is rearranged in order of price and transmitted. When a data rearrangement request is received from the user, that is, when a data rearrangement request signal is received from the mobile phone 2, the data is rearranged in the order of distance and transmitted again. The data rearrangement and retransmission are performed each time a data rearrangement request signal is received. The data transmitted at this time is a list of the store name and the price of the product at that store.
The information is transmitted when there is a request from the user to individually display information on each store.

The advertisement information reading unit 24 has a function of reading the advertisement information of the store searched by the search unit 22 from the store advertisement file 28 and outputting it to the transmission unit 21. The store advertisement file 28 stores advertisement information (for example, bargain information, time sale information, benefits, and the like) for each store. The transmitting unit 21 transmits the advertisement information of each store input from the advertisement information reading unit 24 to the mobile terminal 2 together with the store-specific price information input from the data rearranging unit 23.

FIG. 4 is an example of a display on the display unit 2a of the portable terminal 2. The store-specific price information and the advertisement information transmitted from the transmission unit 21 are displayed on the display unit 2a. The display mode of the display unit 2a includes a list display mode for displaying a list of prices by store as shown in FIGS.
As shown in (c), there is an individual display mode for displaying price information individually for each store. By selecting an arbitrary store in the list display mode, information (location information, price information, advertisement information) newly limited to the store is transmitted from the transmission unit 21, and the mode shifts to the individual display mode indicating the information of the store. I do. FIG. 4A is a list display of prices by store when the data is sorted in order of price, and FIG.
Is a list display of prices by store when sorted by distance. Further, the advertisement of each store is sequentially displayed in the advertisement display area for each store in the list display mode, and only the advertisement of the store is displayed in the advertisement display area in the individual display mode.

The data recording / updating unit 26 stores the data in the database 2
7 has a function of storing new information and updating already stored information. As shown in FIG. 1, the PO acquired at the POS terminals 7A to 7D of the stores 9A to 9D.
The S data is transmitted to the server 1 at any time via the Internet 10.
The S data is input to the data recording / updating unit 26. Here, it is assumed that the POS data includes at least a code for identifying a store, a barcode of a product, and a price of the product.

The data recording / updating unit 26 compares the POS data input as needed with the contents stored in the database 27, and adds a new product (bar code data) when the POS information includes a new product. If the product price differs between the POS information and the database 27,
The product price data in the database 27 is updated.

Further, the server 1 has a billing processing unit 2 for billing a fee (commission) for providing information to the user.
9 are provided. The accounting unit 29 pays this fee not to the user but to each store included in the distribution information to the user. By distributing price information and advertisement information to the user, the user may become a customer of the store. -ing The charged fees are added to the store-specific billing file 30 for each store, and are charged to each store collectively in a certain period.

Next, a series of procedures for information distribution using the information distribution system according to the present embodiment (information distribution method according to the present embodiment) is shown in FIG. S29
0) and FIG. 6 showing a search procedure of the database 27. Here, as a specific situation setting, a place where the user is (for example, Shinjuku underground shopping mall)
Enter a store with a product X and find the product X there
Is very liked, but it is assumed that the user wants to know how much the product X is sold at another store.

As shown in FIG. 5, first, the user sets the mobile phone 2 to the Internet connection mode and inputs the address data of the server 1 (S10). The mobile phone 2 transmits the input address data to the mobile phone network 1 via the base station 3B.
The data is transmitted to the first gateway 6 (S20). In the gateway 6, the server 1 corresponding to the transmitted address
, A homepage transfer request signal is transmitted via the Internet 10 (S30).

The server 1 receives the homepage transfer request signal and transfers the homepage data to the Internet 10 (S40). The homepage data transmitted from the server 1 to the Internet 10 is transmitted to the mobile phone network 1
1 to the mobile phone 2 (S50), and the home page of the server 1 is displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2 (S50).
60).

When the homepage is displayed on the display unit 2a, the user inputs the barcode data of the barcode attached to the product X to the mobile phone 2 by operating the button of the input unit 2b (S70). The mobile phone 2 transmits the input barcode data as a price information request signal to the gateway 6 (S80), and the transmitted price information request signal is transmitted from the mobile phone network 11 to the server 1 via the Internet 10. (S90). The mobile phone 2 transmits a position information transmission request signal to the gateway 6 following transmission of the price information request signal (S100). The gateway 6 receives the position information transmission request signal, reads the position information of the portable terminal 2 from the position registration memory 5, and transmits the position information to the server 1 as a position specifying signal (S110).

The server 1 first specifies the current position of the mobile phone 2 based on the position specifying signal (S120). Then, as shown in FIG. 6A, the database 27 is searched using the specified current position of the mobile phone 2 as a search condition, and within a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile phone 2 as shown in FIG. Here, stores are narrowed down to stores near Shinjuku Station, which is the nearest station to the current position of the mobile terminal 2 (S130). further,
The data narrowed down in S130 is searched using the received barcode data as a search condition, and as shown in FIG. 6C, only the data related to the product X is narrowed down (S140).

In the server 1, the store advertisement file 2
8, the advertisement information of each searched store is read (S1).
50). Then, store-specific price information obtained as a result of the search,
That is, the price information of the merchandise X in each store near the nearest station of the current position of the mobile phone 2 is sorted in the order of price as shown in FIG. The data is transmitted to the Internet 10 for the telephone 2 (S160). Store-specific price information and advertisement information of each store transmitted from the server 1 to the Internet 10 are transmitted to the mobile telephone 2 via the mobile telephone network 11.
(S170), and displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2 as shown in FIG. 4A (S180). Also,
After transmitting the store-specific price information and the advertisement information of each store, the server 1 charges the stores included in the distribution information to the store-specific charging file 30 (S190).

