Collected data providing apparatus and portable terminal for data collection

• US 7,756,948 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2008
• Issued: 07/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Murata, Yoshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim; Krisna
• Application Number:
  US12/103,664
• Publication Number:
  US 20080201189A1
• Time in Patent Office: 819 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709217-219, 709223-224
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera

Abstract

A collected data providing apparatus and a portable data collecting terminal capable of collecting valuable effective data from object of data collection. When a server receives a data-collection request from a data collection requester'"'"'s terminal, the server examines whether or not there is a data collector with a terminal in the vicinity of a place of data collection included in the request. If there is, the server sends a data collection request to the portable terminal, which receives the request, collects data on the place at the request, and then sends the server the collected data. The server then delivers this collected data to the data collection requester'"'"'s terminal (FIG. 1).

Claims

1. A collected data providing apparatus comprising:

a locating unit for locating a position of an object of data collection;

a finding unit for finding a portable terminal present in a vicinity of the object of data collection located by the locating unit;

a transmitter for transmitting to the found portable terminal a request to collect data on the object of data collection;

a receiver for receiving from the portable terminal the data collected by the portable terminal in accordance with the request; and

a control unit for controlling the apparatus so that the apparatus publishes a data collector recruiting homepage on the Internet before the receiver receives the collected data, determines whether an applicant who applied for recruitment is qualified based upon received application data, registers the applicant as a qualified data collector if the applicant is qualified, and sends the registered applicant related information.

2. A collected data providing apparatus comprising:

a locating unit for locating a position of an object of data collection;

a finding unit for finding a portable terminal present in a vicinity of the object of data collection located by the locating unit;

a transmitter for transmitting to the found portable terminal a request to collect data on the object of data collection;

a receiver for receiving from the portable terminal the data collected by the portable terminal in accordance with the request; and

a control unit for controlling the apparatus so that the apparatus publishes a data collector recruiting homepage on the Internet before the receiver receives the collected data, determines whether an applicant who applied for recruitment is qualified based upon received application data, registers the applicant as a qualified data collector if the applicant is qualified, sends the registered data collector related information, and receives data on objects of data collection from third parties including registered data collectors before or after the related information is sent to the registered data collector.

3. A collected data providing apparatus comprising:

a locating unit for locating a position of an object of data collection;

a finding unit for finding a portable terminal present in a vicinity of the object of data collection located by the locating unit;

a transmitter for transmitting to the found portable terminal a request to collect data on the object of data collection;

a receiver for receiving from the portable terminal the data collected by the portable terminal in accordance with the request; and

a control unit for controlling the apparatus so that the apparatus publishes a data collector recruiting homepage on the Internet before the receiver receives the collected data, determines whether an applicant who applied for recruitment is qualified for the position based upon received application data, registers the applicant as a qualified data collector if the applicant is qualified, sends the registered data collector related information, and receives data on objects of data collection from third parties including registered data collectors before or after the related information is sent to the registered data collector,

wherein the position of the object of data collection located by the locating unit is indicated by the data on the object of data collection received under control of the control unit.