Information collecting system and terminal equipment

• US 20020023125A1
• Filed: 04/24/2001
• Published: 02/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Terazaki, Nobuo, Yoshimoto, Kyosuke, Hirasawa, Kazuo, Aizaki, Tatsunori
• Granted Patent: US 6,968,357 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

An information collecting system includes at least one terminal including an information input device, an information display unit and a communication circuit; and an information processing center that is connected to the terminal via a network, and includes an application server. The application server includes a receiving section for receiving input information transmitted from the terminal to the information processing center via the network; an information processing section for deciding as to the information received, and for constructing a picture to be displayed on the terminal in response to a decision result; and a transmitting section for transmitting the picture generated by the information processing section to the terminal. It can solve problems of a conventional system in that to start a terminal in the conventional system, a prescribed operating procedure is required, and hence it is difficult for a user unfamiliar to the operation to use the terminal, and in that once a power trouble takes place in the terminal in the conventional system, the processing result up to the trouble is lost because the terminal carries out its processing using its own software.

Claims

1. An information collecting system comprising:

at least one terminal including an information input device, an information display unit and a communication circuit; and

an information processing center that is connected to said terminal via a network, and includes an application server, said application server including;

a receiving section for receiving input information transmitted from said terminal to said information processing center via the network;

an information processing section for making a decision as to the information received, and for constructing a picture to be displayed on the terminal in response to a decision result; and

a transmitting section for transmitting the picture generated by said information processing section to said terminal.

2. The information collecting system according to claim 1, wherein said information processing center further comprises a database server, a file server and a WWW server, and wherein said information processing section in said application server carries out information processing by exchanging information with these servers.

3. The information collecting system according to claim 2, wherein said terminal comprises a circuit for detecting power-on of the terminal, and for automatically activating said communication circuit to transmit power-on information to said information processing center.

4. The information collecting system according to claim 3, wherein said receiving section of said application server receives the power-on information sent from said terminal via the network;

said information processing section of said application server generates an initial picture of the terminal in response to the information received; and

said transmitting section in said application server transmits the initial picture to the terminal.

5. The information collecting system according to claim 2, wherein said information processing section of said application server comprises a client application memory for storing in advance necessary information including identifying information of a user;

and a client display screen constructor for constructing a client display picture from the necessary information read out of said client application memory and information supplied from other servers.

6. The information collecting system according to claim 5, wherein said application server further comprises a client display picture storage for storing the client display picture generated by said client display screen constructor;

and a differential detector for detecting a difference between the client display picture stored in said client display picture storage and a client display picture newly generated by said client display screen constructor, and wherein said transmitting section transmits only differential information detected by said differential detector to said terminal.

7. The information collecting system according to claim 6, wherein said terminal comprises a picture combiner for combining the differential information sent from said transmitting section with picture information currently displayed by the terminal.

8. The information collecting system according to claim 2, wherein said terminal is connected to a LAN (Local Area Network), and said LAN is connected to said network.

9. The information collecting system according to claim 8, further comprising a local server connected between said LAN and said network, wherein said local server includes a database server, a file server, a WWW server and an application server for carrying out information processing using information exchanged with these servers, and wherein said local server performs a processing associated with predetermined requested information in the information transmitted from said terminal, and transmits a processing result to said terminal, whereas said local server transmits remaining requested information to said information processing center via said network without processing the remaining requested information.

10. The information collecting system according to claim 1, wherein said information processing center carries out processing associated with predetermined requested information in the information transmitted from said terminal, and transmits remaining requested information to another information processing center via said network without processing the remaining requested information.

11. The information collecting system according to claim 9, wherein said application server in said local server comprises at least one of a word processing application and a spreadsheet application.

12. A terminal unit comprising:

an information input device with a function of converting input information to transmitted information;

a communication circuit for transmitting the transmitted information to an information processing center via a network, and for receiving a signal sent from the information processing center via the network;

a screen constructor for converting the received signal into a display signal;

a display device for displaying the display signal; and

a circuit for detecting power-on of said terminal, and for automatically starting said communication circuit to transmit power-on information to said information processing center.