JP2008124838A - COMMUNICATION CONTROL DEVICE, COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, COMMUNICATION CONTROL METHOD, AND COMMUNICATION METHOD - Google Patents

Abstract

To effectively use limited wireless communication resources.
When a transmitting FAX machine 10 transmits FAX format data, a conversion device 20 converts the data into mail format data, and a receiving mobile phone 60 wirelessly communicates the email via a mail server 30. It is the communication system which receives by this. In this communication system, the communication control device 40 periodically inquires of a mail server whether there is an incoming mail addressed to a mail address set in the receiving side mobile phone. That is, the communication control device performs incoming mail presence / absence confirmation processing instead of the receiving-side mobile phone. When an incoming mail addressed to the receiving mobile phone is held in the mail server, the communication control device transmits notification information indicating that fact to the receiving mobile phone, and the receiving mobile phone is based on the notification information. An incoming mail addressed to the mail address can be received by connecting to the mail server.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control device, a communication system, a communication control method, and a communication method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, so-called Internet fax communication in which a fax is transmitted and received via the Internet is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such Internet fax communication, fax-format data sent from a transmitting terminal is converted into mail-format data and temporarily stored in a mail server. On the other hand, the receiving-side terminal autonomously performs POP (Post Office Protocol) processing at a predetermined time interval with respect to the mail server, thereby confirming that there is an incoming mail addressed to itself.

The POP process is a process that is performed at a predetermined time interval without depending on the presence / absence of incoming mail, and the receiving terminal performs the POP process at a more frequent interval in order to realize early call processing. Tend. As a result, the amount of communication between the receiving terminal and the mail server may become enormous, but when both devices are connected by wire, abundant communication resources unique to wired communication, Appropriate measures can be taken for the enormous amount of communication.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-339569

  By the way, the above-mentioned Internet fax communication is realized by wireless communication, that is, a case where a wireless communication terminal such as a mobile phone is used as a receiving terminal and the receiving terminal and the mail server are connected wirelessly. I'll think about it. In this case, communication must be performed under limited communication resources unique to wireless communication. Therefore, the frequent POP processing performed without depending on the presence / absence of incoming mail as described above leads to waste of limited wireless communication resources, which is desirable in terms of effective use of limited communication resources. It can not be said.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a communication control device, a communication system, a communication control method, and a communication method capable of effectively utilizing limited wireless communication resources. .

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the communication control device of the present invention converts communication data in the first format transmitted from the transmission side terminal into communication data in the mail format that is the second format. A communication control device in a communication system that is received by a receiving terminal via wireless communication, and associates receiving terminal specifying information for specifying the receiving terminal with a mail address set for the receiving terminal i Storage means, inquiry means for periodically inquiring the mail server about the presence of incoming mail, and incoming mail if it is determined by the inquiry means that the incoming mail is held in the mail server Is stored in the storage means in association with the destination mail address of the incoming mail. Characterized in that it comprises a notification means for transmitting to the receiving terminal specified by the receiving terminal specific information being.

  Further, according to the communication control method of the present invention, the first format communication data transmitted from the transmission side terminal is converted to the second format mail format communication data, and the mail is received by wireless communication via the mail server. A communication control method in a communication control device provided in a communication system that is received by a side terminal, in which an inquiry unit periodically inquires of a mail server whether there is an incoming mail, and a notification unit is an inquiry unit When it is determined that the incoming mail is held in the mail server by the inquiry, the notification information indicating that the incoming mail is held in the mail server is stored in association with the destination mail address of the incoming mail. A notification step of transmitting to the receiving terminal specified by the receiving terminal specifying information stored in the means; Characterized in that it obtain.

  In such a communication control device of the present invention, the communication data in the first format transmitted from the transmission side terminal is converted into the communication data in the mail format which is the second format, and the mail is transmitted by wireless communication via the mail server. It is a communication control apparatus provided in the communication system received by the receiving terminal. The communication control method of the present invention is a communication control method in the communication control apparatus. In such a communication control apparatus and communication control method, the inquiry means periodically inquires of the mail server whether there is an incoming mail addressed to the mail address set in the receiving terminal. That is, the inquiry means performs incoming mail presence / absence confirmation processing instead of the receiving terminal. When the incoming mail addressed to the receiving terminal is held in the mail server, the notification means displays notification information indicating that the incoming mail addressed to the receiving terminal is held in the mail server. Send to.

  As described above, the receiving terminal does not have to perform the incoming mail presence / absence confirmation process by wireless communication. This is because the presence or absence of an incoming mail addressed to the terminal can be confirmed by the notification information transmitted from the notification means of the communication control device. At this time, it is preferable that the communication control device and the mail server are connected by wire.

  For this reason, it is possible to save limited communication resources for wireless communication between the receiving side terminal and the mail server by the amount that the receiving side terminal does not directly perform the incoming mail presence confirmation process. Can be used effectively. Further, contention with other communications that may occur during the processing can be avoided by the amount that the receiving terminal does not directly perform the incoming mail presence confirmation processing. In addition, since the power consumed at the receiving terminal for the incoming mail presence / absence confirmation processing can be reduced by the amount of not performing the processing, the limited battery capacity of the receiving terminal can be effectively utilized.

