JP2009110122A - Content providing system and content providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

A content providing system and a content providing method capable of quickly acquiring content regardless of which content providing terminal a user uses.
A content providing system (100) provides a content providing terminal (160) for transmitting content held by itself to a content acquisition terminal (170) for acquiring content, a content server (140) for storing content, and content provision from the content server (140). A content transfer device 130 for transferring content to the terminal 160, a user identification device 110 that can be moved together with the user, and a user recognition device 120 that detects whether or not communication with the user identification device 110 is possible. The content transfer device 130 starts transferring content when the user recognition device 120 becomes communicable with the user identification device 110.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a content providing system and a content providing method for providing content, and in particular, to a content providing system for transmitting content from a content providing terminal such as a kiosk terminal to a content acquisition terminal carried by a user, and to be used in this system The present invention relates to a user recognition device, a content transfer device, a content server, a content providing terminal, a content acquisition terminal, and a content providing method.

  In recent years, services that provide content such as music data via so-called kiosk terminals installed in stores and streets have attracted attention. A terminal that provides such content (hereinafter referred to as a “content providing terminal”) acquires content from a content server on the network, receives the operation from the user, and acquires the content acquired from the content server. Send to the terminal. Such a content providing system is suitable for providing services that have a high relevance to the acquisition location, etc., when there is a problem with a service that requires billing or when communication speed and safety are a problem in a general home network connection environment. Therefore, the spread is accelerating in a wide range of fields. In the future, high-speed short-range communication such as UWB (ultra wideband) and optical communication will be used for content transmission from the content providing terminal to the content acquisition terminal, and the convenience at the time of content acquisition will increase and become more popular. It is expected that.

  Normally, a content providing terminal is used by an unspecified number of users, and there are a wide variety of contents to be provided. Therefore, only content determined to be transmitted to the content acquisition terminal is downloaded from the content server ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the content providing system described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. 18, first, a user carrying the content acquisition terminal 1 arrives in front of the content providing terminal 2 (S11), and subsequently, content search and selection are performed by a user operation (S12). When content is selected, the content acquisition terminal 1 requests the content providing terminal 2 to provide the selected content (S13). When content provision is requested, the content provision terminal 2 requests the content server 3 to start downloading the content requested to be provided (S14), and downloads the content (S15). Then, the content providing terminal 2 completes the download of the content (S16), and transmits the downloaded content to the content acquisition terminal 1 (S17). The content acquisition terminal 1 stores the received content in its own content database (DB) and completes the acquisition of the content (S18).

  However, the content providing system described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that it takes time until the content acquisition is completed after the user arrives in front of the content providing terminal 2. If the time required for content acquisition is long, it takes a long time for each user to occupy the content providing terminal, and the system is not easy to use.

  In particular, when a communication method with a high communication speed such as millimeter wave UWB is adopted for data transfer from the content providing terminal to the content acquisition terminal, the time required for exchange on the wide area network side becomes relatively long and high speed. The merit of communication is impaired.

  Therefore, a system has been proposed in which the content that the user wants to acquire is selected before arriving in front of the content providing terminal 2 and the selection result is stored in the content server as a content reservation (for example, Patent Document 2).

  FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the content providing system described in Patent Document 2. As shown in FIG. 19, first, the user of the content acquisition terminal 1 makes a reservation for the content stored in the content server 3 by some means, such as accessing the content server 3 via the network, and acquires the content. A content providing terminal is designated (S21). When any content is reserved, the content server 3 downloads the reserved content together with the user identifier to the designated content providing terminal (S22). The content providing terminal 2 stores the reserved content downloaded from the content server 3 in the content database of its own device in association with the user identifier (S23). In this state, when the content acquisition terminal 1 arrives in front of the content providing terminal 2 (S24) and a content request including a user identifier is made to the content providing terminal 2 (S25), the content providing terminal 2 The content associated with the user identifier is read from the content database of its own device and transmitted to the content acquisition terminal 1 (S26). Thereby, the content acquisition of the content acquisition terminal 1 is completed (S27).

Comparing FIG. 18 with FIG. 19, in FIG. 19, the processing of steps S12, S14, and S15 of FIG. 18 is performed ahead of time, and content acquisition is completed after the user arrives in front of the content providing terminal 2 It can be seen that the time until the process is shortened by these processes. That is, by specifying the content and the content providing terminal in advance and downloading the specified content to the specified content providing terminal in advance, the time for each user to occupy the content providing terminal can be reduced. Can do.
JP 2002-352102 A JP 2002-15193 A

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 2 has a problem that the above-described quick content acquisition can be performed only by a content providing terminal designated in advance. Therefore, when trying to acquire content from a passing content providing terminal or when the specification of the content providing terminal is wrong, the content acquisition is completed after the user arrives in front of the content providing terminal. Cannot be shortened.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content providing system and a content providing method capable of quickly acquiring content regardless of which content providing terminal the user uses. .

  The content transfer system according to the present invention includes a content providing terminal that transmits content held by itself to a content acquisition terminal that acquires content, a content server that stores the content, and a content that is transmitted from the content server to the content providing terminal. A content providing system for transferring, a user identification device movable with a user, and a user recognition device for detecting whether or not communication with the user identification device is possible Further, the content transfer device has a configuration in which content transfer is started when the user recognition device becomes communicable with the user identification device.

  The content providing method of the present invention includes a user recognition step of detecting that the user of the content acquisition terminal is approaching the content providing terminal that transmits the content held by the own apparatus to the content acquisition terminal that acquires the content; A content transfer start step for starting transfer of content from a content server storing content to the content providing terminal when it is detected that a user of the content acquisition terminal is approaching the content providing terminal; .

  According to the present invention, when the user of the content acquisition terminal is approaching the content providing terminal, content transfer can be started to the content providing terminal. Can be done quickly.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a configuration of a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specific application examples of the present invention will be described later as examples.

  In FIG. 1, the content providing system 100 includes a user identification device 110, a user recognition device 120, a content transfer device 130, a content server 140, a user reservation terminal 150, a content provision terminal 160, and a content acquisition terminal 170.