If the user desires to display the store-specific price information not in the order of price but in the order of distance from the current position, the user inputs a sorting request to the mobile phone 2 by operating a button on the input section 2b (S200). The mobile phone 2 transmits the input rearrangement request to the gateway 6 as a rearrangement request signal (S21).
0), the transmitted rearrangement request signal is transmitted from the mobile phone network 11 to the server 1 via the Internet 10 (S).
220). The server 1 sorts the store-specific price information in order of distance based on the received sorting request signal (S23).
0), and transmits the rearranged store-specific price information and advertisement information of each store to the Internet 10 to the mobile phone 2 (S240). The store-specific price information and advertisement information of each store transmitted from the server 1 on the Internet 10 are transmitted to the mobile phone 2 via the mobile phone network 11 (S25).
0), the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2 as shown in FIG.
Is displayed (S260).

The POS data acquired by the POS terminals 7A to 7D of each store is transmitted to the gateways 13A and 13D of the fixed telephone network 12 as needed (S270). 1 (S280). The server 1 receives the received POS
The data is compared with the contents stored in the database 27, and the storage of the database 27 is updated (step S29).
0).

As described above, according to the present information distribution system and information distribution method, the user sets his / her mobile phone 2 to the Internet connection mode and connects to the server 1 to carry the bar code attached to the product. By simply inputting the information on the telephone 2, the price information of each store close to the current position of the product can be promptly obtained. Therefore, the user can meet his wishes by comparing the price of the product for each store. There is an advantage that a store can be easily found. As a result, the user who receives the information can be reliably linked to the store that provides the information, and the user can purchase goods at the cheapest store, which is an economic advantage. Along with
Each store can be provided with the benefit of guiding customers.

When distributing the searched price information of products for each store, the products can be sorted and distributed in order of price, or can be sorted and distributed in order of distance from the current position to each store. Has an advantage that it is possible to more quickly find a store that sells a product at a desired price. In addition, since the record update of the database 27 is performed based on the POS data transmitted from the POS terminals 7A to 7D of each store via the Internet 10, it is possible to always provide the user with the latest product information and price information. There is also the advantage that you can. In particular, since the barcode data of the barcode attached to the product is used as data for specifying the product, it is easy to correspond to the POS data, and the user can easily specify the product desired by the user. There is an advantage that it becomes.

Furthermore, according to the information distribution system and the information distribution method, the price information of the searched merchandise for each store is distributed, and the advertisement information related to the store is also distributed. Effect can be enhanced,
There is also an advantage that it is possible to develop an advertisement that is directly linked to the sales of each store. In the present embodiment, in specifying the current position of the mobile phone 2, the position of the base station with which the mobile phone 2 has established communication Is the current position of the mobile phone 2,
This is because when the distance between base stations is relatively short and the installation density of base stations is relatively high, the accuracy of specifying the current position is relatively high, but the distance between base stations is relatively long and the installation density of base stations is compared. If it is too low, accurate identification becomes difficult. Therefore,
In such a case, the current position of the mobile phone 2 is specified based on the strength of radio waves communicated with a plurality of base stations (three or more locations). As a result, the current position of the mobile phone 2 can be specified by a point (latitude, longitude) instead of an area. Even when the distance between base stations is relatively long and the installation density of the base stations is relatively low, the mobile phone 2 can be specified. The current position of the telephone 2 can be accurately specified.

As a modification of the present embodiment, an information distribution system (server 1 ') may be configured as shown in FIG. That is, as in the first embodiment, the receiving unit 20, the transmitting unit 21, the searching unit 22, the data rearranging unit 23, the advertisement information reading unit 24, the current position specifying unit 25, and the data recording / updating unit 26 have the same functions as those of the first embodiment. , A charging processing unit 29,
The data storage function includes a database 32, a store advertisement file 28, and a store-specific billing file 30, and additionally includes a registration number recognition unit 33 and a database selection unit 34.

The database 32 is not a single database but is configured as an aggregate of a plurality of personal databases 32a. Each personal database 32a is a server 1 '
, And is associated with the registration number of the user as shown in FIG. The personal database 32a can be customized for each user. That is, the user can select a frequently used store, a favorite store, and the like and register the selected store in the personal database 32a. This personal database 3
The selection of a store to be registered in 2a or a store to be deleted from the personal database 32a can be made online from the user's mobile phone 2 (not shown).

The registration number recognizing section 33 is based on data transmitted from the user's mobile phone 2 (registration number specifying data).
It has a function of recognizing a user's registration number. As the registration number specifying data, the ID assigned to each user
In addition to the number, a number unique to each mobile phone 2 may be used. For example, an address number or a telephone number transmitted from the mobile phone 2 may be used as registration number specifying data.

The database selection section 34 has a function of selecting a personal database 32a corresponding to the registration number recognized by the registration number recognition section 33 from the database 32. Then, a data search is performed by the search unit 22 on the personal database 32a selected by the database selection unit 34. Note that the record update of each personal database 32a is collectively executed by the data record update unit 26 based on the POS data transmitted from each store.