  The communication system of the present invention includes a transmitting terminal that transmits communication data in a first format, a conversion device that converts communication data in a first format into communication data in a mail format that is a second format, and the mail. A mail server temporarily held, a receiving terminal that receives the mail held in the mail server by wireless communication, receiving terminal specifying information that specifies the receiving terminal, and set in the receiving terminal Storage means for storing mail addresses in association with each other, inquiry means for periodically inquiring the mail server about the presence or absence of incoming mail, and the inquiry from the inquiry means that the incoming mail is held in the mail server If this is the case, the mail server that identifies the mail server is used as notification information indicating that the incoming mail is stored on the mail server. A communication control device comprising: notification means for transmitting the specific information and the mail address of the destination of the incoming mail to the receiving terminal specified by the receiving terminal specifying information stored in the storing means in association with the mail address. The receiving terminal connects to the mail server based on the mail server identification information based on the notification information transmitted by the notification means, and receives an incoming mail addressed to the mail address based on the mail address. It is characterized by doing.

  In the communication method of the present invention, the transmission terminal transmits the first format communication data, and the conversion device converts the first format communication data into the second format mail format communication data. A conversion step, a holding step in which the mail converted in the conversion step is temporarily held in the mail server, and an inquiry unit of the communication control apparatus periodically inquires of the mail server whether there is an incoming mail. Notification information indicating that the incoming mail is held in the mail server when the inquiry step and the notification means of the communication control device determine that the incoming mail is held in the mail server by the inquiry of the inquiry means As the mail server identification information for identifying the mail server and the mail address of the destination of the incoming mail. A notification step for transmitting to the receiving terminal specified by the receiving terminal specifying information stored in the storage means in association with the storage means, and the mail server based on the notification information transmitted by the receiving means by the receiving terminal A receiving step of connecting to the mail server based on the specific information and receiving an incoming mail addressed to the mail address from the mail server by wireless communication based on the mail address.

  In such a communication system of the present invention, when the transmission side terminal transmits the communication data in the first format, the conversion device converts the communication data in the first format into the communication data in the mail format, and the reception side terminal Is a communication system that receives wireless communication via a mail server. The communication method of the present invention is a communication method in the communication system. In this communication system and communication method, the communication control device periodically inquires of the mail server whether there is an incoming mail addressed to the mail address set in the receiving terminal. That is, the communication control device performs incoming mail presence / absence confirmation processing instead of the receiving terminal. Then, when the incoming mail addressed to the receiving terminal is held in the mail server, the communication control device displays notification information indicating that the incoming mail addressed to the receiving terminal is held in the mail server. The receiving terminal can connect to the mail server based on the notification information and receive an incoming mail addressed to the mail address.

  As described above, the receiving terminal does not have to perform the incoming mail presence / absence confirmation process by wireless communication. For this reason, it is possible to save limited communication resources for wireless communication between the receiving side terminal and the mail server by the amount that the receiving side terminal does not directly perform the incoming mail presence confirmation process. Can be used effectively. Further, contention with other communications that may occur during the processing can be avoided by the amount that the receiving terminal does not directly perform the incoming mail presence confirmation processing. In addition, since the power consumed at the receiving terminal for the incoming mail presence / absence confirmation processing can be reduced by the amount of not performing the processing, the limited battery capacity of the receiving terminal can be effectively utilized.

  The notification information includes mail server specifying information and a mail address. The receiving terminal can connect to the mail server based on the mail server identification information, and can receive an incoming mail addressed to the mail address based on the mail address. For this reason, for example, even when a plurality of mail addresses related to a plurality of mail servers are set in one receiving terminal, the receiving terminal determines that the mail in the mail server is based on the mail server specifying information and the mail address. Incoming mail for each address can be reliably received.

  In the communication system of the present invention, the communication data in the first format may be communication data for facsimile transmission / reception.

  When the communication data of the first format is communication data for facsimile transmission / reception, the communication system of the present invention functions as a wireless Internet fax communication system in which the receiving side terminal and the mail server are wirelessly connected. be able to.

  Further, in the communication system of the present invention, the communication control device, when there are a plurality of receiving side terminals, so that a predetermined number or less of receiving side terminals can be connected to one mail server at a certain time interval, It further comprises connection time determining means for determining the connection time of each receiving terminal to one mail server, and the notifying means includes connection time specifying information for specifying the connection time for each receiving terminal determined by the connecting time determining means. Each receiving side terminal may connect to one mail server at the time indicated by the connection time specifying information based on the connection time specifying information transmitted by the notification means. .

  According to the present invention, the connection time determination means connects each receiving terminal to the one mail server so that a predetermined number or less of receiving terminals can connect to one mail server at regular time intervals. Determine the time. When the connection time is represented in the connection time specifying information and transmitted to each receiving terminal, each receiving terminal connects to the one mail server at the time represented by the connection time specifying information. For this reason, it can be avoided that a large number of receiving terminals are simultaneously connected to one mail server and a congestion state occurs.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively utilize limited wireless communication resources.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a communication control device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. Further, the dimensional ratios in the drawings do not necessarily match those described.