  The user recognition device 120, the content transfer device 130, the content server 140, the user reservation terminal 150, and the content providing terminal 160 are connected to the network 180, respectively. The user identification device 110 and the content acquisition terminal 170 are carried by the user 190 and move together with the user 190. The user recognition device 120 is a place where the user 190 passes when approaching the content providing terminal 160 and is located at a relatively close distance from the content providing terminal 160.

  The user identification device 110 stores in advance the user identifier of the user 190 who receives the provision of content, and when communication is established with the user recognition device 120 or after communication is established, the user identification device 110 receives information from the user recognition device 120 described later. Upon receiving the request, the user identifier to be stored is transmitted by wireless communication.

  The user recognition device 120 performs wireless communication with the user identification device 110 located in the wireless communication range of the own device, and acquires the user identifier of the user identification device 110. Then, the user identification device 120 transmits recognition information including the acquired user identifier and the device identifier of the own device to the content transfer device 130 via the network 180.

  The content transfer apparatus 130 specifies the content acquisition terminal 170 to which the content reserved for provision by the user 190 (hereinafter referred to as “reserved content”) should be transferred from the received recognition information. Then, the content transfer device 130 transmits transfer information including the received user identifier and the identified terminal identifier of the content acquisition terminal 170 to the content server 140 via the network 180.

  Note that the transfer information may also be transmitted from a content providing terminal 160 described later, and the transfer information in this case further includes a content identifier of the content. The transfer information including the content identifier will be described later.

  The content server 140 stores a plurality of contents to be provided in advance and accepts a reservation for providing arbitrary contents to the user 190. Then, the content server 140 identifies the reserved content of the user 190 from the received transfer information, and uses the reserved content and the user identifier included in the transfer information as content data, and the terminal identifier included in the transfer information is To the content acquisition terminal 170 shown.

  The user reservation terminal 150 makes a reservation for providing any content from among a plurality of contents stored in the content server 140 to the content server 140 in response to an operation by the user 190.

  The content providing terminal 160 temporarily stores the received reserved content. Then, the content providing terminal 160 transmits the reserved content to the content acquisition terminal 170 via a PAN (personal area network) 200 at a predetermined timing or in response to a request from the content acquisition terminal 170 described later.

  The content acquisition terminal 170 acquires reserved content from the content providing terminal 160 via the PAN 200, and stores the acquired reserved content.

  In such a content providing system 100, first, provision of provision of content previously associated with a user identifier is performed by an operation of the user reservation terminal 140 by the user 190 (arrow 301). After that, when the user 190 approaches the content providing terminal 160, the user identifier is transmitted with the establishment of communication between the user identification device 110 and the user recognition device 120 or after the communication is established (arrow). 302), the position information is transmitted to the content transfer device 130 (arrow 303), and the transfer information is transmitted to the content server 140 (arrow 304). Then, the reserved content of the user 190 is transmitted from the content server to the content providing terminal 160 arranged near the user recognition device 120. Then, when the user 190 further moves to reach the content providing terminal 160 and the PAN 200 is formed between the content providing terminal 160 and the content acquisition terminal 170, the reserved content whose transfer has been started in advance is Is transmitted to the content acquisition terminal 170 (arrow 305).

  That is, in the content providing system 100, when the user 190 is approaching the content providing terminal 160, the content transfer to the content providing terminal 160 can be started. Can be done quickly.

  Next, the configuration of each device of the content providing system 100 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the user identification device 110.

  In FIG. 2, the user identification device 110 includes a user identifier storage unit 111, a wireless communication unit 112, and a user identifier transmission unit 113.

  The user identifier storage unit 111 stores in advance the user identifier of the user 190 of the own apparatus.

  The wireless communication unit 112 performs wireless communication with the user recognition device 120.

  The user identifier transmission unit 113 transmits the user identifier stored in the user identifier storage unit 111 to the user recognition device 120 via the wireless communication unit 112. Specifically, the user identifier transmission unit 113 transmits the user identifier transmitted from the user recognition device 120 at the timing when the wireless connection is established with the user recognition device 120 or after the wireless connection is established. When a signal requesting transmission is received, a user identifier is transmitted.

  In this way, the user identification device 110 is triggered by the establishment of communication with the user recognition device 120 or after the communication is established, with respect to the user recognition device 120, the user 190 of the own device. The user identifier is transmitted.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the user recognition device 120.

  3, the user recognition device 120 includes a device identifier storage unit 121, a wireless communication unit 122, a network communication unit 123, a user identifier reception unit 124, and a recognition information transmission unit 125.

  The device identifier storage unit 121 stores device identification information of its own device in advance.

  The wireless communication unit 122 performs wireless communication with the user identification device 110.

  The network communication unit 123 is connected to the network 180 and communicates with other devices connected to the network 180.

  The user identifier receiving unit 124 acquires a user identifier from the user identification device 110 via the wireless communication unit 122. Specifically, the user identifier receiving unit 124 receives the user identifier transmitted from the user identification device 110 after establishing a wireless connection with the user identification device 110. Alternatively, after the wireless connection is established with the user identification device 110, the user identifier reception unit 124 sends a signal requesting transmission of the user identifier to the user recognition device 120. The user identifier sent from the user identification device 110 is received as a response to. When receiving the user identifier, the user identifier receiving unit 124 passes the received user identifier to the recognition information transmitting unit 125.

  When receiving the user identifier, the recognition information transmitting unit 125 reads the device identifier of the own device from the device identifier storage unit 121, and creates recognition information including the received user identifier and the read device identifier. Then, the recognition information transmission unit 125 transmits the created recognition information to the content transfer device 130 via the network communication unit 123.

  In this way, the recognition information transmission unit 125 receives the user identifier, that is, when communication is established with the user identification device 110, the user identifier and the device identifier of the own device, It has the structure which transmits to the content transfer apparatus 130 as recognition information.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the content transfer apparatus 130.