With the above configuration, when the user connects to the server 1 'from the mobile phone 2 via the Internet 10 and inputs and transmits the bar code of the product to the mobile phone 2, the server 1' sends the user's bar code. Merchandise price information at stores frequently used and favorite stores within a predetermined range from the current position and advertisements of the stores are distributed. Therefore, according to the information distribution system and the information distribution method,
Since unnecessary information for each user is eliminated, it is possible for the user to more efficiently access information that he or she really wants, and for the store to perform a more efficient advertising strategy. The server 1 'also has the advantage that the search load is reduced because the search targets are narrowed down in advance.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The first embodiment described above is characterized by distributing information on merchandise for each store. However, the present embodiment is characterized by distributing information on services, not on merchandise. In other words, the user (consumer) wants to receive some kind of service at one store, and at that time, how much similar service is offered at another store, or how long is the waiting time at another store? When the user wants to know, the information such as the service price and the waiting time for each store located close to the current position of the user is immediately delivered to the user's mobile communication terminal.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an information communication network according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the information communication network is a mobile phone network 1
1, a fixed telephone network 12 and the Internet 10, and a server 39 as an information distribution system is provided on the Internet 10. Since the configurations of the mobile telephone network 11, the fixed telephone network 12, and the Internet 10 are the same as those of the first embodiment, detailed description will be omitted. In the drawings, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The fixed telephone network 12 is connected to terminals 37A to 37D installed in stores (service providing stores) 36A to 36D that provide services. These terminals 37A to 37D are provided with at least an input unit, a display unit, and an Internet connection function so that an operator can communicate with the server 39 via the Internet 10. Each of the terminals 37A to 37D is connected to the Internet 10 via the nearest gateways 12A to 12B.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the server 39 as an information distribution system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, the server 39 is composed of a plurality of functional elements 40 to 51 for realizing various functions. Hereinafter, the functions of the functional elements 40 to 51 of the server 39 will be described. The server 39 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM (not shown) as in the first embodiment, and the CPU, the ROM, and the RAM realize the functions of the functional elements 40 to 51 described below. It has become.

First, the receiving unit 40 and the transmitting unit 41 correspond to an interface with the Internet 10. Receiver 40
Receives a signal or data transmitted via the Internet 10 and, in accordance with the content of the received signal or data, a search unit 42, a current position specifying unit 45, a data recording and updating unit 46, a data rearranging unit 43, The output is distributed to the reservation processing unit 51. On the other hand, the transmission unit 41 transmits signals and data input from the data rearranging unit 43, the advertisement information reading unit 44, and the reservation processing unit 51 described later to the Internet 10.

[0061] The current position specifying unit 45 is connected to the Internet 1
It has a function of specifying the current position of the mobile terminal 2, that is, the current position of the user, based on the position specifying signal transmitted via the “0”. In the present embodiment, the position specifying signal is transmitted from the mobile phone 2. Specifically, after establishing communication with the nearest base station 3B, the mobile phone 2 fetches a base station ID set for each base station from the base station 3B into a memory. At the time of connection with the server 39, the base station ID is read from the memory and transmitted to the server 39 as a position specifying signal. A position specifying table (not shown) for associating the position specifying signal with the position of the base station is stored in the current position specifying unit 45 in advance. Current location (nearest base station)
Is to be specified.

The search unit 42 searches the database 4 based on the current position of the portable terminal 2 specified by the current position specifying unit 45 and the service information request signal transmitted from the mobile phone 2.
7 has a function of performing a search. Database 47
For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a store, a location of the store, a service provided by the store (in this case, provision of food and drink), a price of a service in the store, and a waiting time until the service can be provided. Each data is stored in association with each other.

The search section 42 first narrows down stores based on the current position of the portable terminal 2, and further narrows down services based on a service information request signal.
Specifically, in the narrowing down of stores based on the current position of the mobile terminal 2, the location of the store stored in the database 47 is within a predetermined range with respect to the current position of the mobile terminal 2 as in the first embodiment. Or not. The predetermined range may be, for example, within the area of the base station with which the mobile terminal 2 is communicating, or within a radius of several meters from the current position of the mobile terminal 2. Or mobile terminal 2
The vicinity of the nearest station to the current position may be set as the predetermined range. Furthermore, the user himself may arbitrarily define it. Search unit 42
Indicates the location of each store and the mobile terminal 2 on a table (not shown).
14 to determine whether each store is within a predetermined range with respect to the current position of the portable terminal 2 to narrow down the data [FIG. 14 (a), FIG.
(See (b).) In the present embodiment, the service information request signal is
It is assumed that predetermined service code data is transmitted from the mobile phone 2 to the server 39. Specifically, when the mobile phone 2 is connected to the server 39, the home page is transferred from the server 39 to the mobile phone 2. At this time, a list of services is also transferred to the mobile phone 2. Has become. A service code is set for each service, and the user selects a desired service from the services listed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2 by operating a button of the input unit 2b. Is transmitted to the server 39 from the service code data corresponding to the selected service.

Then, the search unit 42 further narrows down the data using the received service code data as a search condition (see FIGS. 14B and 14C), and obtains the final data obtained as a result of the search, ie, the portable data. A list of prices of services desired by the user in each store within a predetermined range from the current position of the telephone 2 and a waiting time until receiving the service (see FIG. 14C) is output as store-specific service information. ing.

