Data distribution system

• US 7,174,309 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2001
• Issued: 02/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Niwa, Yushi
• Primary Examiner(s): JASMIN, LYNDA C
• Application Number:
  US09/978,539
• Publication Number:
  US 20020046180A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,937 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 705/51, 705/1, 705/26, 725/87, 725/62
• US Class Current: 705/26.8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A game database storing a game program as pay data, a distribution server, and an account server are provided within a service provider side device. The account server sends, through a radio network, a part of a game program to a storage unit in a service user side device, before the arrival of the fixed time of the start of use. When the user has decided to purchase the game program on or after the day on which the data becomes usable, the program part is sent to a game terminal so that the play of the game can be started. Upon the receipt of a request from the user for the distribution of the remaining part of the program, the user'"'"'s balance is checked for the purchase of the remaining part of the program and, thereafter, the remaining part of the program is sent from the distribution server to the radio terminal so that the user can enjoy the subsequent part of the game without delay. The above construction can shorten the time period between the request for the distribution of data and the reproduction of the distributed data in predetermined communication environment such as radio data communication environment, and can reduce the concentration of load on the distribution server. Further, the invention can also be applied to distribution data for which the limitation of the time of the start of use is not provided.

Claims

1. A data distribution system, comprising:

partial data preliminary distribution means for distributing partial data from a source to a user over a communication network, said partial data comprising attribute data and only a part of distribution data, said attribute data including a price of the distribution data, said distribution data having been separated into said part and a remaining part;

partial data reproduction release means for, when the user indicates to said source a decision to purchase the partial data distributed by the partial data preliminary distribution means or the remaining part of the distribution data, rendering reproducible the partial data, except for the attribute data, from a time of the indication at the earliest; and

remaining distribution data distribution means for, upon receipt by the source of a request from the user for the distribution of the remaining part of the distribution data corresponding to the partial data, distributing from the source the remaining part of the distribution data to the user over the communication network.

2. The data distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the remaining part of the distribution data is divided into a plurality of parts and which further comprises distribution interval regulation means that regulates an interval of distribution of each part of the plurality of parts of the remaining part of the distribution data from the source to the user according to progress of a reproduction of the distribution data by the user.

3. The data distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the distribution data are distributed from the source to the user through a radio network.

4. A data distribution system, comprising:

partial data preliminary distribution means for distributing partial data from a source to a user over a communication network, said partial data comprising attribute data and only a part of distribution data, said attribute data including a price of the distribution data, said distribution data having been separated into said part and a remaining part;

partial data reproduction release means for, when the user indicates to said source a decision to purchase the partial data distributed by the partial data preliminary distribution means or the remaining part of the distribution data, rendering reproducible the partial data, except for the attribute data, from a time of the indication at the earliest;

payment ability judgment means for said source, upon the receipt of a request from the user for the distribution of a part or the whole of the remaining part of the distribution data corresponding to the partial data, judging whether or not the user can pay the equivalent to the distribution data;

requested data distribution means for, when the judgment by the result of the payment ability judgment means is that the user can pay the equivalent, distributing the requested data from the source to the user over the communication network;

accounting means for the source, when the distribution of the requested data by the requested data distribution means from the source to the user has been confirmed, performing accounting of the distribution data for the user; and

requested data reproduction release means for rending the requested data, which has been distributed from the source to the user by the requested data distribution means upon the completion of the accounting by the accounting means, usable on the user side.

5. The data distribution system according to claim 4, which further comprises means, for balance processing during sales processing, that, when the result of the judgment by the payment ability judgment means is that the user can pay the equivalent, issues a sales code indicating, that sales processing is under execution, and subtracts an amount of money to be paid from the user'"'"'s balance to determine a new balance value.

6. The data distribution system according to claim 5, which further comprises means, for establishing the balance at the time of completion of accounting, that, when accounting has been performed by the accounting mean, discards the sales code to establish the balance.

7. The data distribution system according to claim 5, wherein a period of validity is provided in the sales code and which further comprises means, for establishing the balance at a time of no charging, that, when the period of validity has expired, returns the new-balance value, obtained by subtracting an equivalent value from the balance, to the original value based on recognition that the payment corresponding to an issued sales code has not been made.