  In FIG. 4, the content transfer device 130 includes a location table storage unit 131, a network communication unit 132, a recognition information reception unit 133, and a content transfer control unit 134.

  The location table storage unit 131 stores in advance a location table in which the terminal identifier of the content providing terminal 160 is associated with the device identifier of the user recognition device 120.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the position table stored in the position table storage unit 131.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the position table 310 associates the terminal identifier 312 of the content providing terminal 160 with the device identifier 311 of the user recognition device 120 arranged in the vicinity of the content providing terminal 160. That is, the position table 310 stores, for each user recognition device 120, one or a plurality of content providing terminals 160 that can be predicted by the user 190 from the user recognition device 120, that is, the reserved content of the user 190. The content providing terminal 160 to be transferred is defined.

  For example, in the table 310 shown in FIG. 5, the device identifier 311 of “first user recognition device” is associated with the terminal identifier 312 of “first content providing terminal”. This corresponds to the fact that when the user 190 carrying the user identification device 110 passes the vicinity of the first user identification device, the user 190 is approaching the first content providing terminal 160, that is. This indicates that the reserved content should be transferred to the first content providing terminal 160.

  A network communication unit 132 in FIG. 4 is connected to the network 180 and communicates with other devices connected to the network 180.

  The recognition information receiving unit 133 receives the recognition information transmitted from the user recognition device 120 via the network communication unit 132 and passes the received recognition information to the content transfer control unit 134.

  When the content transfer control unit 134 receives the recognition information, the content transfer control unit 134 refers to the position table 310 and specifies a terminal identifier corresponding to the device identifier included in the recognition information. Then, the content transfer control unit 134 creates transfer information including the identified terminal identifier and the user identifier included in the received recognition information, and the created recognition information is sent to the content server 140 via the network communication unit 132. Send to.

  As described above, when receiving the recognition information, the content transfer device 130 uses the user identifier and the terminal identifiers of one or more content providing terminals 160 that can predict the use of the corresponding user 190 as the transfer information. The content server 140 is configured to transmit.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the content server 140.

  6, the content server 140 includes a content database 141, a network communication unit 142, a reservation receiving unit 143, a reservation table storage unit 144, a transfer information receiving unit 145, and a content transmitting unit 146.

  The content database 141 stores a plurality of contents to be provided to the user 190 in advance.

  The network communication unit 142 is connected to the network 180 and communicates with other devices connected to the network 180.

  The reservation receiving unit 143 receives a reservation for providing arbitrary content to the user 190 from another device via the network communication unit 142, and obtains the content identifier of the reserved content and the user identifier of the user 190 who made the reservation. Create an associated reservation table.

  The reservation table storage unit 144 stores a reservation table created by the reservation receiving unit 143.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the reservation table stored in the reservation table storage unit 144.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the reservation table 320, the content identifier 321 of the content stored in the content database 141 is associated with the user identifier 322 of the user 190 who reserved the provision of the content indicated by the content identifier 321. .

  The transfer information receiving unit 145 in FIG. 6 receives the transfer information sent from the content transfer apparatus 130 via the network communication unit 142 and passes the received transfer information to the content transmitting unit 146.

  When the content transmission unit 146 receives the transfer information, the content transmission unit 146 transfers the content according to the received transfer information. Specifically, the content transmission unit 146 acquires the content identifier 321 corresponding to the user identifier included in the received transfer information, and reads the content indicated by the acquired content identifier 321 from the content database 141 as reserved content. Then, the content transmission unit 146 uses the read reserved content and the user identifier included in the received transfer information as content data, and the terminal identifier included in the received transfer information via the network communication unit 142. To the content providing terminal 160 shown.

  As described above, when the content server 140 receives the transfer information, the content server 140 transmits the user information and the reserved content corresponding to the user information to one or a plurality of content providing terminals 160 that can predict the use of the corresponding user 190. It has a configuration.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the content providing terminal.

  In FIG. 8, the content providing terminal 160 includes a terminal identifier storage unit 161, a network communication unit 162, a content reception unit 163, a provided content storage unit 164, a PAN communication unit 165, a user identifier reception unit 166, and a content transmission unit 167. Have.

  The terminal identifier storage unit 161 stores the terminal identifier of the own terminal in advance.

  The network communication unit 162 is connected to the network 180 and communicates with other devices connected to the network 180.

  The content receiving unit 163 receives the content data transmitted from the content server 140 via the network communication unit 162 and stores the received content data in the provided content storage unit 164.

  The provided content storage unit 164 temporarily stores the content data stored by the content receiving unit 163 until, for example, transmission to the content acquisition terminal 170 that is a content providing destination is completed.

  The PAN communication unit 165 forms a PAN using, for example, millimeter wave UWB with the content acquisition terminal 170 located within its own communication area, and performs short-range wireless communication with the content acquisition terminal 170.

  The user identifier receiving unit 166 acquires a user identifier from the content acquisition terminal 170 via the PAN communication unit 165. Specifically, the user identifier receiving unit 166 receives the user identifier transmitted from the content acquisition terminal 170 at the timing when the wireless connection is established with the content acquisition terminal 170. Alternatively, after the wireless connection is established with the content acquisition terminal 170, the user identifier reception unit 166 transmits a signal requesting transmission of the user identifier, and is transmitted from the content acquisition terminal 170 as a response to this signal. Receive a user identifier. When receiving the user identifier, the user identifier receiving unit 166 passes the received user identifier to the content transmitting unit 167.

  When the content transmission unit 167 receives the user identifier as a request for content transmission, the content transmission unit 167 reads the content corresponding to the received user identifier from the provided content storage unit 164, and the read content is transmitted via the PAN communication unit 165. It transmits to the content acquisition terminal 170.

  As described above, when the content providing terminal 160 receives the user identifier from the content acquisition terminal 170, that is, when the content acquisition terminal 170 comes before the content providing terminal 160, the corresponding content already stored in its own device. The content is read and returned.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the content acquisition terminal.