The data rearranging section 43 has a function of rearranging the data (store-specific service information) retrieved by the retrieval section 22 in an appropriate order and outputting the rearranged data to the transmission section 41. In the present embodiment, the order of the service prices (see FIG. 15B),
Alternatively, sorting can be performed in the order of the distance from the current position of the mobile phone 2 to each store (see FIG. 15C) or the waiting time until the service can be received (see FIG. 15D). In the first transmission, the data is rearranged in order of price and transmitted. Then, when receiving the data rearrangement request signal from the mobile phone 2,
The data is rearranged in order of distance or waiting time and transmitted again. The reordering and retransmission of this data
It is executed each time a data rearrangement request signal is received. The data to be transmitted at this time is a list of the store name, the service offer price and the waiting time at the store, and the store location information is obtained when the user requests to individually display information of each store. To be sent to.

The advertisement information reading unit 44 has a function of reading the advertisement information of the store searched by the search unit 42 from the store advertisement file 48 and outputting it to the transmission unit 41. The store advertisement file 48 stores advertisement information (for example, discount information, attendee information, privilege information, etc.) for each store.
The transmitting unit 41 transmits the advertisement information of each store input from the advertisement information reading unit 44 to the mobile terminal 2 together with the store-specific service information input from the data rearranging unit 43.

FIG. 12 is an example of a display on the display unit 2a of the portable terminal 2. The store-specific price information and the advertisement information transmitted from the transmission unit 21 are displayed on the display unit 2a. The display modes of the display unit 2a are shown in FIGS. 12 (a) to 12 (c).
As shown in FIG. 12, there are a list display mode for displaying a list of prices and waiting times for each store, and an individual display mode for displaying price information and waiting time information individually for each store as shown in FIG. By selecting an arbitrary store in the list display mode, information (location information, price information, waiting time information, advertisement information) newly limited to the store is transmitted from the transmission unit 41, and individual information indicating the information of the store is transmitted. Move to display mode. 12A is a list display when data is sorted in order of price, FIG. 12B is a list display when data is sorted in order of distance, and FIG. This is a list display in the case of changing. In addition, the advertisement of each store is sequentially displayed in the advertisement display area for each store in the list display mode, and only the advertisement of the store is displayed in the advertisement display area in the individual display mode.

The data recording / updating unit 46 stores the database 4
7 has a function of storing new information and updating already stored information. As shown in FIG. 9, the latest information input by the operator at the terminals 37A to 37D of the stores 36A to 36D is transmitted to the server 39 via the Internet 10 and is input to the data recording and updating unit 46. The data record update unit 46 compares the information newly transmitted from each store with the contents stored in the database 47, and updates the record in the database 47 if there is a change in the service provision price or the waiting time. ing.

Further, in the present embodiment, a reservation processing section 51 for acting as a proxy for a user's reservation at a store is provided. The reservation processing unit 51 has a function of making a service reservation for a store requested by the user to make a reservation, and notifying the user of the completion of the reservation when the reservation is accepted. Reservation from the user is requested from the mobile phone 2 via the Internet 10. In other words, the screen of the delivered store-specific service information [FIG.
12D), when the user selects a favorite store, operates the input unit 2b and presses a reservation button (not shown) on the screen, a reservation request signal is transmitted from the mobile phone 2 to the server 39. Is to be done.

When the reservation processing unit 51 receives the reservation request signal from the mobile phone 2 via the reception unit 40, the reservation processing unit 51 searches the memory for the address of the terminal of the store for which the reservation is requested, and sends it to the terminal of that store. The reservation request signal is transferred via the transmission unit 41. On the store side, when the reservation is accepted, the server 3 is operated by the operator's terminal operation.
9, a reservation processing unit 51 that has received the reservation reception signal via the receiving unit 40.
Transmits a reservation completion signal to the mobile phone 2 via the transmission unit 41.

Further, the server 39 is provided with a charging processing section 49 for charging a fee (a fee) for providing information to the user. In the present embodiment, the billing processing unit 4
Reference numeral 9 indicates that a fee is charged to the store for which the reservation is completed in the reservation processing unit 51. Since the user's reservation promises the profit of the store, charging in this way enables charging according to the profit actually obtained by each store. The charged fee is added to the store-specific billing file 50 for each store, and is charged to each store collectively in a certain period unit.

Next, a series of procedures for information distribution using the information distribution system according to the present embodiment (information distribution method according to the present embodiment) is shown in FIG. T3
80) and FIG.
This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. Here,
As a specific situation setting, a user is located at a certain point (for example,
It is assumed that a restaurant (for example, a pub) is being searched in Shinjuku Kabukicho area.

As shown in FIG. 13, first, the user sets the mobile phone 2 to the Internet connection mode and inputs the address data of the server 39 (T10). The mobile phone 2 transmits the input address data to the gateway 6 of the mobile phone network 11 via the nearest base station 3B. At this time, the mobile phone 2 takes in the base station ID from the base station 3B and stores it in the memory (T20). The gateway 6 transmits a homepage transfer request signal via the Internet 10 to the server 39 corresponding to the transmitted address (T30).

The server 39 receives the homepage transfer request signal and transfers the homepage data to the Internet 10 (T40). The homepage data transmitted from the server 39 onto the Internet 10 is transferred from the mobile phone network 11 to the mobile phone 2 (T50), and the homepage of the server 39 is displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2 (T60).