  First, the configuration of an Internet FAX system 1 (communication system) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an Internet FAX system 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the Internet FAX system 1 includes a transmission-side FAX machine 10 (transmission-side terminal), a conversion device 20, a mail server 30, a communication control device 40, and a reception-side mobile phone 60 (reception-side terminal). Configured. In the Internet FAX system 1, communication data in the FAX format (first format) transmitted from the transmitting FAX machine 10 is converted into communication data in the mail format (second format), and the mail is sent via the mail server 30. And received by the receiving-side mobile phone 60 by wireless communication. The mail servers 30A, 30B, 30C and the like are collectively referred to as “mail server 30”, and the reception-side mobile phones 60A, 60B, and 60C are collectively referred to as “reception-side mobile phone 60”. Hereinafter, each component constituting the Internet FAX system 1 will be described in detail.

  The transmission-side FAX machine 10 is used when a user transmits a FAX document and is a so-called facsimile machine for Internet FAX communication. The transmission-side FAX machine 10 digitizes a user's document to generate FAX format communication data, and transmits the generated FAX format communication data to the conversion device 20. For convenience of explanation, FIG. 1 shows one transmission FAX machine 10, but a plurality of transmission FAX machines 10 may exist in the Internet FAX system 1.

  The conversion device 20 converts FAX format communication data received from the transmission side FAX machine 10 into mail format communication data. The conversion device 20 converts the communication data in the FAX format into image data in a predetermined format (for example, Tiff format), and generates an e-mail with the image data as an attached file. The conversion device 20 transmits the generated e-mail to the mail server 30 (a mail server that handles the e-mail, and one or more of the mail servers 30A, 30B, and 30C). In the present embodiment, the conversion device 20 and the transmission-side FAX machine 10 and the conversion device 20 and the mail server 30 are connected by a wired communication network.

  The mail server 30 temporarily holds the electronic mail received from the conversion device 20. The mail server 30 is physically a main storage device such as a CPU, RAM and ROM, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output device such as a display, a wired communication module such as a network card for wired communication, and wireless communication. (Not shown) including a wireless communication module such as a network card and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk. Each function of the mail server 30, which will be described later, allows a wired communication module, a wireless communication module, an input device, and an output device to be controlled under the control of the CPU by reading predetermined computer software on hardware such as a CPU and RAM. This is realized by operating and reading and writing data in the main storage device and the auxiliary storage device.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the mail server 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the mail server 30 functionally includes a reception unit 310, a confirmation unit 320, a transmission unit 330 and a storage unit 340.

  The receiving unit 310 receives an e-mail transmitted from the conversion device 20. The receiving unit 310 stores the received e-mail in the storage unit 340 in association with the e-mail address related to the e-mail. Further, the receiving unit 310 receives an arbitrary mail address from the communication control device 40 described later, and outputs the received mail address to the confirmation unit 320. The receiving unit 310 receives an arbitrary mail address from the receiving-side mobile phone 60 described later, and outputs the received mail address to the transmitting unit 330.

  The confirmation unit 320 inputs an arbitrary mail address from the reception unit 310 and confirms whether or not there is an electronic mail stored in the storage unit 340 in association with the mail address. The confirmation unit 320 outputs presence / absence status information, which is information indicating the presence / absence status of the electronic mail, to the transmission unit 330.

  The transmission unit 330 inputs presence / absence status information from the confirmation unit 320 and transmits the input presence / absence status information to the communication control device 40. In addition, the transmission unit 330 inputs an arbitrary mail address from the reception unit 310, and transmits an electronic mail associated with the input mail address and stored in the storage unit 340 to the reception-side mobile phone 60.

  In the storage unit 340, as described above, data is written and read by the reception unit 310, the confirmation unit 320, and the transmission unit 330.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the communication control device 40 inquires of the mail server 30 whether there is an incoming mail addressed to the receiving mobile phone 60 (addressed to the mail address set in the receiving mobile phone 60) (hereinafter “ Incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing ”) is performed instead of the receiving-side mobile phone 60. The communication control device 40 and the mail server 30 are connected via a wired communication network, and the communication control device 40 and the receiving-side mobile phone 60 are connected via a wireless communication network 50.

  FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the communication control device 40. As shown in FIG. 3, the communication control device 40 physically includes a CPU 41, a RAM 42 and a ROM 43, which are main storage devices, an input device 44 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output device 45 such as a display, and a wired communication device. The computer system includes a wired communication module 46 such as a network card, a wireless communication module 47 such as a network card for wireless communication, an auxiliary storage device 48 such as a hard disk, and the like. Each function of the communication control apparatus 40 to be described later reads predetermined computer software on hardware such as the CPU 41 and the RAM 42 shown in FIG. 3, thereby controlling the wired communication module 46 and the wireless communication module 47 under the control of the CPU 41. This is realized by operating the input device 44 and the output device 45 and reading and writing data in the RAM 42 and the auxiliary storage device 48.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of the communication control device 40. As shown in FIG. 4, the communication control device 40 includes an inquiry unit 410 (inquiry unit), a connection time determination unit 420 (connection time determination unit), an incoming call process activation signal transmission unit 430 (notification unit), and a storage unit 440 (storage). Means).