  In FIG. 9, the content acquisition terminal 170 includes a user identifier storage unit 171, a PAN communication unit 172, a user identifier transmission unit 173, a content reception unit 174, and an acquisition content storage unit 175.

  The user identifier storage unit 171 stores in advance the user identifier of the user 190 of the own apparatus. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the user identifier stored in the user identifier storage unit 171 is the same as the user identifier stored in the user identifier device 110. Even when the user identifier of the user identifier 110 and the user identifier of the content acquisition terminal 170 are different, they can be converted into each other by associating them with each user 190.

  The PAN communication unit 172 forms a PAN using, for example, millimeter wave UWB with the content providing terminal 160 located within its own communication range, and performs short-range wireless communication with the content providing terminal 160.

  The user identifier transmission unit 173 transmits the user identifier stored in the user identifier storage unit 171 to the content providing terminal 160 via the PAN communication unit 172. Specifically, the user identifier transmission unit 173 transmits the user identifier transmitted from the content providing terminal 160 at the timing when the wireless connection is established with the content providing terminal 160 or after the wireless connection is established. A user identifier is transmitted when a signal requesting is received.

  The content receiving unit 174 receives the content transmitted from the content providing terminal 160 via the PAN communication unit 172, and stores the received content in the acquired content storage unit 175.

  The acquired content storage unit 175 holds the content stored by the content receiving unit 174 in a readable state.

  In this way, the content acquisition terminal 170 acquires the content desired by the user 190 of the own device from the content providing terminal 160.

  Each device described above is not shown, but a CPU (central processing unit), a storage medium such as a ROM (read only memory) storing a control program and a hard disk, a working memory such as a RAM (random access memory), And a communication circuit. When the CPU executes the control program, the functions of the above-described units are realized.

  Next, the operation of each device of the content providing system 100 will be described using a sequence diagram showing the operation of the entire content providing system 100 and a flowchart showing the operation of the device unit.

  FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the content providing system 100 as a whole.

  As illustrated in FIG. 10, when the content server 140 receives a content provision reservation from the user reservation terminal 150, the content server 140 updates the reservation table 320 in a form that associates the reserved user identifier of the user 190 with the reserved content. (S1100).

  After the reservation reception is performed, when communication is established between the user identification device 110 and the user recognition device 120 in accordance with the movement of the user 190 (S1200), the user identification device 110 will recognize the own device. Is transmitted to the user recognition device 120 (S1300). Upon receiving this user identifier, the user recognition device 120 recognizes the approach of the user 190 (S1400), and receives recognition information including the user identifier and the device identifier of the own device in order to start downloading the content. It is generated and transmitted to the content transfer apparatus 130 (S1500).

  Here, the operation of the content transfer apparatus 130 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the content transfer apparatus 130, and corresponds to steps S1500 and S1600 in FIG.

  First, in step S1510, the recognition information reception 133 determines whether or not recognition information has been received. If the content transfer device 130 has received the recognition information (S1510: YES), the content transfer device 130 passes the received recognition information to the content transfer control unit 134 and proceeds to step S1520.

  In step S1520, the content transfer control unit 134 refers to the position table 310 and acquires a terminal identifier corresponding to the device identifier of the received recognition information.

  In step S1530, the content transfer control unit 134 generates transfer information including the acquired terminal identifier and the received user identifier.

  In step S1540, the content transfer control unit 134 transmits the generated transfer information to the content server 140.

  In step S1550, the content transfer apparatus 130 determines whether or not to continue the process. When the process is continued (S1550: YES), the process returns to step S1510 to end the process due to an end instruction or the like. (S1550: NO), the series of processing ends.

  On the other hand, while the recognition information is not received (S1510: NO), the content transfer apparatus 130 proceeds to step S1550 as it is, repeats the determination processing of steps S1510 and S1550, and waits for reception of the recognition information.

  In this way, as shown in FIG. 10, each time the content transfer device 130 receives the recognition information, the content transfer device 130 acquires the terminal identifier of the content providing terminal 160 to which the reserved content is to be transferred from the location table 310, and Is transmitted to the content server 140 (S1600).

  Here, the operation of the content server 140 will be described in detail. Here, only processing related to content transfer will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the content server 140.

  First, in step S1610, the transfer information receiving unit 145 determines whether transfer information has been received. When the content transmission unit 146 has received the transfer information (S1610: YES), the content transmission unit 146 passes the received transfer information to the content transmission unit 146, and proceeds to step S1620.

  In step S1620, the content transmission unit 146 determines whether or not the received transfer information indicates transfer of reserved content based on, for example, whether or not the transfer information includes a content identifier. If the transfer information instructs to transfer the reserved content (S1620: YES), the content transmitting unit 146 proceeds to step S1630, and if the transfer information does not instruct to transfer the reserved content, In other words, if it is an instruction to transfer content that is not particularly reserved (S1620: NO), the process proceeds to step S1640.

  The transfer information including the content identifier is transmitted from the content acquisition terminal 170, and it is possible to specify which content should be transmitted to which content requesting terminal 160 by the transfer information alone.

  In step S1630, the content transmission unit 146 refers to the reservation table 320, identifies the content corresponding to the user identifier included in the received transfer information, and acquires the identified content from the content database 141.

  In step S1650, content transmitting unit 146 transmits the acquired content to content providing terminal 160 indicated by the terminal identifier included in the received transfer information.

  In step S1660, the content transmission unit 146 determines whether or not to continue the process. When the process is continued (S1660: YES), the process returns to step S1610, and the process is terminated by an end instruction or the like. (S1660: NO), the series of processing ends.

  On the other hand, in step S1640, the content transmission unit 146 acquires content corresponding to the content identifier included in the transfer information from the content database 141, proceeds to step S1650, and transmits the acquired content to the content providing terminal 160. As a result, on the content providing terminal 160 side, it is possible to acquire content not reserved from the content server 140.

  While the transfer information is not received (S1610: NO), the content server 140 proceeds to step S1660 as it is, repeats the determination processing of steps S1610 and S1660, and waits for the reception of the transfer information.