When the homepage is displayed on the display unit 2a, the user selects a target service (here, a pub) from the list of services on the homepage by operating the button of the input unit 2b (T70). The mobile phone 2 transmits service code data corresponding to the selected service to the gateway 6 as a service information request signal (T8).
0), the transmitted service information request signal is transmitted to the mobile phone network 11
Is transmitted to the server 39 via the Internet 10 (T90). In addition, following the transmission of the service information request signal, the mobile phone 2 transmits the base station ID stored in the memory to the gateway 6 as a position specifying signal (T10).
0), the transmitted position specifying signal is transmitted from the mobile phone network 11 to the server 39 via the Internet 10 (T110).

The server 39 first specifies the current position of the mobile phone 2 based on the position specifying signal (T120). Then, as shown in FIG.
The current position of the mobile terminal 2 is searched using the database 47 as a search condition, and as shown in FIG. 14B, within a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile phone 2 (here, in the vicinity of Shinjuku station which is the nearest station of the current position of the mobile terminal 2). (T130).
Further, the data narrowed down in T130 is searched using the received service code data as a search condition, and FIG.
As shown in (c), the data is narrowed down to only data relating to a pub (T140).

Further, the server 39 reads the advertisement information of each searched store from the store advertisement file 48 (T
150). Then, the service information for each shop obtained as a result of the search, that is, the price information and the waiting market price information of the izakaya near the nearest station of the current position of the mobile phone 2 are sorted in the order of price as shown in FIG. The advertisement information is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 along with the advertisement information of each store read from the advertisement file 48 to the Internet 10 (T160). The service information for each store and the advertisement information of each store transmitted from the server 39 on the Internet 10 are transmitted to the mobile phone 2 via the mobile phone network 11 (T170), and FIG.
It is displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2 as shown in (a) (T180).

If the user desires to display the store-specific service information not in the order of price but in the order of distance from the current position or in the order of waiting time, the user inputs a sorting request to the mobile phone 2 by operating the button of the input section 2b. (T190). Mobile phone 2
Transmits the input rearrangement request to the gateway 6 as a rearrangement request signal (T200), and the transmitted rearrangement request signal is transmitted from the mobile phone network 11 to the server 39 via the Internet 10 (T210). . The server 39 sorts the store-specific service information in order of distance or waiting time based on the received sort request signal (T220), and directs the sorted store-specific service information and the advertisement information of each store to the mobile phone 2. To the Internet 10 (T23
0). Store-specific service information and advertisement information of each store transmitted from the server 39 on the Internet 10 are transmitted to the mobile phone 2 via the mobile phone network 11 (T240),
It is displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2 as shown in FIG. 12B or 12C (T250).

When there is a store that the user likes, a screen displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2 [FIG.
(A) to FIG. 12 (d)], a store to be reserved is selected, and a reservation button (not shown) on the screen is pressed. Here, it is assumed that the store 36B shown in FIG. 9 is selected (T26
0). The mobile phone 2 transmits a reservation request signal requesting a reservation to the selected store 36B to the gateway 6 (T27).
0), the transmitted reservation request signal is transmitted from the mobile phone network 11 to the server 39 via the Internet 10 (T280). In the server 39, the terminal 37B of the store 36B for which the reservation is requested based on the received reservation request signal.
Is retrieved from the memory (T290), and the terminal 38 is retrieved.
A reservation request signal is transmitted to the Internet 10 toward B (T300). The reservation request signal transmitted on the Internet 10 from the server 39 is transmitted to the terminal 37B of the store 36B via the fixed telephone network 12 (T310).

At the store 36B receiving the reservation request signal,
The reservation is accepted (T320), and the operator enters the terminal 3
7B by operating the gateway 13A toward the server 39
(T330). The transmitted reservation acceptance signal is transmitted from the fixed telephone network 12 to the server 39 via the Internet 10 (T340). The server 39 that has received the reservation acceptance signal transmits a reservation completion signal to the Internet 10 to the mobile phone 2 (T35).
0). The reservation completion signal transmitted on the Internet 10 from the server 39 is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 via the mobile phone network 11.
(T360), and the display section 2a of the mobile phone 2 displays that the reservation is completed (T370). After transmitting the reservation completion signal, the server 39 charges the store 37B, for which the reservation has been completed, to the store-specific charging file 50 (T380).

Although not shown in the data flow diagram of FIG. 13, the latest information input by the operator at the terminals 37A to 37D of each store is stored in the gateway 1 of the fixed telephone network 12.
3A and 13B, and transmitted from the fixed telephone network 12 to the server 39 via the Internet 10. The server 39 compares the received information with the contents stored in the database 47 and updates the storage of the database 47.

As described above, according to the present information distribution system and information distribution method, the user sets his / her mobile phone 2 to the Internet connection mode, connects to the server 39, and executes the service displayed on the display unit 2a. By simply selecting the desired service from the list, it is possible to quickly obtain store-specific service information such as the service provision price and waiting time for each store near the current location. By comparing the waiting time and the waiting time, there is an advantage that it is possible to easily find a store that meets one's wish. As a result, as in the first embodiment, it is possible to reliably link the user who receives the information with the store that provides the information, and purchase the product at the cheapest store for the user. Is possible, and at the same time, it is possible to provide each store with the benefit of guiding customers.

When distributing the retrieved service information for each store, the service information is sorted and distributed in the order of price, distributed in the order of distance from the current position to each store, and further sorted in the order of waiting time. Since it is possible to deliver the desired store, there is also an advantage that the user can more quickly find a desired store. In addition to distributing the searched store-specific service information, as in the first embodiment, the advertisement information related to the store is also distributed. Therefore, the effect of the advertisement can be enhanced, and the sales of each store can be improved. There is also the advantage that direct advertising development is possible.

