Information providing system, information providing apparatus, information providing method, portable terminal, information outputting method, and computer program

• US 20060038003A1
• Filed: 08/09/2005
• Published: 02/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FeliCa Networks, Inc
• Original Assignee: FeliCa Networks, Inc
• Inventors: Wakasa, Shigeki, Ogishima, Jun, Ban, Hiroaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,699,228 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents

Abstract

An information providing system includes a portable terminal including an IC chip, and an information providing apparatus that carries out wireless communications with the IC chip. The information providing apparatus includes a browser that reads content and that outputs the content on a screen based on screen-output control information embedded in the content data and defining an output format or a data structure of the content, and a wireless communication unit that carries out wireless communications with the IC chip. In the content data, transmission target information to be transmitted to the portable terminal, and transmission control information instructing transmission of the transmission target information, are also embedded. The browser instructs the wireless communication unit to transmit the transmission target information to the portable terminal based on the transmission control information. The wireless communication unit transmits the transmission target information to the IC chip based on the instruction.

Claims

1. An information providing system comprising:

a portable terminal including an IC chip; and

an information providing apparatus configured to carry out wireless communications with the IC chip included in the portable terminal;

wherein the information providing apparatus includes

a browser configured to read content transmitted via a network from an external apparatus and to output the content on a screen based on screen-output control information embedded in data of the content, the screen-output control information defining at least a format for outputting the content on the screen or a data structure of the content, and

a wireless communication unit configured to carry out wireless communications with the IC chip included in the portable terminal,

wherein transmission target information that is to be transmitted to the portable terminal, and transmission control information instructing transmission of the transmission target information to the portable terminal, are also embedded in the data of the content,

wherein the browser instructs the wireless communication unit to transmit the transmission target information to the portable terminal based on the transmission control information embedded in the content that has been read, and

wherein the wireless communication unit, by wireless communications, transmits the transmission target information to the IC chip included in the portable terminal based on the instruction from the browser.

2. The information providing system according to claim 1,

wherein the portable terminal displays the transmission target information transmitted from the wireless communication unit to the IC chip on a display screen of the portable terminal.

3. An information providing apparatus that carries out wireless communications with an IC chip included in a portable terminal, the information providing apparatus comprising:

a browser configured to read content transmitted via a network from an external apparatus and to output the content on a screen based on screen-output control information embedded in data of the content, the screen-output control information defining at least a format for outputting the content on the screen or a data structure of the content; and

a wireless communication unit configured to carry out wireless communications with the IC chip included in the portable terminal;

wherein transmission target information that is to be transmitted to the portable terminal, and transmission control information instructing transmission of the transmission target information to the portable terminal, are also embedded in the data of the content,

wherein the browser instructs the wireless communication unit to transmit the transmission target information to the portable terminal based on the transmission control information embedded in the content that has been read, and

wherein the wireless communication unit, by wireless communications, transmits the transmission target information to the IC chip included in the portable terminal based on the instruction from the browser.

4. The information providing apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein type information associated with the transmission target information and representing a type of the transmission target information is also embedded in the data of the content, and

wherein the browser instructs the wireless communication unit to transmit the type information associated with the transmission target information together with the transmission target information to the portable terminal.

5. The information providing apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the content is a Web page written in a markup language, and

wherein the screen-output control information and the transmission control information are information identified by tags.

6. A computer program stored in a storage unit of an information providing apparatus including a wireless communication unit that carries out wireless communications with an IC chip included in a portable terminal, the computer program causing the information providing apparatus to execute processing comprising the steps of:

reading content transmitted via a network from an external apparatus;

outputting the content on a screen based on screen-output control information embedded in data of the content, the screen-output control information defining at least a format for outputting the content on the screen or a data structure of the content;

reading transmission target information that is to be transmitted to the portable terminal and transmission control information instructing transmission of the transmission target information to the portable terminal, the transmission target information and the transmission control information also being embedded in the data of the content; and

instructing the wireless communication unit to transmit the transmission target information to the portable terminal based on the transmission control information.

7. The computer program according to claim 6,

wherein type information associated with the transmission target information and representing a type of the transmission target information is also embedded in the data of the content, and

wherein the wireless communication unit is instructed to transmit the associated type information together with the transmission target information.

8. An information providing method that is implemented using a portable terminal including an IC chip and an information providing apparatus that carries out wireless communications with the IC chip included in the portable terminal, the information providing method comprising the steps, executed by the information providing apparatus, of:

reading content transmitted via a network from an external apparatus;

parsing transmission target information that is to be transmitted to the portable terminal and transmission control information instructing transmission of the transmission target information to the portable terminal, the transmission target information and the transmission control information being embedded in the content that has been read; and

transmitting the transmission target information by wireless communications to the IC chip included in the portable terminal based on the transmission control information.

9. The information providing method according to claim 8, further comprising the step, executed by the external apparatus, of embedding the transmission control information and the transmission target information in the content provided to the information providing apparatus.

10. A portable terminal comprising:

an IC chip configured to carry out wireless communications with an information providing apparatus to receive transmission target information from the information providing apparatus; and

a controller configured to output the transmission target information received by the IC chip.

11. The portable terminal according to claim 10,

wherein the IC chip receives type information associated with the transmission target information and representing a type of the transmission target information from the information providing apparatus, and

wherein the controller displays an image corresponding to the type information on a display screen based on the type information.

12. The portable terminal according to claim 11, further comprising:

an image storage unit configured to store the image in association with the type information; and

a decision unit configured to obtain the image associated with the type information received by the IC chip from the image storage unit.

13. The portable terminal according to claim 11, further comprising:

an image storage unit configured to store the image;

an image-definition storage unit configured to store the type information in association with the image stored in the image storage unit; and

a decision unit configured to obtain the image associated with the type information received by the IC chip from the image storage unit based on the association stored in the image-definition storage unit.

14. The portable terminal according to claim 10,

wherein the transmission target information is transmitted to the IC chip from a wireless communication unit included in the information providing apparatus according to an instruction by a browser included in the information providing apparatus, and

wherein the browser reads content transmitted via a network from an external apparatus, outputs the content on a screen based on screen-output control information embedded in data of the content, the screen-output control information defining at least a format for outputting the content on the screen or a data structure of the content, and instructs the wireless communication unit to transmit the transmission target information embedded in the data of the content to the IC chip based on transmission control information also embedded in the data of the content.

15. A computer program that causes a portable terminal including an IC chip that carries out wireless communications with an information providing apparatus to executing processing for outputting transmission target information received by the IC chip from the information providing apparatus by wireless communications.

16. An information outputting method for a portable terminal including an IC chip that carries out wireless communications with an information providing apparatus, the information outputting method comprising the steps of:

receiving transmission target information and type information representing a type of the transmission target information from the information providing apparatus by the IC chip by wireless communications; and

displaying the transmission target information and an image corresponding to the type information on a display screen.