  In this way, as shown in FIG. 10, each time the transfer information is received, the content server 140 identifies the content reserved by the user 190 from the reservation table 320, and includes content data including the user identifier and reserved content. Is generated and transmitted to the content providing terminal 160 (S1700).

  As a result, the content to be provided to the user 190 is downloaded to the provided content storage unit 164 of one or more content providing terminals 160 that can predict the use of the user 190 (S1800).

  On the other hand, the user 190 arrives in front of the content acquisition terminal 170 (S1900). Then, the content acquisition terminal 170 transmits a user identifier to the content providing terminal 160 and requests acquisition of the content (S2000).

  Here, the operation of the content providing terminal 160 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the content providing terminal 160.

  First, in step S2010, the user identifier receiving unit 166 determines whether a user identifier has been received as a content acquisition request. When receiving the user identifier (S2010: YES), the user identifier receiving unit 166 passes the received user identifier to the content transmitting unit 167, and proceeds to step S2020.

  In step S2020, the content transmission unit 167 determines whether there is content associated with the received user identifier in the provided content storage unit 164. The content transmission unit 167 proceeds to step S2030 when the corresponding content exists (S2020: YES), and proceeds to step S2040 when the corresponding content does not exist (S2020: NO).

  In step S2030, the content transmission unit 167 reads the corresponding content from the provided content storage unit 164, and transmits the content to the content acquisition terminal 170 that has requested acquisition of the content.

  In step S2050, the content providing terminal 160 determines whether to continue the process. The content providing terminal 160 returns to step S2010 when the process is continued (S2050: YES), and ends the series of processes when the process is terminated by an end instruction or the like (S2050: NO).

  On the other hand, in step S2040, the content transmission unit 167 generates transfer information to download the content desired by the user 190 because there is no content associated with the user identifier in the provided content storage unit 164. Specifically, the content transmission unit 167 displays content options desired to be provided by the user 190 on a touch panel or the like (not shown), and acquires the content identifier of the selected content. Then, the content transmission unit 167 acquires the terminal identifier of the own terminal from the terminal identifier storage unit 161, and generates transfer information including the terminal identifier, the user identifier, and the content identifier.

  When there is no content associated with the user identifier in the provided content storage unit 164, for example, when the user identifier cannot be acquired by the user recognition device 120, or the user 190 takes an unexpected travel route. Then, when the content acquisition terminal 170 different from the destination of the reserved content is used, or when the reservation for providing the content is not made in the first place.

  In step S2060, the content transmission unit 167 transmits the generated transfer information to the content server 140.

  In step S2070, the content receiving unit 163 determines whether content data has been received. When the content reception unit 163 receives the content data (S2070: YES), the content reception unit 163 passes the received content data to the content transmission unit 166 and proceeds to step S2080, and when the time-out occurs without receiving the content data. (S2070: NO), the process proceeds to step S2090.

  In step S2080, the content transmission unit 167 transmits the content of the content data received from the content reception unit 163 to the content acquisition terminal 170, and the process proceeds to step S2050.

  In step S2090, the content transmission unit 167 transmits an error notification indicating that the content desired by the user 190 cannot be provided to the content acquisition terminal 170, and proceeds to step S2050.

  While the user identifier is not received as a content acquisition request (S2010: NO), the content providing terminal proceeds to step S2050 as it is, and repeats the determination processing of steps S2010 and S2050 to wait for reception of transfer information. To do.

  In this way, as shown in FIG. 10, the content providing terminal 160 receives the requested content, and when it is stored in the provided content storage unit 164, it reads out the requested content. Is transmitted to the content acquisition terminal 170 (S2100). As a result, the content reserved by the user 190 is acquired by the acquired content storage unit 175 of the content acquisition terminal 170 carried by the user 190 (S2200).

  Note that there may be one or more content providing terminals 160 that do not provide the downloaded content to the user 190, such as when content is downloaded to a plurality of content providing terminals 160. In consideration of such a case, each content providing terminal 160 deletes the content that is no longer necessary to be held when triggered by the detection of content provision at another content providing terminal 160 or at regular intervals. You may do it. In the former case, for example, the content transfer device 130 stores the selected plurality of content providing terminals 160 in groups for each received position information, and completes the provision of content from any of the content providing terminals 160. When notified, the other content providing end 160 of the same group may be instructed to delete the downloaded content specifying the user identifier.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the user 190 of the content acquisition terminal 170 is approaching a certain content providing terminal 160, the user identification device 110 and the user recognition device 120 are connected. When the communication is established, the transfer of the reserved content of the user 190 to the content providing terminal 170 is started. Accordingly, regardless of which content providing terminal 170 the user 190 uses, the transfer of the reserved content to the content providing terminal 160 used by the user 190 can be started in advance, and content acquisition can be performed quickly. it can.

  Hereinafter, specific application examples of the above-described embodiment will be described as Examples 1 to 4.

(Example 1)
As a first embodiment of the present invention, a case where the content providing system shown in FIG. 1 is applied to a peripheral information providing system including a ticket gate at a station and a content providing terminal installed in a station premises will be described.

  FIG. 14 is a system configuration diagram illustrating the configuration of the peripheral information providing system according to the first embodiment.

  14, the peripheral information providing system 400 includes a non-contact IC (integrated circuit) commuter pass 410, first to Nth automatic ticket gates 420-1 to 420-N, a ticket gate management device 430, a regional information server 440, First to M-th kiosk terminals 460-1 to 460 -M and a mobile phone 470 are included.

  The ticket gate management device 430, the regional information server 440, and the first to M-th kiosk terminals 460-1 to 460-M are connected to the Internet 480, respectively. The first to Nth automatic ticket gates 420-1 to 420-N are connected to the ticket gate management device 430, respectively.

  The non-contact IC commuter pass 410 is a non-contact IC card used to pass through an automatic ticket checker as a railway commuter pass, and corresponds to the user identification device 110 in FIG.

  The first to Nth automatic ticket gates 420-1 to 420-N are automatic ticket gates that can be passed by a non-contact IC commuter pass 410 installed at a station having a plurality of ticket gates, respectively. 1 user recognition device 120.