  The storage unit 440 includes receiving-side terminal specifying information for specifying the receiving-side mobile phone 60, a mail address set for the receiving-side mobile phone 60, and mail server specifying information for specifying the mail server associated with the mail address. In addition, information indicating a cycle in which the inquiry unit 410 performs an incoming mail presence / absence inquiry process is stored in association with each other. In the present embodiment, the telephone number of the receiving mobile phone 60 is used as the receiving terminal specifying information, and the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the mail server is used as the mail server specifying information.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in the storage unit 440. As shown in FIG. 5, as information related to the receiving-side mobile phone 60A, “090-aaa-aaaa” that is the telephone number of the receiving-side mobile phone 60A and the mail address “aaa @” set in the receiving-side mobile phone 60A mail.com ”, the URL of the mail server that handles the mail address“ www.mail.com ”, and the information indicating the period“ 3 minutes ”for performing the incoming mail presence / absence inquiry process for the mail address are associated with each other. Are stored in the same row. “Www.mail.com” is, for example, the URL of the mail server 30A in FIG.

  Similarly, “090-bbb-bbb”, “bbb@mail.com”, “www.mail.com”, and “2 minutes” are stored in association with each other on the receiving-side mobile phone 60B. Has been. Here, since two mail addresses are set in the receiving-side mobile phone 60B, in addition to the above information, “090-bbb-bbbbb”, “bbb@mail.co.jp”, and “www .Mail.co.jp "and" 5 minutes "are stored in association with each other. Similarly, for the receiving-side mobile phone 60C, “090-ccc-cccc”, “ccc@mail.co.jp”, “www.mail.co.jp”, “10 minutes”, Are stored in association with each other. Note that “www.mail.co.jp” is, for example, the URL of the mail server 30B in FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the inquiry unit 410 inquires of the mail server 30 whether there is an incoming mail addressed to the mail address set in the receiving-side mobile phone 60. The inquiry unit 410 refers to the data stored in the storage unit 440 and performs an incoming mail existence inquiry process for each mail address. Specifically, when referring to the data as shown in FIG. 5 described above, the inquiry unit 410 sends the mail address “aaa@mail.com” to “www.mail.com” at intervals of “3 minutes”. Thus, an incoming mail presence / absence inquiry process for the receiving-side mobile phone 60A whose telephone number is “090-aaa-aaaa” can be performed.

  Similarly, the inquiry unit 410 sends “bbb@mail.com” to “www.mail.com” at “2 minutes” intervals, and sends “bbb@mail.co.jp” to “www.mail.co”. .Jp ”at intervals of“ 5 minutes ”, the incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing for the mobile phone 60B on the receiving side whose telephone number is“ 090-bbb-bbbb ”can be performed. Similarly, the inquiry unit 410 sends “ccc@mail.co.jp” to “www.mail.co.jp” at intervals of “10 minutes”, so that the telephone number is “090-ccc-cccc”. Incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing for the receiving-side mobile phone 60C can be performed.

  The inquiry unit 410 sends the above information to each mail server 30 to make an inquiry, and then receives presence / absence status information for each mail address from each mail server 30. When the received presence / absence status information indicates that there is an incoming mail, the inquiry unit 410 connects the mail address, the telephone number of the receiving mobile phone, and the URL of the mail server to the connection time determination unit. Output to 420.

When the incoming mail addressed to an arbitrary mail address is stored in the mail server 30, the connection time determination unit 420 inquires about the mail address, the telephone number of the receiving mobile phone, and the URL of the mail server. Input from unit 410. The connection time determination unit 420 refers to the connection time management table stored in the storage unit 440, and the time at which the receiving mobile phone should connect to the mail server in order to receive an incoming mail addressed to the mail address Is to determine. The connection time determination unit 420 determines the connection time of each receiving mobile phone to the mail server so that only a predetermined number of receiving mobile phones can connect to one mail server at regular time intervals. In the present embodiment, “15 seconds” is set as the fixed time interval, and “300” is set as the predetermined number. The predetermined number is the maximum number of mails that can be delivered simultaneously by one mail server, and can be freely changed depending on, for example, whether the communication status is congested.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a connection time management table referred to by the connection time determination unit 420. This connection time management table is stored in the storage unit 440 for each mail server. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the connection time management table of FIG. 6 is the connection time management table related to the mail server 30A. As shown in FIG. 6, at “11:00:00” as the connection time, the maximum number of “300” receiving mobile phones has already been reserved for connection to the mail server 30A. Similarly, “10” receiving mobile phones are reserved at the connection time “11:00:15” and not yet reserved at the connection time “11:00:30”.

