Program control apparatus and program control method

• US 20050055235A1
• Filed: 09/02/2004
• Published: 03/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Mizuki, Atsushi, Sakamoto, Kenji, Kunito, Goro
• Application Number:
  US10/932,122
• Publication Number:
  US 20050055235A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/19
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0609 by fluid containers, e.g. bottles, cups, gas containers
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0045 with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader

Abstract

A program control apparatus 10 is provided with an ID class determiner 12 for determining whether a tag ID read by a tag reader 100 is a service ID to specify a service, or an attribute ID to specify an attribute of an article; and a program controller 14 so configured that when the ID class determiner 12 determines that the tag ID read by the tag reader 100 is a service ID, the program controller 14 runs a program associated with the service ID and that when the ID class determiner 12 determines that the tag ID read by the tag reader 100 is an attribute ID, the program controller 14 notifies a running program of attribute information associated with the attribute ID, to change the behavior of the running program according to the attribute information.

Claims

1. A program control apparatus comprising:

ID class determining means for determining whether a tag ID read by a tag reader is a service ID to specify a service, or an attribute ID to specify an attribute of an article; and

program controlling means for, when the ID class determining means determines that the tag ID read by the tag reader is a service ID, running a program associated with the service ID and for, when the ID class determining means determines that the tag ID read by the tag reader is an attribute ID, notifying a running program of attribute information associated with the attribute ID, to change behavior of the running program according to the attribute information.

2. The program control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an ID class database storing tag IDs and ID classes in association with each other,

wherein the ID class determining means refers to the ID class database to determine whether a tag ID read by the tag reader is a service ID to specify a service, or an attribute ID to specify an attribute of an article.

3. The program control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a program database storing service IDs and programs in association with each other,

wherein the program controlling means refers to the program database to run the program associated with the service ID.

4. The program control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an attribute database storing attribute IDs and attributes of articles in association with each other,

wherein the program controlling means refers to the attribute database to notify the running program of the attribute information associated with the attribute ID, to change the behavior of the program according to the attribute information.

5. A program control method comprising:

an ID class determining step wherein ID class determining means determines whether a tag ID read by a tag reader is a service ID to specify a service, or an attribute ID to specify an attribute of an article;

a program running step wherein, when it is determined in the ID class determining step that the tag ID read by the tag reader is a service ID, program controlling means runs a program associated with the service ID; and

a program behavior changing step wherein, when it is determined in the ID class determining step that the tag ID read by the tag reader is an attribute ID, the program controlling means notifies a running program of attribute information associated with the attribute ID, to change behavior of the running program according to the attribute information.