  The ticket gate management device 430 is a device that manages the first to Nth automatic ticket gates 420-1 to 420-N, and corresponds to the content transfer device of FIG. In the position table (see FIG. 5) of the ticket gate management device 430, for each ticket gate, the automatic ticket gate 420 and the kiosk terminal 460 installed at the exit from the ticket gate are associated in advance.

  The area information server 440 is a server that stores information on various categories in the area around the ticket gate for each ticket gate at the station where the first to Nth automatic ticket gates 420-1 to 420-N are installed. This corresponds to the content server 140 of FIG.

  The personal computer 450 is a terminal that is installed at the user's 190 home or the like and registers a category of information that the user 190 wants to obtain on the go with respect to the regional information server 440, and is stored in the user reservation terminal 150 in FIG. Correspond. This registration corresponds to content reservation in the embodiment.

  The first to Mth kiosk terminals 460-1 to 460-M were installed at the exits of the ticket gates of the stations where the first to Nth automatic ticket gates 420-1 to 420-N were installed. , A kiosk terminal having a short-range wireless communication function such as UWB or optical communication, each corresponding to the content acquisition terminal 170 of FIG.

  The Internet 480 corresponds to the network 180 of FIG.

  A cellular phone 470 is a cellular phone capable of the short-range wireless communication with the kiosk terminal 460, and corresponds to the content acquisition terminal 170 in FIG.

  In such a peripheral information providing system 400, when the user 190 leaves the ticket gate and arrives at the kiosk terminal 460, information on a desired category around the ticket gate is transferred to the kiosk terminal 460. ing.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the user 190 can quickly obtain peripheral information of a desired category from the kiosk terminal 460 installed nearby, regardless of the ticket gate from which the user 190 exits the station.

  In addition, by mounting the non-contact IC commuter pass 410 as a user identification device on a mobile phone 470 as a content acquisition terminal as an application, the user identification device and the content acquisition terminal can be integrally provided. is there.

(Example 2)
As a second embodiment of the present invention, a case will be described in which the content providing system shown in FIG. 1 is applied to a commercial content distribution system that distributes video clip data as a product in a store such as a convenience store.

  FIG. 15 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a commercial content distribution system according to the second embodiment.

  In FIG. 15, the commercial content distribution system 500 includes a mobile phone 510, a store entry recognition device 520, a video content server 540, a personal computer 550, a cash register terminal 560, and a mobile video player 570.

  The store entry recognition device 520 and the cash register terminal 560 are respectively installed in the first to Lth stores 590-1 to 590-L. The video content server 540 is installed in a video shop (not shown). The cash register terminal 560, the personal computer 550, and the video content server 540 are connected to the Internet 580, respectively. The store entry recognition device 520 is connected to the cash register terminal 560 of the same store.

  A cellular phone 510 is a cellular phone incorporating a non-contact IC tag, and corresponds to the user identification device 110 of FIG.

  The store entry recognition device 520 is a device installed at the entrance of the store 590 and capable of recognizing the entry of the user 190 of the mobile phone 510 by detecting the IC tag of the mobile phone 510. The use of FIG. Corresponds to the person recognition device 120.

  The video content server 540 is a server that stores video content such as commercial video clips, and corresponds to the content server 140 of FIG.

  The personal computer 550 is a terminal that is installed at the user's 190 home or the like and makes a reservation for purchasing the video content of the user 190 with respect to the video content server 540, and corresponds to the user reservation terminal 150 of FIG.

  The cash register terminal 560 is a store terminal having a short-range wireless communication function such as UWB or optical communication installed in a cash register counter of the store 590, and corresponds to the content transfer device 130 and the content providing terminal 160 of FIG.

  A portable video player 570 is a portable video player capable of the short-range wireless communication with the cash register terminal 560, and corresponds to the content acquisition terminal 170 of FIG.

  In such a commercial content distribution system 500, when the user 190 holds the mobile phone 510 over the store entry recognition device 520 when entering the store and comes in front of the checkout counter, the video data reserved by the user 190 is sent to the checkout terminal 560. Already transferred.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the user 190 can immediately purchase the video data reserved by the cashier counter regardless of the store.

(Example 3)
As a third embodiment of the present invention, a case will be described in which the content providing system shown in FIG. 1 is applied to a business material transfer system that transfers business materials to a sales representative at a sales office.

  FIG. 16 is a system configuration diagram illustrating the configuration of the business material transfer system according to the third embodiment.

  In FIG. 16, a business material transfer system 600 includes a non-contact IC employee card 610, an entrance management device 620, a sales office server 630, a sales information database 640, first to J-th kiosk terminals 660-1 to 660-J, and A mobile phone 670 is included.

  The entrance management device 620, the sales office server 630, and the first to Jth kiosk terminals 660-1 to 660-J are installed in the first to Kth sales offices 690-1 to 690-K, respectively. . The sales information database 640 is installed at the head office (not shown) of the first to Kth sales offices 690-1 to 690-K. The sales office server 630 and the sales information database 640 are connected to a VLAN (virtual local area network) 680, respectively. The entrance management device 620 and the first to J-th kiosk terminals 660-1 to 660-J are connected to the sales office server 630 of the same sales office.

  The non-contact IC employee card 610 is an employee card with a built-in non-contact IC tag, and corresponds to the user identification device 110 in FIG.

  The entrance management device 620 is a device that is installed at the entrance of the sales office 690 and can recognize the entrance of the user 190 of the contactless IC employee card 610 by detecting the IC tag of the contactless IC employee card 610. This corresponds to the user recognition device 120 in FIG.

  The sales office server 630 is a server that manages each device in the sales office 690. Among the content transfer device 130 and the content providing terminal 160 in FIG. 1, the terminal identifier storage unit 161 and the content reception unit 163 shown in FIG. , Corresponding to the content transmission unit 167 and the provided content storage unit 164. However, the sales office server 630 does not have a position table, and always generates transfer information using the identifier of the own device as a terminal identifier and transmits it to the sales information database 640. In addition, the sales office server 630 manages the reception of the user identifier and the provision of the content corresponding thereto for each kiosk terminal 660.