8. The data distribution system according to claim 4, wherein the remaining part of the distribution data is divided into a plurality of parts and which further comprises distribution interval regulation means that regulates a interval of distribution of each part of the plurality of parts of the remaining part of the distribution data from the source to the user according to progress of a reproduction of the distribution data by the user.

9. The data distribution system according to claim 4, wherein the distribution data are distributed from the source to the user through a radio network.

10. The data distribution system according to claim 4 which further comprises means, for balance processing during sales processing, that, when the result of the judgment by the payment ability judgment means is that the user can pay the equivalent, issues a sales code indicating, that sales processing is under execution, and subtracts an amount of money to be paid from a user'"'"'s balance to determine a new balance value.

11. A data distribution system, comprising:

partial data preliminary distribution means for distributing partial data from a source to a storage region provided at a user over a communication network, said partial data including attribute data and only a part of distribution data for which a time of start of use has been fixed, said attribute data able to be disclosed before an arrival of the time of start of use and including at least one of the time of start of use and a price of the distribution data, said distribution data having been separated into said part and a remaining part, said partial data preliminary distribution means configured to distribute said partial data from said source to said storage region provided at said user before the arrival of the time of start of use;

partial data reproduction release means for, when the user indicates to said source a decision to purchase the partial data distributed from said source by the partial data preliminary distribution means or the remaining part of the distribution data, rendering reproducible the partial data, except for the attribute data, from the fixed time of start of use at the earliest; and

remaining distribution data distribution means for, after the fixed time of the start of use, upon receipt of a request from the user side for the distribution of the remaining part of the distribution data corresponding to the partial data, distributing the remaining part of the distribution data from said source to the user over the communication network.

12. The data distribution system according to claim 11, wherein the remaining part of the distribution data is divided into a plurality of parts and which further comprises distribution interval regulation means that regulates an interval of distribution of each part of the plurality of parts of the remaining part of the distribution data from the source to the user according to progress of a reproduction of the distribution data by the user.

13. The data distribution system according to claim 11, wherein the distribution data are distributed from the source to the user through a radio network.

14. A data distribution system, comprising:

partial data preliminary distribution means for distributing partial data from a source to a user over a communication network, said partial data comprising attribute data and only a part of distribution data for which a time of start of use has been fixed, said attribute data able to be disclosed before an arrival of the time of start of use and including at least one of the time of start of use and a price of the distribution data, said distribution data having been separated into said part and a remaining part, said partial data preliminary distribution means configured to distribute said partial data from said source to said user before the arrival of the time of start of use;

partial data reproduction release means which, when the user indicates to said source a decision to purchase the partial data distributed by the partial data preliminary distribution means or the remaining part of the distribution data, renders the partial data except for the attribute data reproducible from the time of start of use at the earliest;

payment ability judgment means which, after the fixed time of start of use, upon the receipt of a request by the source from the user for the distribution of a part or the whole of the remaining part of the distribution data corresponding to the partial data, judges whether or not the user can pay the equivalent to the distribution data;

requested data distribution means which, when the judgment by the payment ability judgment means is that the user can pay the equivalent, distributes the requested data from said source to the user over the communication network;

accounting means which, when the distribution of the requested data from the source to the user by the requested data distribution means has been confirmed, performs accounting of the distribution data for the user; and

requested data reproduction release means which renders the requested data, which has been distributed from said source to said user by the requested data distribution means upon the completion of the accounting by the accounting means, usable on the user side.

15. The data distribution system according to claim 14, wherein the remaining part of the distribution data is divided into a plurality of parts and which further comprises distribution interval regulation means that regulates an interval of distribution of each part of the plurality of parts of the remaining part of the distribution data from the source to the user according to progress of a reproduction of the distribution data by the user.

16. The data distribution system according to claim 14, wherein the distribution data are distributed from the source to the user through a radio network.

17. The data distribution system according to claim 14, which further comprises means, for balance processing during sales processing, that, when the result of the judgment by the payment ability judgment means is that the user can pay the equivalent, issues a sales code indicating, that sales processing is under execution, and subtracts an amount of money to be paid from a user'"'"'s balance to determine a new balance value.

18. The data distribution system according to claim 17, which further comprises means, for establishing a balance at the time of the completion of accounting, that, when accounting has been performed by the accounting mean, discards the sales code to establish the balance.