Service management apparatus, service management method, service providing system, service providing method

• US 20060117097A1
• Filed: 11/16/2004
• Published: 06/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kimura, Shinya, Kawahata, Satoshi, Kunito, Yoshiyuki, Masuda, Yasuto, Ogasawara, Yasutaka, Yageta, Isamu
• Granted Patent: US 8,291,100 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users

Abstract

A service providing system is provided which enables the users of an information transmission service in which information is sent and received in real time over a network to recognize their respective environment and conditions for provision of their own information. The service providing system (1) includes a service provider (2) including a communication server (11), Web server (12) and DB server (13) and a plurality of communication terminals (4) connected to the service provider (2) via the network, and it provides an information transmission service in which information is provided from one of communication devices to the other, or vice versa, in real time. The communication terminal (4) at the information provider first registers explanatory information such as content, offering price, etc. of offered information to be provided into the DB server (13), updates the information registered in the DB server (13) to a log-in status when the information provider has become able to provide the information in real time, and the Web server (12) updates the Web page at each time so that the explanatory information having thus been in the log-in status will be included in choices.

Claims

1. A service managing apparatus for managing an information transmission service in which information from one of communication devices connected to each other over a network is sent to the other, and vide versa, in real time, the apparatus comprising:

a communication controlling means for controlling the communication with each of the communication devices;

an information registering means for registering information on more than one piece of information to be provided by an information provider as information to be registered; and

an information managing means for dynamically generating, based on the registered information, choices-window information from which an information user selects a desired one of the plurality of pieces of offered information,

the information managing means updating, when the information registering means has been updated based on updating information reflecting the current status of the information provider, the choices-window information on the basis of the updated registered information.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the registered information and updating information include possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information indicative of whether the information provider can provide the offered information in real time; and

the information managing means has the choices-window information reflect the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information managing means generates the choices-window information from which the offered information can be selected only when the information provider can provide the offered information in real time.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the updating information includes the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information indicative of whether the information provider can provide the offered information in real time, and types of more than one media which can be used for the real-time provision of the offered information.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication controlling means controls the connection between the communication device having selected desired offered information from the choices-window information and the communication device which sends the selected offered information.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the information managing means receives the registered information and registers it into the information registering means; and

the communication device receives the updating information and updates the registered information.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the communication controlling means receives the updating information from the communication device which sends the offered information provided by the information provided in real time.

8. A service managing method of managing an information transmission service in which information from one of communication devices connected to each other over a network is sent to the other, and vide versa, in real time, the method comprising:

an information managing step in which, referring to an information registering means in which information on more than one piece of offered information to be provided by an information provided is registered as registered information, there is dynamically generated choices-window information from which an information user of the offered information selects a desired one of the plurality of pieces of offered information, and

an information updating step of updating, when the information registering means has been updated based on updating information reflecting the current status of the information provider, the choices-window information on the basis of the updated registered information.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein:

the registered information and updating information include possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information indicative of whether the information provider can provide the offered information in real time; and

in the information managing step and information updating step, the choices-window information is made to reflect the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein in the information managing step, there is generated the choices-window information from which the offered information can be selected only when the information provider can provide the offered information in real time.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the updating information includes the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information indicative of whether the information provider can provide the offered information in real time, and types of more than one media which can be used for the real-time provision of the offered information.

12. The method according to claim 8, further including a communication controlling step of controlling the connection between the communication device having selected desired offered information from the choices-window information and the communication device which sends the selected offered information.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein in the information updating step, the choices-window information is updated based on the registered information updated with the updating information received from the communication device which sends the offered information the information provider provides in real time.

14. A service providing system which provides an information transmission service in which information is sent from one of communication devices connected to each other over a network to the other, and vide versa, in real time, the system comprising:

a plurality of communication devices to send or receive offered information to be provided by an information provider or to be used by an information user, respectively, each as a user of the information transmission service;

a service management device connected to each of the communication devices via a network to manage the information transmission service,

each of the communication devices including a communication means for sending or receiving offered information to or from the other communication device as a counterpart;

the service management device including;

a communication controlling means for controlling the communication with each of the communication devices;

an information registering means for registering information on more than one piece of information to be provided by the information provider as information to be registered; and

an information managing means for dynamically generating, based on the registered information, choices-window information from which the information user selects a desired one of the plurality of pieces of offered information,

the information managing means updating, when the information registering means has been updated based on updating information reflecting the current status of the information provider, the choices-window information on the basis of the updated registered information.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein:

the registered information and updating information include possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information indicative of whether the information provider can provide the offered information in real time; and

the information managing means has the choices-window information reflect the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein:

the updating information include possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information indicative of whether the information provider can provide the offered information in real time and user identification information for identification of the information use;

the communication device to send the offered information sends the updating information to the communication controlling means via the communication means; and

the communication controlling means updates the information registering means with the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information included in the updating information when the information user has been authenticated with the user identification information.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein:

the updating information includes media information indicative of the type of a media which can be used by the communication device to send the offered information when providing the offered information; and

the communication controlling means updates the information registering means with the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information and media information included in the updating information.

18. The system according to claim 14, wherein:

the communication device to receive the offered information includes an accessing means for accessing the choices-window information;

the communication controlling means includes a connection controlling means for controlling the connection between the communication device which sends the offered information and that which receives the offered information, the connection controlling means controlling the connection between the communication device having selected desired offered information from the choices-window information by the accessing means and that which sends the selected offered information.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein:

the updating information includes information indicative of the position of the communication device which sends the offered information; and

the connection controlling means controls, based on the position information, the connection between the communication device which has selected the desired offered information and that which sends the selected offered information.

20. The system according to claim 18, wherein:

the communication device includes a call controlling means for sending and receiving a connection control signal for controlling the connection with the communication device as a counterpart in addition to the sending and reception of the offered information; and

the connection controlling means receives the connection control signal from the call controlling means in the communication device and controls the connection between both the communication devices.

21. A service providing method for a service providing system including a plurality of communication devices to send or receive offered information to be provided by an information provider or to be used by an information user, respectively, each as a user of the information transmission service in which information is sent from one of communication devices connected to each other over a network to the other, and vide versa, in real time, and a service management device connected to each of the communication devices via the network to manage the information transmission service, the method comprising:

an information registering step in which information on more than one piece of offered information to be provided by the information provider is registered as registered information into an information registering means of the service management device;

an information managing step in which, referring to an information registering means of the information management device in the service management device, there is dynamically generated choices-window information from which an information user of the offered information selects a desired one of the plurality of pieces of offered information,

a registered information updating step of updating the information registering means on the basis of updating information reflecting the current status of the information provider; and

a choices-window information updating step in which an information management means updates, when the information registering means has been updated based on the updating information, the choices-window information on the basis of the updated registered information.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein:

the registered information and updating information include possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information indicative of whether the information provider can provide the offered information in real time; and

in the choices-window information generating step and choices-window information updating step, the choices-window information is made to reflect the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein:

the updating information includes possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information indicative of whether the information provider can provide the offered information in real time and media information indicative of the type of a media which can be used when providing the offered information; and

in the choices-window information updating step, the choices-window information is made to reflect the possibility/impossibility-of-real-time-provision information and media information included in the updating information.

24. The method according to claim 21, further comprising:

an accessing step of accessing the choices-window information by the accessing means in the communication device; and

a connection controlling step of controlling the connection between the communication device which sends the offered information selected in the accessing step and that which has selected the desired offered information.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein:

the updating information indicative of the position of the communication device which sends the offered information; and

in the connection controlling step, there is controlled, based on the position information, the connection between the communication device which sends the selected offered information and that which has selected the desired offered information.