  The sales information database 640 is a database that stores past sales information accumulated for each user 190, and corresponds to the content server 140 of FIG. However, the sales information database 640 manages the sales information for each user 190, that is, for each user identifier, instead of the reservation in the embodiment.

  The first to J-th kiosk terminals 660-1 to 660-J are kiosk terminals having a millimeter-wave UWB communication function installed at various locations such as a meeting room and a customer service corner of the sales office 690, as shown in FIG. The content providing terminal 160 corresponds to the content transmitting unit 166 shown in FIG.

  The cellular phone 670 is a cellular phone capable of short-range communication with the kiosk terminal 660 using millimeter wave UWB, and corresponds to the content acquisition terminal 170 of FIG.

  In such a business material transfer system 600, when the mobile phone 670 is held over a kiosk terminal 660 installed in a business room such as a conference room, the past business information of the user 190 is stored in the business office of the business office 690. It has already been transferred to the server 630.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user 190 can immediately acquire his / her business information in the sales office in a state in which safety is ensured regardless of the sales office 690.

Example 4
As a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a case will be described in which the content providing system shown in FIG. 1 is applied to a home video transfer system in which home video recorded and held at a villa is transferred to a villa video deck.

  FIG. 17 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a home video transfer system according to the fourth embodiment.

  In FIG. 17, a home video transfer system 700 includes a card key 710, a card lock device 720, a home video server 740, a video deck 760, a portable video player 770-1, and a mobile phone 770-2.

  The card lock device 720 and the video deck 760 are installed in a villa of the user 190. Home video server 740 is installed at the home of user 190. The card lock device 720, the video deck 760, and the home video server 740 are connected to the Internet 780, respectively.

  A card key 710 is a card key with a built-in non-contact IC tag, and corresponds to the user identification terminal 110 in FIG.

  The card lock device 720 is a device installed at the entrance of the villa for detecting the IC tag of the card key 710 and locking and unlocking the entrance, and corresponds to the user recognition device 120 and the content transfer device 130 of FIG. To do. However, the card lock device 720 does not have a position table, and always generates transfer information using the identifier of the video deck 760 as a terminal identifier and transmits it to the home video server 740.

  The home video server 740 is a server that accumulates video data shot by the user 190 at home or the like, and corresponds to the content server 140 of FIG. However, the home video server 740 does not have the reservation receiving unit 143 and the reservation table storage unit 144. For example, only recent video data such as video data stored during the past half year is used as a default transmission target. Treat as.

  The video deck 760 is a video deck that also functions as a piconet coordinator in the millimeter wave UWB, and corresponds to the content providing terminal 160 of FIG.

  A portable video player 770-1 and a cellular phone 770-2 are portable terminals that form a piconet with a video deck, function as a slave of the video deck, and have a function of reproducing the acquired video. Corresponds to the content acquisition terminal 170.

  In such a home video transfer system 700, when entering a villa and viewing the latest home video stored in the home video server 740, the video data corresponding to the video deck 760 has already been transferred. Yes.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user 190 can quickly start viewing a recent video whenever he / she goes to the villa.

  Note that the card lock device 720 may be a sensor device that is installed in front of the entrance of the villa of the user 190 and holds a somewhat wide communication area such as a wireless LAN. In particular, when a sensor device equipped with a wireless LAN function capable of measuring a distance is used, for example, a mobile phone 770-2 (wireless LAN installed) carried by the user 190 enters the communication area of the sensor device. The content download from the home video server 740 to the video deck 760 may be started by detecting that the user 190 is approaching the villa by measuring the distance of the sensor device, and the effect of the present invention can be obtained. It can be easily analogized. By adopting this configuration, it becomes possible to start downloading at a timing earlier than the start of downloading by releasing the card lock.

  The present embodiment can be applied to various systems other than the systems described in the embodiments described above.

  For example, the present invention is applied to a system including an entrance sensor and a DVD (digital video disc) recorder in a house, and when it is detected that the user 190 has returned home, content acquisition from the network and content storage on the DVD are started. In this case, it becomes possible for the user 190 to immediately start viewing the content in a state where wasteful accumulation is minimized.

  Further, in each of the embodiments described above, only the case where the user recognition device 120 and the content providing terminal 160 corresponding to the user recognition device 120 are installed at relatively close positions has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Absent. When the user 190 arrives at the installation location of a certain user recognition device 120 and the user 190 can be predicted to use the specific content providing terminal 160 thereafter, these devices are installed remotely. May be.

  For example, the present invention is applied to a system in which an automatic ticket checker at a station is provided with the function of the user recognition device 120 and the function of the content providing terminal 160. When it is detected and detected that the station has passed the ticket gate, the storage of content in the automatic ticket gate at the nearest station of the company is started. As described above, when the time from the user recognition device 120 to the content providing terminal 160 is sufficiently long, information retrieval from a large amount of databases, complicated calculation processing on the content server side, etc. It is possible to cope with a case where it takes a long time until the content to be acquired by the content providing terminal 160. Furthermore, when the home DVD recorder is provided with the function of the content providing terminal 160 and the user 190 detects that the user has left the station with the automatic ticket gate at the ticket gate at the nearest station in the home, the content in the home DVD recorder is You may make it start accumulation | storage.

  Further, the user identification device 110 may be mounted on a vehicle that moves with the user 190 such as a passenger car owned by the user 190 instead of being carried by the user. In this case, for example, when the user recognition device 120 is installed at the entrance of the expressway and the content providing terminal 160 is installed in each service area on the expressway, and the passage of the vehicle is detected at any entrance The content providing terminal 160 may start to store content.

  The content providing system and the content providing method according to the present invention are useful as a content providing system and a content providing method that can quickly acquire content regardless of which content providing terminal the user uses.