Further, according to the information distribution system and the information distribution method, the reservation for the store can be made simply by selecting the store to be reserved from the store-specific service information displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone 2. Since the service can be performed, there is an advantage that the user can surely receive a desired service without worrying about ending the service or waiting for a turn. Further, when a reservation is completed at a store, a reservation completion signal is transmitted to the mobile phone 2, so that disadvantages of the user such as omission of reservation can be prevented, and the credit of the store is thereby reduced. There is also the advantage that it can be prevented.

As described above, two embodiments have been described as embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. can do. For example, in the first embodiment, the price information of the product is delivered as the information on the product, and in the second embodiment, the price information of the service and the waiting time information are delivered as the information on the service (providing food and drink). The information on the product is not limited to the product price, and various types of information such as inventory, benefits, and advertisement information can be distributed. In addition, the contents of the service are not limited to the provision of food and drink, and the present invention can cover a wide range of services in general, such as provision of accommodation facilities such as hotels and inns, beauty and barber. The information on the service is not limited to the price and the waiting time, and various information such as the number of people who can be accepted, the names of attendees, benefits, and advertisement information can be distributed. For example, in a case where advertisement information regarding a product is distributed as information regarding a product and advertisement information regarding a service is distributed as information regarding a service, distribution of advertisement information limited to a product or a service desired by the user can enhance the effect of the advertisement. There is an advantage that you can.

In the first embodiment, barcode data of a barcode attached to a product is input as data for specifying the product, but the input data only needs to be able to specify the product. You may input it itself. Alternatively, a list of products may be stored in the memory of the mobile phone 2 in advance, and a product may be selected from the list. Further, as in the second embodiment, a list of products may be transferred from the server 1 to the mobile phone 2 and a selection may be made from the transferred list. Conversely, in the second embodiment, a list of services is transferred from the server 39 to the mobile phone 2 and the user selects from the transferred list, but a code (bar code or the like) is provided for each service.
And the user may specify the service for which he / she wants to obtain information by inputting the barcode data into the mobile phone 2. Alternatively, a list of services may be stored in the memory of the mobile phone 2 in advance, and a service may be selected from the list.

In the first embodiment, when the commodity price information for each store is transmitted, the advertisement information about each store stored in the store advertisement file is also transmitted.
Instead, a product advertisement file may be provided to deliver the advertisement of the product itself. Alternatively, both the store advertisement file and the product advertisement file may be provided, and the advertisement of the product itself may be delivered together with the advertisement information on each store. In this case, there is an advantage that the effect of the advertisement can be enhanced by distributing the advertisement information of interest to the user.

Also in the first embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the servers 1 and 1 'are provided with a reservation processing section so that the user can make a reservation for a product at a desired store. Good. As a result, the user can reliably purchase a product at a desired price without worrying about sold-out of the product. In each of the above embodiments,
As a search procedure of the databases 27, 32 (32a), and 47, first, the current position of the mobile phone 2 is searched as a search condition, and then data specifying a product or service transmitted from the mobile phone 2 is used as a search condition. Although the search is performed, the search procedure is not limited. First, data specifying a product or service may be searched as a search condition, and then the current position of the mobile phone 2 may be searched as a search condition.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the store that sells goods or provides services is connected to the servers 1, 1 ′, and 39 from the fixed telephone network 12 via the Internet 10. May be configured to be directly connected from the fixed telephone network 12 or the mobile telephone network 11 without passing through. In addition, databases 27 and 32 (32
The method of updating the records a) and 47 is not limited to the method of using the online information from each store as it is in each of the above-described embodiments, but is described in offline information, for example, in a facsimile sent from each store. The record may be updated by the operator based on the information.

Further, the method for specifying the position of the mobile phone 2 is not limited to the method described in each of the above-described embodiments. For example, the mobile phone 2 may be provided with a GPS function to specify the current position by itself. Alternatively, the user may input the current position. Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, the mobile phone 2 is used as the mobile communication terminal, but it goes without saying that various mobile communication terminals such as a PHS (simple mobile phone) can be applied to the present invention.

[0091]

As described above in detail, according to the information distribution system and the information distribution method of the present invention, a user only needs to input data specifying a product or service for which information is desired to a mobile communication terminal. It is possible to quickly obtain information on the above-mentioned products at each merchandise store located within a predetermined range from the current position, or information on the above-mentioned services at each service providing store within a predetermined range from the current position. It is possible to easily find a merchandise store or a service providing store that provides services within a certain range,
As a result, the user who receives the information is securely linked to the store that provides the information, and the profit of purchasing the desired product or enjoying the service is given to the user, and the profit of the customer is referred to each store. Benefit can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information communication network according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of the information distribution system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a database according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing display examples of a display unit of the mobile communication terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 4A shows a list display in order of price, and FIG. Diagram showing the display,
(C) is a figure which shows an individual display.

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram for explaining an information distribution method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a database search procedure according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and is shown in the order of (a) to (e).

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing a modification of the configuration of the information distribution system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a modification of the configuration of the database according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information communication network according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information distribution system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a database according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a display unit of the mobile communication terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention, where (a) illustrates a list display in order of price, and (b) illustrates a list in order of distance. FIG. 7C is a diagram showing a display, FIG. 7C is a diagram showing a list display in order of waiting time, and FIG.

