Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Business processing using cryptography – Secure transaction
Patent
1996-03-08
1999-03-16
Rinehart, Mark H.
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Business processing using cryptography
Secure transaction
39520047, 705 26, G06F 1338, G06F 1517, G06F 1730
Patent
active
058840451
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to an information providing system and a user terminal, and more particularly relates to an information providing system and a user terminal suitable when used in the case where, e.g., a center for providing information and user terminals are connected through telephone lines to construct, e.g., shopping system to retrieve desired information from the center.
BACKGROUND ART
For example, in personal computer communication, etc., in the case where user provides an access to data base to retrieve desired data, he carried out retrieval in a hierarchical manner. Namely, a predetermined menu picture is first transmitted from a center for providing information (hereinafter referred to as an information providing unit) to a user terminal equipment. Thus, user selects item relating to information to be retrieved from the menu picture. The information providing unit transmits a new menu picture to the user terminal equipment in accordance with the selection. The user further selects item relating to desired data from the new menu picture.
The user repeats, plural times, such select operations, thus making it possible to ultimately retrieve desired data.
As stated above, in the conventional system, even if access to the same data was provided in the past, access to desired information had to be provided by repeating, plural times, select operations in accordance with the similar procedure from the beginning every time. As a result, the operation was troublesome and inconvenient.
In addition, there were problems that overhead in point of time required for obtaining desired information is prolonged, and the rental fee for the telephone circuit and/or the data base, etc. become expensive.
This invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its object is to provide an information providing system and a user terminal capable of providing access to desired information more immediately.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
To attain the above-described object, an information providing system according to this invention comprises a center for providing information, and at least one user terminal connected to the center through a predetermined communication network and adapted to accept an offer of information from the center.
The user terminal comprises first receiving means for receiving information transmitted from the center through the predetermined communication network, display means for displaying the information received by the first receiving means on a display, past record memory means for storing a portion of information received in the past as past record information, designating means for designating past record information that user desires of the past record information stored in the past record memory means, and first transmitting means for transmitting, to the center, an instruction signal for instructing offer of information corresponding to the desired past record information.
Moreover, the center comprises second receiving means for receiving the instruction signal transmitted from the user terminal, provided information memory means for storing information to be offered or provided to the user terminal, and second transmitting means for reading out information corresponding to the instruction signal from the provided information memory means to transmit it to the user terminal.
The past record information includes, e.g., information ID included in received information, name of the received information, and the number of receiving times of the received information. The information ID, the name of the information and the number of receiving times are caused to correspond to each other. The user terminal stores past record information into the past record memory means, and increments the number of receiving times when the information ID has been already stored to update past record information. When user designates desired one of the past record information, the user terminal transmits, to the center, an instruction signal for instructing offer of information corresponding to
REFERENCES:
patent: 5671411 (1997-09-01), Watts et al.
Frommer William S.
Rinehart Mark H.
Smid Dennis M.
Sony Corporation
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