  The connection time determination unit 420 refers to the connection time management table when an incoming mail addressed to an arbitrary mail address is held in the mail server 30A, and is a future receiver that is the nearest future from the present time and has been reserved. A connection time when the number of mobile phones is less than the maximum value “300” is specified. For example, in the example of FIG. 6, when the current time is “10:59:52”, for example, the connection time determination unit 420 identifies “11:00:15” as the connection time. Connection time determination unit 420 then outputs connection time specifying information indicating the connection time, the mail address, the telephone number of the receiving mobile phone, and the URL of the mail server to incoming call processing activation signal transmission unit 430. To do.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the incoming call processing activation signal transmission unit 430 inputs connection time specifying information, a mail address, a telephone number of the receiving mobile phone, and a URL of the mail server from the connection time determination unit 420. The incoming call processing activation signal transmission unit 430 uses the received connection time specifying information, the mail address, the URL of the mail server (notification information) as an incoming call processing activation signal, and receives the received telephone of the receiving mobile phone. The data is transmitted to the receiving side mobile phone 60 specified by the number. The incoming call process activation signal transmission unit 430 transmits the incoming call process activation signal to the reception-side mobile phone 60 via the wireless communication network 50.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the receiving-side mobile phone 60 receives incoming mail addressed to the terminal itself based on the information received by the communication control device 40. The mobile phone 60 on the receiving side is physically a main storage device such as a CPU, RAM, and ROM, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output device such as a display, a wireless communication module for wireless communication, and an auxiliary device such as a hard disk. It is configured as a normal mobile phone including a storage device (not shown). Each function of the mail server 30, which will be described later, operates a wireless communication module, an input device, and an output device under the control of the CPU by reading predetermined computer software on hardware such as the CPU and RAM. This is realized by reading and writing data in the main storage device and the auxiliary storage device. The receiving-side mobile phone 60 is connected to the communication control device 40 and the mail server 30 via the wireless communication network 50.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of the receiving-side mobile phone 60. As shown in FIG. 7, the reception-side mobile phone 60 functionally includes an incoming call process activation signal receiving unit 610, an incoming call process activation control unit 620, a mail receiving unit 630, and a storage unit 640.

  The incoming call process activation signal receiving unit 610 receives connection time specifying information, a mail address, and a URL of the mail server from the communication control device 40 as an incoming call process activation signal via the wireless communication network 50. The incoming call processing activation signal receiving unit 610 associates each received information and stores it in the storage unit 640 as an incoming call processing activation signal.

  The incoming call process activation control unit 620 refers to the incoming call process activation signal stored in the storage unit 640, and at the connection time identified by the connection time identification information, the mail server identified by the URL, the wireless communication network 50 is established. The incoming call process activation control unit 620 outputs information indicating that a wireless communication session with the mail server has been established to the mail receiving unit 630.

  When receiving information indicating that a wireless communication session with the mail server has been established from the incoming call processing activation control unit 620, the mail receiving unit 630 stores the mail stored in the storage unit 640 in association with the URL of the mail server. An incoming mail addressed to the address is received via the wireless communication network 50.

  Next, operations (communication control method and communication method) performed by the Internet FAX system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the case where the incoming mail is not held in the mail server 30 (FIG. 8) and the case where the incoming mail is held in the mail server 30 (FIGS. 9 and 10) will be described separately. .

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the Internet FAX system 1 when the incoming mail is not yet held in the mail server 30 (when the sending FAX machine 10 has not yet sent the incoming mail). In the following description, it is assumed that data as illustrated in FIG. 5 is stored in the storage unit 440 of the communication control device 40. Further, it is assumed that the mail server whose URL is “www.mail.com” is the mail server 30A, and the mail server whose URL is “www.mail.co.jp” is the mail server 30B.

  First, the inquiry unit 410 of the communication control device 40 sends the mail address “aaa@mail.com” to the mail server 30A specified by the URL “www.mail.com”, so that the telephone number is “090-aaa-”. Incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing is performed on the receiving side mobile phone 60A that is “aaa” (step S1).

  In response to the incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing in step S1, the mail server 30A transmits presence / absence status information to the communication control device 40. Specifically, when the receiving unit 310 of the mail server 30A receives the mail address “aaa@mail.com”, the confirmation unit 320 of the mail server 30A associates the mail address “aaa@mail.com” with the storage unit 340. Check for stored emails. Then, the transmission unit 330 of the mail server 30A transmits presence / absence status information indicating that the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “aaa@mail.com” has not yet arrived, to the communication control device 40 (step S2).

  Next, the inquiry unit 410 of the communication control device 40 sends the mail address “bbb@mail.com” to the mail server 30A specified by the URL “www.mail.com”, and also the mail address “bbb@mail.co”. .Jp ”is sent to the mail server 30B specified by the URL“ www.mail.co.jp ”, and the incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing for the mobile phone 60B on the receiving side whose telephone number is“ 090-bbb-bbbb ”is performed. Perform (step S3).

  In response to the incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing in step S3, the mail server 30A and the mail server 30B transmit presence / absence status information to the communication control device 40. Specifically, when the receiving unit 310 of the mail server 30A receives the mail address “bbb@mail.com”, the confirmation unit 320 of the mail server 30A associates the mail address “bbb@mail.com” with the storage unit 340. Check for stored emails. Then, the transmission unit 330 of the mail server 30 </ b> A transmits presence / absence status information indicating that the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “bbb@mail.com” has not yet arrived, to the communication control device 40. Similarly, the mail server 30B also transmits presence / absence status information indicating that the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “bbb@mail.co.jp” has not yet arrived, to the communication control device 40 (step S4).

  The processing of step S1 to step S4 is repeated for other receiving-side mobile phones such as the receiving-side mobile phone 60C whose telephone number is “090-ccc-cccc”, for example.

