Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1997-12-03
2002-11-19
Chin, Vivian (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S445000, C455S012100, C370S395310
Reexamination Certificate
active
06484028
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to information delivery systems, and particularly relates to an information delivery system which delivers information from an information center to respective terminals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional satellite communication systems are used for transmitting broadcasting signals towards a large number of anonymous users as used in a broadcasting satellite system, and every receiver (user) receives the same information, which is in turn displayed on a screen.
Another usage of satellite communication systems is to transfer a large amount of data to a specified base center.
In such conventional satellite communication systems, information is either transmitted to a large number of anonymous receivers or transferred to a specified base. Such usage of the conventional satellite communication systems covers a weak point of ground networks such as Internet and Intranet. When a large amount of data is attempted to be downloaded through a network such as Internet or Intranet, such an attempt will turn out to be impractical because of a prohibitingly lengthy time required for the downloading, and will create a large amount of traffic, which may seriously affect main business communications with regard to accounting, sales, telephoning, etc. In consideration of this, integration of a satellite communication system with a ground network system should prove to be beneficial.
FIG. 1
is an illustrative drawing showing an information delivery system which integrates a satellite communication system with the Internet and a public telephone network.
The information delivery system of
FIG. 1
includes a terminal
101
, a public telephone network
102
, a user center
103
, Internet
104
, a terminal
105
, a satellite-data-communication ground base
106
, and a communication satellite
107
.
An example to be described here is a case in which the same information needs to be delivered from the terminal
105
to a plurality of terminals inclusive of the terminal
101
which are scattered around in a large area. In a case of a business corporation, the plurality of terminals including the terminal
101
may be computers installed in its branches and local offices, and a corporate information center updates data of databases all at once with respect to these branches and local offices. Such a case is hereinafter referred to as a push-type service.
In the case of the push-type service, the terminal
105
requests broadcasting from the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
by transmitting a destination file and a real file to the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
via Internet
104
and the user center
103
. The real file includes the contents of information which is to be delivered to the terminal
101
, and the destination file indicates a destination to which the real file is to be delivered.
The satellite-data-communication ground base
106
delivers the real file to the indicated terminal
101
via the communication satellite
107
in accordance with conditions set forth in the destination file. When errors are found in the received data, the terminal
101
issues a request for a repeat of data transmission to the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
via the public telephone network
102
. Upon receiving the request, the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
sends the same data again to the terminal
101
via the communication satellite
107
. After data transfer is repeated a predetermined number of times, the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
notifies the terminal
105
of results of data transfer since the terminal
105
initially requested broadcasting.
FIG. 2
is an illustrative drawing showing another type of service using an information delivery system which integrates a satellite communication system with a public telephone network.
The information delivery system of
FIG. 2
is basically the same as that of
FIG. 1
, and the same elements as those of
FIG. 1
are referred to by the same numerals.
FIG. 2
is used for explaining a case in which the terminal
101
issues a request to receive data via the communication satellite
107
when the terminal
101
needs to download a large amount of data. Such a case is hereinafter referred to as a pull-type service.
In the case of the pull-type service, the terminal
101
sends a request for data transmission to the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
via the public telephone network
102
. The satellite-data-communication ground base
106
obtains an IP (internet protocol) address of the terminal
101
and an IP address to which a connection needs to be established, and establishes a connection to the user center
103
which has the above IP address. The user center
103
transfers a real file to the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
as this real file is requested.
The satellite-data-communication ground base
106
obtains a satellite-network address of the terminal
101
based on the IP address of the terminal
101
, and delivers the real file to the terminal
101
via the communication satellite
107
. When errors are found in the received data, the terminal
101
issues a request for a repeat of data transmission to the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
via the public telephone network
102
. Upon receiving the request, the satellite-data-communication ground base
106
sends the same data again to the terminal
101
via the communication satellite
107
.
The push-type service of
FIG. 1
has drawbacks in terms of security, reliability, and costs because a request for a repeat of data transmission is made via a public telephone network. Even when the number of receiver terminals in need of another data transfer is small and only a small amount of data transfer is needed, data transfer will be repeated by using the communication satellite
107
, which incurs a large cost as fees from use of the satellite. When a satellite network is congested, further, another data transfer may need to wait at the end of a queue. Further, results of data transmission are not notified unless all the data delivery including a repeat of data transfer is completed, so that an intermediate report cannot be obtained.
The pull-type service of
FIG. 2
also has drawbacks in terms of security, reliability, and costs because a request for data transmission and a request for a repeat of data transmission are made via a public telephone network. Further, the communication satellite
107
is always used for data transmission, thereby resulting in an accumulated large fee for use of the satellite.
Accordingly, there is a need for an information delivery system which delivers information to terminals via a communication satellite at a low cost while maintaining security.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an information delivery system which can satisfy the need described above.
It is another and more specific object of the present invention to provide an information delivery system which delivers information to terminals via a communication satellite at a low cost while maintaining security.
In order to achieve the above objects according to the present invention, an information delivery system includes terminals receiving data via a satellite-communication system, and a user center having a destination-conversion table which lists a satellite-system receiver ID with respect to each ground-network address of the terminals, and, upon receiving a request for data delivery via an intra-network, obtaining satellite-system receiver IDs from ground-network addresses indicated as destinations of the data delivery by referring to the destination-conversion table so as to deliver requested data and a reception-control program to the destinations via the satellite-communication system. The terminals use the reception-control program to check the data-reception conditions when receiving the requested data and the receptio
Eda Susumu
Kino Toru
Naito Shuichi
Okada Akihiro
Chin Vivian
Nguyen Duc
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