JPH01146456A - Terminal equipment in computer communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the concentration of signal and data of data communication possibly to a specific computer by interrupting the communication with any service station and starting the communication with a service station selected later after the service of any service station is received and the next service station is selected. CONSTITUTION:A computer communication user uses one terminal equipment T1 to apply automatic dial, sends an inquiry signal to a service guide station G and selects the service offer station (service menu), then the communication with the service guide station G is interrupted and the selected service offer station H1 is selected. Suppose that the computer communication user operating the terminal equipment T1 confirms the information and select the next service offering station H2, then the communication with the preceding service offer station H1 is interrupted automatically and the communication with the newly selected service offer station H2 is started.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a terminal device in computer communication,
More specifically, it is a computer communication system in which a plurality of computer terminal devices receiving data services and a plurality of service stations consisting of computers providing data services are connected via a telephone line network, and the service stations are connected to each other via a telephone line network. It is divided into one or more service information stations for providing service menus, and multiple service providing stations for providing services corresponding to each service menu provided to the terminal device side from the service information stations. This invention relates to improvements in computer terminal equipment for use in computer communication systems consisting of computers.

[Conventional technology]

As is well known, the spread of computers in recent years has been remarkable, and in particular, low-cost, high-performance personal computers have become widespread at all levels, and along with this, computer data communication has been implemented in several forms. .

One of them is the personal computer itself.

This is a case where each person who owns an input means such as a keyboard, a display, etc. arbitrarily exchanges information with each other.

The second case is a case where a data providing company that owns a large host computer has constructed a specific database, and members use that database for a fee or free of charge.

In these cases, both conventional computer communication systems (1) and (2) use a general computer that performs the work of another computer as it is, and also After completing computer communication with one host computer, if you want to communicate with another computer, i.e., if you want to perform multiple data communications with several computers in sequence, each time the phone of the other computer is used. Data communication users have to manually dial the number.

Furthermore, in the case of the prior art (1), each person who has a personal computer device performs this on a voluntary basis; in addition, in the prior art (2) in particular, computer communication signals and Data is often concentrated.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

According to the above-mentioned prior art, when performing data communication with a plurality of computers, the data communication user must manually change the telephone number of the other party's computer each time, making the data communication work complicated and time-consuming.

In addition, as mentioned above, the fact that telephone calls must be made and fixed, and computer communication is voluntary, and the rules have not yet been established, are obstacles to the systematic expansion and enrichment of computer communication. There is. In particular, in the case of data communication using a host computer of a specific data provider, since computer communication signals and data are concentrated on a specific host computer, many telephone lines are required to connect to the specific host computer. In other words, a large computer with large capacity is required.

The present invention is intended to solve these problems of the prior art. An object of the present invention is to provide a computer communication terminal device having an automatic dialing means that automatically switches the communication destination simply by sequentially selecting the destination computer using the dialing means of one computer communication terminal device, and in particular: a plurality of service stations consisting of computers that provide services, one or more service information stations for providing data service menus, and service menus provided from the service information stations to the terminal device side accordingly. In order to prevent the concentration of data communication signals and data on specific computers in the computer communication network as much as possible, and distribute the data to multiple computers,
To provide a terminal device for a computer communication system that can carry out computer data communication on a relatively large scale without making each computer a large-capacity computer.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following technical means. That is, the present invention provides a plurality of computer terminals T1. T2. T3゜T4-...fist and
A computer communication system in which a plurality of service stations consisting of computers that provide data services are connected via a telephone line network, wherein the service stations include one or more service information stations that provide data service menus. G and)1. From the service information station G to the terminal device side T1, T2 . T3. T4--A computer for use in a computer communication system that is divided into multiple service provision sections H1, H2, H3, etc. for providing services corresponding to each of the service menus provided to... In the terminal device; a terminal device T1 consisting of the computer 1 described in E, a terminal input device 7, a display 8, etc.;
T2. T3. T4 dispute, life, at least the above service information bureau G, service provider bureau) 11. )12 ・l11
1. A data memory for storing data such as telephone numbers of service stations such as 1, etc., and when a terminal device user selects a service station via input device δ, automatic dialing is performed to the service station corresponding to the selection. Further, the automatic dialing means is configured such that the terminal device user inputs the input device 7.
If you select one of the service stations via , and after receiving the service of that service station, you select the next service station, you will cut off communication with the previous service station and will not be able to communicate with the service station you selected later. A terminal device for computer communication characterized by including automatic switching means for automatically starting communication.