The system block diagram which shows the structure of the content provision system which concerns on one embodiment of this invention The block diagram which shows the structure of the user identification device which concerns on this Embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the user recognition apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the content transfer apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment The figure which shows an example of the content of the position table stored in the position table storage part in this Embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the content server which concerns on this Embodiment The figure which shows an example of the content of the reservation table stored in the reservation table storage part in this Embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the content provision terminal which concerns on this Embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the content acquisition terminal which concerns on this Embodiment Sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the entire content providing system according to the present embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the content transfer apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. Flowchart showing the operation of the content server according to the present embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the content provision terminal which concerns on this Embodiment. The system block diagram which shows the structure of the periphery information provision system which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. The system block diagram which shows the structure of the commercial content delivery system which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. The system block diagram which shows the structure of the business material transfer system which concerns on Example 3 of this invention. The system block diagram which shows the structure of the home video transmission system which concerns on Example 4 of this invention. Sequence diagram showing an example of operation of a conventional content providing system Sequence diagram showing another example of operation of a conventional content providing system

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Content provision system 110 User identification apparatus 111 User identifier storage part 112,122 Wireless communication part 113,173 User identifier transmission part 120 User recognition apparatus 121 Device identifier storage part 123,132,142,162 Network communication part 124 166 User identifier reception unit 125 Recognition information transmission unit 130 Content transfer device 131 Location table storage unit 133 Recognition information reception unit 134 Content transfer control unit 140 Content server 141 Content database 143 Reservation reception unit 144 Reservation table storage unit 145 Transfer information reception Units 146 and 167 Content transmission unit 150 User reservation terminal 160 Content providing terminal 161 Terminal identifier storage unit 163 and 174 Content reception unit 164 Provision content storage unit 165 AN communication unit 170 content acquisition terminal 171 user identifier storage unit 172 PAN communication unit 175 acquires the content storage unit 180 the network 190 the user 200 PAN
400 Peripheral information providing system 410 Non-contact IC commuter pass 420 Automatic ticket gate 430 Ticket gate management device 440 Regional information server 450, 550 Personal computer 460, 660 Kiosk terminals 470, 510, 670, 770-2 Mobile phones 480, 580, 780 Internet 500 Commercial content distribution system 520 Store entry recognition device 540 Video content server 560 Cash register terminal 570, 770-1 Portable video player 600 Business material transfer system 610 Non-contact IC employee card 620 Entrance management device 630 Sales office server 640 Sales information database 680 VLAN
700 Home Video Transfer System 710 Card Key 720 Card Lock Device 740 Home Video Server 760 VCR

Claims (10)

A content providing terminal that transmits content held by the device to a content acquisition terminal that acquires content; a content server that stores content; and a content transfer device that transfers content from the content server to the content providing terminal. A content providing system comprising:
A user identification device movable with the user;
A user recognition device that detects whether communication with the user identification device is possible;
The content transfer device includes:
When the user recognition device can communicate with the user identification device, transfer of content is started.
Content provision system. The content server
Store the content by associating the user identifier with the content,
The user recognition device includes:
When communication with the user identification device is enabled, a user identifier of a user is received from the user identification device,
The content transfer device includes:
Transferring the content associated with the user identifier acquired by the user recognition device from the content server to the content providing terminal;
The content providing system according to claim 1. A user recognition device used in the content providing system according to claim 2,
User identifier receiving means for receiving the user identifier of the user from the user identification device upon establishment of communication with the user identification device;
User identifier transmission means for transmitting the user identifier received by the user identifier reception means and recognition information including the device identification information of the own device to the content transfer device;
A user recognition device. A content transfer apparatus used in the content providing system according to claim 1,
Recognition information receiving means for receiving from the user recognition device information notifying that the user recognition device is able to communicate with the user identification device;
Content transfer means for starting transfer of content when the recognition information receiving means receives the information;
A content transfer apparatus. A content transfer device used in the content providing system according to claim 2,
Position table storage means for storing a position information table in which a user recognition device and one or a plurality of content providing terminals capable of predicting user use from the user recognition device are associated;
Recognition information receiving means for receiving recognition information including a device identifier of the user recognition device and a user identifier acquired by the user recognition device from a user recognition device;
When the recognition information is received from the user recognition device, the content is transferred to the content providing terminal associated with the transmission source of the recognition information with reference to the position table.
Content transfer device. A content server used in the content providing system according to claim 2,
Content management means for managing a plurality of contents;
Network connection means for connecting to the network;
Request accepting means for accepting a request for provision of arbitrary content from among a plurality of contents managed by the content managing means, with the user of the content acquisition terminal as a destination;
Content transmitting means for managing and transmitting content in association with the user identifier of the user whose content requesting means has received the content providing request;
A content server. A content providing terminal used in the content providing system according to claim 2,
Content receiving means for receiving content associated with a user identifier of a user of the content acquisition terminal;
Provided content storage means for storing the content received by the content receiving means in association with the user identifier;
A user identifier obtaining unit for obtaining a user identifier from the content obtaining terminal when communication is established with the content obtaining terminal;
Content transmitting means for reading the content associated with the user identifier acquired by the user identifier acquisition means and transmitting the content to the content acquisition terminal;
A content providing terminal. The user recognition device includes:
Distance measuring means for measuring the distance of the content acquisition terminal from its own device;
Distance determining means for determining that the content acquisition terminal is approaching the content providing terminal based on the distance;
The content providing terminal according to claim 7. A content acquisition terminal for acquiring content using the content providing system according to claim 2,
User identifier transmission means for transmitting the user identifier of the own terminal to the user recognition device upon establishment of communication between the own terminal and the user recognition device;
Content receiving means for receiving content from the content providing terminal;
A content acquisition terminal. A user recognition step of detecting that a user of the content acquisition terminal is approaching a content providing terminal that transmits the content held by the own device to the content acquisition terminal that acquires the content;
A content transfer start step for starting transfer of content from a content server storing content to the content providing terminal when it is detected that a user of the content acquisition terminal is approaching the content providing terminal;
A content providing method comprising:

Images