Data communication system and information management apparatus having communication function adaptable to the system

• US 6,374,304 B1
• Filed: 02/24/1997
• Issued: 04/16/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Chiashi, Eiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess, Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KUPSTAS, TOD A
• Application Number:
  US08/804,820
• Time in Patent Office: 1,877 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.76, 395/200.66, 395/200.47, 395/377, 395/800.25, 395/800.26, 340/825.44, 364/232.22, 364/260, 364/946.2, 455/31.2, 709/246, 709/217, 709/237, 712/25, 712/26, 712/201
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/227 with call or message storage means

Abstract

The information management apparatus has a RAM for classifying and storing a plurality of data items in accordance with the attribute of data, a receiver for receiving a signal including data and an instruction code specifying the attribute, a decoder, a display portion for displaying received data together with the instruction code, a key input portion for causing data displayed on the display portion to be stored to the corresponding classified position in the RAM and a control unit for causing data to be stored in the corresponding classified position in the RAM in accordance with the instruction operation performed by the key input portion. As a result, the sender can arbitrarily select and transmit data having attribute and the receiver can store data of a type having attribute to a memory region corresponding to the attribute while requiring a simple operation.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

a first information management apparatus comprising;

a first memory configured to classify and store data items in accordance with attributes of the data items, and

a transmitter configured to transmit data items read from said first memory and the attributes of the data items; and

a second information management apparatus comprising;

a second memory having plural storage areas and configured to classify and store data items in accordance with the attributes of the data items,

a receiver configured to receive the data items and the attributes transmitted from said first information management apparatus,

a display configured to display one of the data items received by said receiver and a guidance message, based on the attribute of said one of the data items, for indicating in which storage area of said second memory said one of the displayed data items is to be stored,

an instruction issuing unit configured to issue a storing instruction, in response to a first manual operation by a user, for instructing that the data items displayed on said display be stored to said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message and a canceling instruction, in response to a second manual operation by the user, for instructing that said one of the data items displayed on said display not be stored to said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message; and

a controller configured to store said one of the data items displayed on said display to said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message in response to said storing instruction and to enable said display to display another one of the data items and a corresponding guidance message in response to said canceling instruction.

2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said first information management apparatus further comprises a selector configured to select a data item to be transmitted from among said plurality of data items stored in said first memory,

wherein said transmitter reads a data item selected by said selector from said first memory and transmits a signal including the data item read from said first memory and an instruction code for specifying the attribute of the read data.

3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitter converts, into a dial tone signal, the signal including data and the instruction code so as to sequentially transmit the signal.

4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said second information management apparatus comprises a third memory, including plural storage regions, configured to store the data items and the instruction code included in the signal received by said receiver;

and

wherein said display selectively displays desired data items among the data items stored in the third memory.

5. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said memory controller comprises a comparator configured to compare an amount of a displayed data item with an amount of empty area of a classification area of said second memory corresponding to an attribute of the displayed data item, and wherein said memory controller stores the displayed data to the corresponding classification area if the amount of empty area of said second memory is larger than the amount of the displayed data item and informs a user of impossibility of storage of data if the amount of empty area of said second memory is not larger than the amount of the displayed data item.

6. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of data items includes schedule data informing a user of the second information management apparatus of a schedule of a user of the first information management apparatus.

7. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of data items includes address book data.

8. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein:

said receiver comprises a buffer memory configured to store the data items included in the received signal, and

said memory controller transfers the data items stored in the buffer memory to the second memory in accordance with the storing instruction and erases the data items from the buffer memory.

9. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein:

said memory controller comprises a circuit configured to detect whether or not a remaining area of the second memory is insufficient for storing the displayed data item, and

said display is configured to display a warning message when the remaining area of the second memory is insufficient for storing the displayed data item.

10. An information management apparatus receiving data items and corresponding attributes, the apparatus comprising:

a memory having plural storage areas and configured to classify and store data items in accordance with the attributes of the data items;

a display configured to display one of the received data items and a guidance message, based on the attribute of said one of the received data items, for indicating in which storage area of said memory said displayed one of the received data items is to be stored;

an instruction issuing unit configured to issue a storing instruction, in response to a first manual operation by a user, for instructing that said one of the data items displayed on said display be stored to said one of the plural storage areas of said memory indicated by said guidance message, and a canceling instruction, in response to a second manual operation by the user, for instructing that said one of the data items displayed on said display not be stored to said one of the plural storage areas of said memory indicated by said guidance message; and

a controller configured to store said one of the data items displayed on said display to said one of the plural storage areas of said memory indicated by said guidance message in response to said storing instruction and to enable said display to display another one of the data items and a corresponding guidance message in response to said canceling instruction.