FIG. 13 is a data flow diagram for explaining an information distribution method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a database search procedure according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and (a) to (c) of FIG.
The search procedure is shown in the order of.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a procedure for rearranging search results of a database according to the second embodiment of the present invention;
(A) to (d) are shown in this order.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1 ', 39 server 2 mobile phone (mobile communication terminal) 2a display unit 2b input unit 3A-3C base station 6, 13A, 13B gateway 7A-7D POS terminal 9A-9D store (commercial store) 10 Internet 11 mobile Telephone network 12 Fixed telephone network 14 Commodity 14a Bar code 36A-36D Store (service providing store) 37A-37D Terminal 20,40 Receiving unit 21,41 Transmitting unit 22,42 Search unit 23,43 Data rearranging unit 24,44 Information reading unit 25, 45 Current position specifying unit 26, 46 Data recording updating unit 29, 49 Charging processing unit 27, 32, 47 Database 28, 48 Store advertisement file 29, 49 Charging processing unit 30, 50 Store-specific charging file 32a Database 33 registration number recognition unit 34 database selection unit 51 reservation Processing unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/60 326 G06F 17/60 326 502 502 (72) Inventor Naohiko Oikawa 4-15 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo −5 Inside NetEar Group Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yuji Hashiba 4-15-5 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo F-term within NetEar Group Co., Ltd. 5B049 AA01 BB11 BB49 CC06 CC08 CC36 DD02 DD05 EE05 FF09 GG01 GG03 GG06 GG07 5B075 KK07 ND30 NK06 NK37 NR15 PP05 PP12 PQ02 PQ32 PQ75 PR08

Claims (30)