  Next, after 3 minutes (see the column “Inquiry cycle” in the fifth column in FIG. 5) after the process of step S1, the inquiry unit 410 of the communication control device 40 receives the telephone number “090-aaa-”. Incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing for the mobile phone 60A on the receiving side of “aaa” is performed again (step S5). In response to the incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing in step S5, the mail server 30A again sends presence / absence status information indicating that the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “aaa@mail.com” has not yet arrived to the communication control device 40. Transmit (step S6).

  The processing of step S5 to step S6 is repeatedly performed for other receiving-side mobile phones such as the receiving-side mobile phone 60B and the receiving-side mobile phone 60C.

  Next, a case where an incoming mail is sent from the transmitting FAX machine 10 and held in the mail server 30 will be described. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the Internet FAX system 1 in this case. In the following description, it is assumed that the user of the transmitting FAX machine 10 transmits facsimile data to the mail address “aaa@mail.com”.

  First, the user's document is digitized by the transmitting FAX machine 10 to generate FAX format communication data, and the generated FAX format communication data is transmitted to the conversion device 20 (step S11).

  Next, the conversion device 20 converts the FAX format communication data received from the transmission side FAX machine 10 into mail format communication data, and transmits the e-mail to the mail server 30A (step S12).

  Next, the e-mail received from the conversion device 20 in step S12 is temporarily stored in the mail server 30A. Specifically, the e-mail received from the receiving unit 310 of the mail server 30A is associated with the mail address and stored in the storage unit 340 (step S13).

  Next, the inquiry unit 410 of the communication control device 40 sends the mail address “aaa@mail.com” to the mail server 30A specified by the URL “www.mail.com”, so that the telephone number is “090-aaa”. Incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing to the receiving-side mobile phone 60A that is “-aaa” ”is performed (step S14).

  In response to the incoming mail presence / absence inquiry processing in step S14, the mail server 30A transmits presence / absence status information to the communication control device 40. In step S13, since the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “aaa@mail.com” is already held in the mail server 30, the transmission unit 330 of the mail server 30A sends the mail address “aaa@mail.com” addressed. Presence / absence status information indicating that the incoming mail has already arrived is transmitted to the communication control device 40 (step S15).

  When the communication control device 40 receives presence / absence status information indicating that there is an incoming mail, the connection time determination unit 420 of the communication control device 40 refers to a connection time management table (for example, FIG. 6) stored in the storage unit 440. Then, in order for the receiving mobile phone 60A to receive the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “aaa@mail.com”, the time to be connected to the mail server 30A specified by the URL “www.mail.com” is determined. (Step S16). Hereinafter, this processing is referred to as “time determination processing”.

  Here, the time determination process performed by the connection time determination unit 420 of the communication control device 40 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the time determination process. The connection time management table in FIG. 6 is a connection time management table related to the mail server 30A.

  First, when it is confirmed in step S15 that the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “aaa@mail.com” is held in the mail server 30A, the connection time determination unit 420 of the communication control device 40 determines the mail address. “Aaa@mail.com”, the telephone number “090-aaa-aaaa” of the receiving mobile phone 60A in which the mail address “aaa@mail.com” is set, and the URL “www. mail.com "is input from the inquiry unit 410 (step S161).

  Next, for example, the connection time determination unit 420 selects a future time closest to the current time among the connection times shown in the first column of FIG. 6 as a connection time candidate. If the current time is, for example, “10:59:52”, the connection time determination unit 420 selects “11:00:00” as a connection time candidate (step S162).

  Next, the connection time determination unit 420 identifies the number of reception-side mobile phones already reserved for the connection time candidates selected in step S162 with reference to, for example, the second column of FIG. When “11:00:00” is selected as the connection time candidate, “300” is specified as the number of reserved receiving-side mobile phones. Then, the connection time determination unit 420 determines whether the number is less than a predetermined threshold “300” (step S163).

  If it is determined in step S163 that the number of reserved reception-side mobile phones is not less than the threshold value “300” (step S163: NO), the process flow returns to step S162. In this case, for example, the current time is “10:59:52”, “11:00:00” is selected as the connection time candidate, and the number of reserved mobile phones on the receiving side is reserved. This is a case where “300” is specified. When the flow of processing returns to step S162, the future connection time closest to the previously selected connection time candidate is selected as the next connection time candidate. In the case described above, “11:00:15” is reselected as a candidate for the next connection time.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S163 that the number of reserved mobile phones on the receiving side is less than the threshold value “300” (step S163: YES), the connection time determination unit 420 receives the reserved reception. It is determined whether or not the receiving side mobile phone includes the receiving side mobile phone 60A (step S164). This determination is made by determining whether or not the telephone number of the receiving mobile phone 60A and the URL of the mail server 30A handling the mail address set in the receiving mobile phone 60A are already reserved. Done. That is, when “11:00:15” is selected as the connection time candidate, and the number of receiving mobile phones already reserved at that time is “10”, the connection time determination unit 420 Then, it is determined whether or not the ten receiving mobile phones include the receiving mobile phone 60A.

  If it is determined in step S164 that the receiving mobile phone 60A is included in the 10 receiving mobile phones reserved (step S164: YES), the connection time determination unit 420 performs time determination processing. finish. This case corresponds to, for example, a case where incoming mails that have arrived in the past have not yet been received. However, when receiving past incoming mails, new incoming mails may be received together.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S164 that the receiving mobile phone 60A is not included in the 10 receiving mobile phones reserved (step S164: NO), the connection time determining unit 420 The connection time candidate selected in S162 (or the connection time candidate reselected in Step S162) is determined as the true connection time (Step S165).