11. The information management apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a transmitter configured to transmit a signal including data items read from said memory and an instruction code for specifying the attribute of the data items read from said memory.

12. The information management apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said transmitter converts into a dial tone signal, the signal which includes data items and the instruction code so as to sequentially transmit the signal.

13. The information management apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a second memory including plural storage regions configured to store the data items and the instruction code included in the signal received by said receiver, and wherein said display selectively displays desired data items among the data items stored in the second memory.

14. The information management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said memory controller comprises a comparator configured to compare an amount of a displayed data item with an amount of empty area of a classification area of said memory corresponding to an attribute of the displayed data item, and wherein said memory controller stores the displayed data to the corresponding classification area if the amount of empty area of said memory is larger than the amount of the displayed data item and informs a user of impossibility of storage of the displayed data item if the amount of empty area of said memory is not larger than the amount of storage necessary to store the displayed data item.

15. The information management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said plurality of data items include schedule data informing a user of another information management apparatus of a schedule of a user of an own information management apparatus.

16. The information management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said plurality of data items include address book data.

17. The information management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein:

said receiver comprises a buffer memory configured to store the data items included in the received signal, and

said memory controller transfers the data items stored in the buffer memory to the second memory in accordance with the storing instruction and erases the data items from the buffer memory.

18. The information management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein:

said memory controller comprises a circuit configured to detect whether or not a remaining area of the second memory is insufficient for storing the displayed data item, and

said display is configured to display a warning message when the remaining area of the second memory is insufficient for storing the displayed data item.

19. An information management apparatus receiving data items and attributes indicating kinds of data items, the apparatus comprising:

a first memory configured to store received data items and received attributes, each of the received attributes corresponding to a received data item;

a second memory having plural storage areas and configured to classify and store the received data items in accordance with the attributes of the received data items,

a display device;

an index display configured to display indexes of the received data items stored in the first memory and display indexes of the received data items on said display device;

a selector configured to select one of the indexes displayed on said display device;

a data item display, when said selector selects one of the indexes, the data item display changes the display contents of said display device to one of the data items which corresponds to the selected index and a guidance message, based on the attribute of said one of the data items, for indicating in which storage area of said second memory said one of the data items is to be stored;

an instruction issuing unit configured to issue a storing instruction, in response to a first manual operation by a user, for instructing that said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index is to be stored to one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message, and a canceling instruction, in response to a second manual operation by the user, for instructing that said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index not be stored to said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message;

a controller configured to store said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index to said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message in response to said storing instruction and change the display contents of said display device to another one of the data items and a corresponding guidance message in response to said canceling instruction; and

a confirmation display, when said controller stores said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index, the confirmation display changes the display contents of said display device to said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index.

20. The information management apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said controller comprises a comparator configured to compare an amount of said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index with an amount of an empty area of one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message and wherein said controller stores said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index if the amount of the empty area of said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message is larger than the amount of said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index and informs the user of the impossibility of storage of data if the amount of the empty area of said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message is not at least equal to the amount of said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index.

21. A method of managing information comprising the steps of:

receiving data items and attributes indicating kinds of data items;

storing received data items and received attributes in a first memory, each of the received attributes corresponding to a received data item;

classifying and storing the received data items in a second memory in accordance with the attributes of the received data items;

displaying indexes of the received data items stored in the first memory and displaying indexes of the received data items on a display device;

selecting one of the indexes displayed on said display device;

changing display contents of said display device to one of the data items which corresponds to the selected index and a guidance message, based on the attribute of said one of the data items, for indicating in which one of a plurality of storage areas of a memory said one of the data items is to be stored;

issuing a storing instruction, in response to a first manual operation by a user, for instructing that said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index be stored to one of the plural storage areas of said memory indicated by said guidance message, and a canceling instruction, in response to a second manual operation by the user, for instructing that said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index not be stored to said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message;

storing said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index to said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message in response to said storing instruction and changing the display contents of said display device to another one of the data items and a corresponding guidance message in response to said canceling instruction; and

changing the display contents of said display device to said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

comparing an amount of said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index with an amount of an empty area of one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message;

storing said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index if the amount of the empty area of said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message is larger than the amount of said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index; and

informing the user of the impossibility of storage of data if the amount of the empty area of said one of the plural storage areas of said second memory indicated by said guidance message is not at least equal to the amount of said one of the data items corresponding to the selected index.