[Claims] An information distribution system for distributing information to a user's mobile communication terminal connected via an information communication network in response to a request from the mobile communication terminal, comprising: a merchandise store; , Each data relating to a product to be sold at the merchandise store and information relating to the merchandise at the merchandise store; A database in which information relating to the service in the service providing store is recorded in association with the service, receiving means for receiving data specifying a product or service transmitted from the mobile communication terminal, and specifying a current position of the mobile communication terminal Current position specifying means; current position of the mobile communication terminal specified by the current position specifying means And the data specifying the product or service transmitted from the mobile communication terminal as search conditions, and a product that is within a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile communication terminal and sells the product specified by the product specification data Search means for searching the database for a store for sale or a service providing shop which is within a predetermined range from the current position of the mobile communication terminal and which provides the service specified by the service specifying data; Transmitting means for transmitting, to the mobile communication terminal, the information on the specific product at each of the merchandise selling stores or the information on the specific service at each service providing store searched by the searching means. Information distribution system. 2. The information on the product recorded in the database is advertising information on the product, and the information on the service recorded on the database is advertising information on the service. The information distribution system according to claim 1. 3. The information on the product recorded in the database is sales price data of the product, and the information on the service recorded in the database is provided price data of the service. The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein 4. A service providing store based on input data from the product selling store and product data sold at the product selling store and sales price data of the product, or input information from the service providing store. 4. The information distribution system according to claim 3, further comprising a data recording and updating unit that records or updates provided service data and provided price data of the service in the database. 5. The information distribution system according to claim 4, wherein the input data from the merchandise selling store or the service providing store is POS data transmitted through the information communication network. 6. The product specifying data is bar code data of a bar code attached to the product, and the service specifying data is bar code data of a bar code associated with the service. 5. The information distribution system according to 5. 7. A reordering means for reordering a list of each merchandise store or each service resale store searched by the search means in order of merchandise selling price or service providing price, and the transmitting means includes: Sales price data of the specific product at each of the product sales stores in the order sorted by the replacement means,
7. The information distribution system according to claim 3, wherein price data of the specific service at each of the service providing stores is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal. 8. A reordering means for reordering a list of each merchandise store or each service store searched by the search means in order of distance from the current position of the mobile communication terminal to each merchandise store or each service store. The transmission means, the selling price data of the specific product at each of the product sales store in the order sorted by the sorting means,
7. The information distribution system according to claim 3, wherein price data of the specific service at each of the service providing stores is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal. 9. A product advertisement file storing advertisement information for each product recorded in the database, and advertisement information reading means for reading the advertisement information of the specific product from the product advertisement file, wherein the transmission means Transmitting the sale price data of the specific product at each product sales store searched by the search means, and transmitting the advertisement information of the specific product read by the advertisement information reading means. , Claim 3
9. The information distribution system according to any one of Items 8 to 8. 10. A store advertisement file storing advertisement information for each product sales store or each service providing store recorded in the database, and a store advertisement file or a service providing store searched by the search means. Advertisement information reading means for reading advertisement information from the shop advertisement file, wherein the transmitting means is sales price data of the specific product at each product sales store searched by the search means, or
In addition to transmitting the provision price data of the specific service at each service providing store searched by the search means, transmitting the advertisement information of each of the merchandise store or each service providing store read by the advertisement information reading means. The information distribution system according to any one of claims 3 to 9, wherein: 11. A registration number for preparing the database for each registration number registered for each mobile communication terminal and recognizing a registration number of the mobile communication terminal based on registration number data transmitted from the mobile communication terminal. Recognizing means, and selecting means for selecting a database corresponding to the registration number recognized by the registration number recognizing means, wherein the retrieving means is configured to perform a search using the database selected by the selecting means. Characterized by the fact that
The information distribution system according to claim 3. 12. When a reservation request signal requesting a reservation for a product sold at any merchandise store or a service provided at any service providing store is transmitted from the mobile communication terminal, 12. The method according to claim 3, further comprising a reservation processing unit for making a reservation for the product or the service via the information communication network with respect to the product sales store or the service providing store where the reservation is requested. An information distribution system according to any one of the above items. 13. The reservation processing means is configured to transmit a reservation completion signal to the mobile communication terminal when the reservation is completed at the merchandise store or service providing store for which the reservation has been requested. Claim 12.
Information distribution system described. 14. Charging processing means for charging a price of information distribution to a user to each merchandise selling store or service providing store, wherein said charging processing means includes a merchandise item corresponding to the information transmitted by said transmitting means. The information distribution system according to any one of claims 3 to 13, wherein billing is performed for a sales store or a service providing store. 15. A merchandise store for charging a price for information distribution to a user to each merchandise store or service providing store, wherein the billing processor includes a merchandise store for which reservation has been completed by the reservation processing unit. 14. The information distribution system according to claim 13, wherein charging is performed for a service providing store. 16. An information distribution method for connecting an information distributor's server and a user's mobile communication terminal via an information communication network, and distributing information from the information distributor to the user in response to the user's request. On the side, data specifying the product or service for which information is desired is input to the mobile communication terminal and transmitted to the server. On the information distributor side, the server stores the product sales store, the location of the product sales store, Each data relating to a product sold at the product sales store and information regarding the product at the product sales store, or a service providing store, the location of the service providing store, each data relating to a service provided at the service providing store, and A database in which information on the service at the service providing store is recorded in association with the mobile communication terminal is prepared in advance. The current position of the mobile communication terminal is specified based on these signals, and the specified current position of the mobile communication terminal and the data specifying the product or service transmitted from the mobile communication terminal are used as search conditions to perform the mobile operation. A merchandise store that is within a predetermined range from the current position of the communication terminal and sells the product specified by the product specification data, or is specified within the predetermined range from the current position of the mobile communication terminal and is specified by the service specification data. And a service providing store that provides the service to be provided from the database, and information on the specific product at each product sales store obtained as a result of the search, or the identification at each service providing store searched by the search unit. An information distribution method, comprising transmitting information on a service to the mobile communication terminal. 17. The information on the product recorded in the database is advertising information on the product, and the information on the service recorded on the database is advertising information on the service. The information distribution method according to claim 16. 18. The information on the product recorded in the database is sales price data of the product, and the information on the service recorded in the database is provided price data of the service. The information distribution method according to claim 16, wherein 19. The information distributor, on the basis of input data from the merchandise store, merchandise data sold at the merchandise store and sales price data of the merchandise, or input data from the service providing store. 19. The information distribution method according to claim 18, wherein the service data provided at the service providing store and the service price data provided at the service providing store are recorded or updated in the database. 20. The information distribution according to claim 19, wherein the input data from said merchandise selling store or said service providing store is POS data transmitted to said server via said information communication network. Method. 21. The product specifying data input by the mobile communication terminal is barcode data of a barcode attached to a product, and the service specifying data is barcode data of a barcode associated with a service. 21. The information distribution method according to claim 20, wherein: 22. The information distributor transmits the sales price data of the specific product at each of the merchandise stores obtained as a result of the search or the offer price data of the specific service at each of the service providing stores to the product. 22. The information distribution method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein the information is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal in the order of a selling price or a service providing price. 23. The information distributor moves the selling price data of the specific product at each of the merchandise stores or the price data of the specific service at each of the service providing stores obtained as a result of the search. 22. The information distribution according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein the information is rearranged in order of distance from the current position of the communication terminal to each merchandise store or each service store and transmitted to the mobile communication terminal. Method. 24. The information distributor transmits the sales price data of the specific product at each product sales store obtained as a result of the search, and transmits the advertisement information related to the specific product to the mobile communication terminal. The information distribution method according to any one of claims 18 to 23, characterized in that: 25. On the information distributor side, the selling price data of the specific product at each merchandise store obtained as a result of the search, or the offer price of the specific service at each service providing store obtained as a result of the search. The information according to any one of claims 18 to 24, further comprising transmitting data and transmitting advertisement information related to each of the merchandise selling stores or each of the service providing stores to the mobile communication terminal. Delivery method. 26. The information distributor prepares the database for each registration number registered for each mobile communication terminal, and registers the registration number of the mobile communication terminal based on a signal from the mobile communication terminal. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 25, wherein the information is recognized, a database corresponding to the recognized registration number is selected, and a search is performed using the selected database. 27. The user may select any one of sales price data of the specific product at each product sales store transmitted to the mobile communication terminal or provision price data of the specific service at each service provision store. Select a product sold at the product sales store or a service provided at any service providing store, and at the information distributor, the user selects the product selling store or the service providing store selected by the user. 27. The information distribution method according to claim 18, wherein the reservation of the specific product or the specific service is performed. 28. The information distributor sends a reservation completion signal to the mobile communication terminal when the reservation is completed at the merchandise store or the service providing store where the reservation is requested. 27
Information distribution method described. 29. The information distributor charges an information distribution fee to each merchandise store or service providing store included in the information transmitted to the user. The information distribution method according to any one of the above items. 30. The information distribution method according to claim 28, wherein the information distributor charges a fee for information distribution to a merchandise store or a service providing store for which reservation has been completed.