  Next, the connection time determination unit 420 increments the number of reserved receiving-side mobile phones by one. That is, when “11:00:15” is determined as the connection time, the connection time determination unit 420 sets data corresponding to the connection time “11:00:15” in the second column of FIG. “10” is changed to “11” (step S166).

  Next, the connection time determination unit 420 sets the connection time specifying information indicating the true connection time determined in step S165, the mail address “aaa@mail.com”, the telephone number “090-aaa-aaa”, In association with the URL “www.mail.com”, it is output to the incoming call processing activation signal transmitter 430 (step S167).

  The time determination process performed by the connection time determination unit 420 of the communication control device 40 has been described above.

  Next, returning to FIG. 9, the incoming call processing activation signal transmission unit 430 receives connection time specifying information indicating the determined connection time, the mail address “aaa@mail.com” from the connection time determination unit 420, and Enter the telephone number “090-aaa-aaaa” of the receiving mobile phone 60A and the URL “www.mail.com” of the mail server 30A. The incoming call process activation signal transmission unit 430 uses the input connection time specifying information, the mail address “aaa@mail.com”, and the URL “www.mail.com” of the mail server 30A as an incoming call process activation signal. The received telephone number “090-aaa-aaaa” is transmitted to the receiving-side mobile phone 60A specified by the received telephone number “090-aaa-aaaa” (step S17).

  Next, when the receiving-side mobile phone 60A receives the incoming call process activation signal transmitted in step S17, a wireless communication session related to the wireless communication network 50 is established based on the incoming call process activation signal. Specifically, the incoming call process activation control unit 620 of the receiving-side mobile phone 60A is connected to the mail server 30A identified by the URL at the connection time identified by the connection time identification information based on the incoming call process activation signal. Then, a wireless communication session related to the wireless communication network 50 is established (step S18).

  Next, the mail receiving unit 630 requests the mail server 30A to distribute the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “aaa@mail.com” via the wireless communication network 50 in which the wireless communication session is established (step S19). ), The mail server 30A distributes the incoming mail addressed to the mail address “aaa@mail.com” via the wireless communication network 50 based on the distribution request (step S20).

  Next, functions and effects of the Internet FAX system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. In the Internet FAX system 1 of the present embodiment, when the transmitting FAX machine 10 transmits FAX format communication data, the conversion device 20 converts the data into mail format communication data, and the receiving side mobile phone 60 receives the e-mail. It is a communication system that receives wireless communication via the mail server 30. The communication control device 40 is provided in this communication system. In the Internet FAX system 1, the communication control device 40 periodically inquires of the mail server 30 whether there is an incoming mail addressed to a mail address set in the receiving-side mobile phone 60. That is, the communication control device 40 performs incoming mail presence / absence confirmation processing instead of the reception-side mobile phone 60. When the incoming mail addressed to the receiving-side mobile phone 60 is held in the mail server 30, the communication control device 40 transmits notification information (incoming process start signal) indicating that to the receiving-side mobile phone 60. The receiving-side mobile phone 60 can connect to the mail server 30 based on the notification information and receive an incoming mail addressed to the mail address.

  As a result, the receiving-side mobile phone 60 does not have to perform the incoming mail presence confirmation process by wireless communication. For this reason, it becomes possible to save the limited communication resources of the wireless communication between the receiving side mobile phone 60 and the mail server 30 as much as the receiving side mobile phone 60 does not directly perform the incoming mail presence confirmation process. The wireless communication resource can be effectively utilized. Further, contention with other communications that may occur during the processing can be avoided by the amount that the receiving-side mobile phone 60 does not directly perform the incoming mail presence confirmation processing. In addition, since the power consumed in the receiving mobile phone 60 for the incoming mail presence / absence confirmation processing can be reduced by the amount of the processing not being performed, the limited battery capacity of the receiving mobile phone 60 can be effectively utilized. it can.

  The notification information includes mail server specifying information (URL) and a mail address. The receiving-side mobile phone 60 can connect to the mail server 30 based on the mail server identification information, and can receive an incoming mail addressed to the mail address based on the mail address. For this reason, for example, even when a plurality of e-mail addresses related to a plurality of mail servers 30 are set in one receiving-side mobile phone 60, the receiving-side mobile phone 60 determines that the The incoming mail for each mail address in the mail server 30 can be reliably received.

  In addition, the connection time determination unit 420 can connect the one mail server 30 of each receiving mobile phone 60 so that a predetermined number or less of the receiving mobile phones 60 can be connected to one mail server 30 at regular time intervals. Determine the connection time. When the connection time is represented in the connection time specifying information and transmitted to each receiving mobile phone 60, each receiving mobile phone 60 connects to the one mail server 30 at the time indicated by the connection time specifying information. . For this reason, it can be avoided that a large number of receiving-side mobile phones 60 are simultaneously connected to one mail server 30 and a congestion state occurs.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the said embodiment.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the transmission-side FAX machine 10 and the conversion device 20 are configured as separate devices. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the conversion device 20 is provided in the transmission-side FAX machine 10. You may do it.

  In the above embodiment, the receiving mobile phone 60 requests the mail server 30 to distribute incoming mail, but the communication control device 40 performs this distribution request processing instead of the receiving mobile phone 60. In this way, the communication control device 40 may pass the incoming mail distributed from the mail server 30 to the receiving-side mobile phone 60.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an Internet FAX system 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a mail server 30. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a communication control device 40. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication control device 40. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in a storage unit 440 of the communication control device 40. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in a storage unit 440 of the communication control device 40. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a receiving-side mobile phone 60. FIG. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of the Internet FAX system 1. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of the Internet FAX system 1. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the Internet FAX system 1;

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Internet FAX system, 10 ... Transmission side FAX machine, 20 ... Conversion apparatus, 30, 30A, 30B, 30C ... Mail server, 310 ... Reception part, 320 ... Confirmation part, 330 ... Transmission part, 340 ... Storage part, 40 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Communication control apparatus 410 ... Inquiry part 420 ... Connection time determination part 430 ... Incoming process starting signal transmission part 440 ... Storage part 50 ... Wireless communication network 60, 60A, 60B, 60C ... Receiving side mobile phone, 610: Incoming process activation signal receiving unit, 620: Incoming process activation control unit, 630 ... Mail receiving unit, 640 ... Storage unit.

Claims (6)

Communication in a communication system in which communication data in a first format transmitted from a transmission side terminal is converted into communication data in a mail format that is a second format, and the mail is received by a reception side terminal by wireless communication via a mail server A control device,
Storage means for storing the receiving terminal specifying information for specifying the receiving terminal and the mail address set in the receiving terminal in association with each other;
Inquiry means for periodically inquiring of the mail server whether there is an incoming mail;
When it is determined by the inquiry from the inquiry means that the incoming mail is held in the mail server, notification information indicating that the incoming mail is held in the mail server is displayed as the destination of the incoming mail. A notification means for transmitting to the receiving side terminal specified by the receiving side terminal specifying information stored in the storage means in association with the mail address;
A communication control apparatus comprising: A transmitting terminal that transmits communication data in a first format;
A conversion device that converts communication data in the first format into communication data in a mail format that is the second format;
A mail server that temporarily holds the mail;
A receiving terminal that receives the mail held in the mail server by wireless communication;
Storage means for storing the receiving-side terminal specifying information for specifying the receiving-side terminal and the mail address set in the receiving-side terminal in association with each other, and the presence / absence of an incoming mail is periodically sent to the mail server. Inquiry means for inquiring, and when it is determined that the incoming mail is held in the mail server by an inquiry from the inquiry means, as notification information indicating that the incoming mail is held in the mail server, The mail server specifying information for specifying the mail server and the mail address of the destination of the incoming mail are transmitted to the receiving terminal specified by the receiving terminal specifying information stored in the storage means in association with the mail address. A communication control device comprising:
With
The receiving terminal connects to the mail server based on the mail server identification information based on the notification information transmitted by the notification means, and receives an incoming mail addressed to the mail address based on the mail address. A communication system.   3. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the communication data in the first format is communication data for facsimile transmission / reception. The communication control device includes:
When there are a plurality of receiving side terminals, the connection time of each receiving side terminal to the one mail server is set so that a predetermined number or less of receiving side terminals can be connected to one mail server at regular time intervals. A connection time determining means for determining;
The notification means transmits connection time specifying information for specifying a connection time for each receiving terminal determined by the connection time determining means to each receiving terminal,
Each of the receiving side terminals connects to the one mail server at a time represented by the connection time specifying information based on the connection time specifying information transmitted by the notification means. Item 4. The communication system according to Item 3. Provided in a communication system in which communication data in a first format transmitted from a transmission side terminal is converted into communication data in a mail format that is a second format, and the mail is received by a reception side terminal by wireless communication via a mail server A communication control method in a communication control apparatus, comprising:
An inquiry step in which the inquiry means periodically inquires of the mail server whether there is an incoming mail;
When the notification means determines that the incoming mail is held in the mail server by the inquiry from the inquiry means, the notification information indicating that the incoming mail is held in the mail server, A notification step of transmitting to the receiving terminal specified by the receiving terminal specifying information stored in the storage means in association with the destination mail address of the incoming mail;
A communication control method comprising: A transmitting step in which the transmitting terminal transmits communication data in the first format;
A conversion step in which the conversion device converts the communication data in the first format into communication data in the mail format which is the second format;
A holding step in which the mail converted in the conversion step is temporarily held in a mail server;
Inquiry means of the communication control device periodically inquires the mail server for the presence of incoming mail,
The notifying means of the communication control device indicates that the incoming mail is held in the mail server when it is determined by the inquiry from the inquiry means that the incoming mail is held in the mail server. As the notification information, the mail server specifying information for specifying the mail server and the mail address of the destination of the incoming mail are specified by the receiving terminal specifying information stored in the storage means in association with the mail address. A notification step to send to the device;
Based on the notification information transmitted by the notification means, the receiving terminal connects to the mail server based on the mail server identification information, and wirelessly sends an incoming mail addressed to the mail address based on the mail address. Receiving from the mail server by communication;
A communication method comprising:

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