[Effect]

Therefore, when a data communication user uses a particular computer terminal device, he or she first selects and specifies a service information bureau using the input means of the computer terminal device. Then, you will be able to dial automatically and communicate with the service information bureau, which will then send you a service menu. After confirming this service menu on the display, if a specific service menu is selected, the communication between this computer terminal and the service information station is turned off, and at the same time the communication corresponding to the selected service menu, i.e., the selected service Communication between service providers that provide services begins. In other words, at this stage, the data communication user has essentially made two calls, but on the surface it appears that i! It takes the form of continuous communication. However, it does not communicate only with a specific host computer as in the past, but when communicating with the subsequent service provider, communication with the previous service information station is turned off.

Therefore, the chances that other data communication users will be able to use the telephone line of the service information center are increased. In addition, since a plurality of computers perform their respective roles in a distributed manner, the capacity of each computer 11- can be smaller than in the past.

Now, by communicating with a certain service provider as described above, after receiving the contents of the service menu for that service provider, another service menu is displayed again.
fftR, and when communicating with a service provider that can provide another service, the communication destination is automatically switched in the same way as described above.

C male example] Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows these computer terminal devices T1, T2゜T3.
Each of T4, Φ, etc. indicates the entire computer communication network to which it is applied, and symbol G indicates a service information station for guiding computer communication users about data service menus, and similarly, symbols H1 and H2 , H3... are the computer terminals T1, T from the service information station G.
2. T3. T4 After a service menu is provided to each of..., the user selects a service menu using the input means of the computer terminal device, each enters a communication state, and provides the service content to the computer terminal device side. The symbol indicates a telephone line network switchboard.

The above computer communication terminal equipment 2iT1. T2. T3゜T4...and the service information station G and the service providing tubes H1, H2, H3... are all substantially the same computer device and its peripheral devices, or the service information station G and the service provider Provided cylinder H1, H2, H3Φ
Regarding..., the above computer communication terminal device i
! tT1. T2. T3. Compared to T4, it is a relatively large 14-sized computer and its peripheral devices.

Therefore, the above-mentioned computer communication terminal device TI.

T2. T3. To explain this by focusing on one of T4..., the computer 1 has a central processing unit (CP).
U) 2, a memory (ROM) 3 that can store predetermined procedures for computer communication, and a writable memory (RAM) 4 that can store telephone numbers and other necessary data of service information stations, service providers, etc. It consists of a D/A converter (MODEM) 5 that converts digital signals into analog signals, and a network control unit (NCU) 6, and its peripheral devices include an input device 7 such as a keyboard or mouse, a display 8, etc. These terminal devices T1, T2 . . . . The shape may be any shape, but the shapes shown in FIGS. 1O and 11 can be cited as examples.

That is, it has an input device 7 consisting of a circular main body casing 9 and a mouse, and when this mouse input device Fa7 is permanently placed on the main body casing 9, the power switch 1O is set to the OFF state, and one main body casing When the power switch 10 is removed from the casing 9, the power switch 10 protrudes and turns on, and the main body casing 9 has a built-in computer 1, and other necessary display 8 is located inside the dome-shaped casing 9. For example, a normal television receiver may be used, which is prepared separately from the main body casing 9.Now, let us explain about the memory (ROM) 3 that stores the steps in the F configuration. The outline of the procedure is that a computer communication user uses the input device 7 to contact the service information station G, service provider tube H1, H2, or H31.
When selecting 1..., the selected partner station is first automatically dialed, then an inquiry signal is sent to the service information station G and service provider tubes H1, H2, etc., and then the other party's The response code is received from the station, the service menu and service contents are received, and then, when the computer user uses the input device 7 to select another service provider, the communication partner station At the same time as cutting off communication with a communication partner station, communication with a later selected communication partner station is started, that is, switching is performed.

An example of the above inquiry signal is the code of this computer communication system to which this terminal device is applied, the type of service, ie, the service menu.
A code for determining whether to provide individual content, a so-called password code, a user code, etc., may be considered, but various other codes may be used without changing the above outline.

Regarding the memory (RAM) 4 that can store the L data, the service information station G, the service providing cylinders H1, H2,
Memory that can store the above steps such as the phone number of H3@...
The ROM has a structure in which various data for executing the procedures in ROM) 3 and other data necessary for operating this computer communication system can be freely written.

Based on the above configuration, a sequential example of one computer communication will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

In this case, an example will be explained in which a certain computer communication user uses one terminal device TI to perform various communications.

First, the mouse 7, which is an input device, is removed from the main body casing 9L, that is, the state shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 11 is set. This turns the power on.

Of course, before this, connect a display such as a television and tune the channel. When the power is turned on, the initial menu will be displayed on display 8.0For example, take the example of the 5th drawing. can do 0
Next, select ■Service information bureau G. In the example shown in FIG. 5, selecting "Others" using the mouse 7, which is an input device, results in the selection of the service information station G. Then, according to the procedure stored in the procedure storage memory 3 and according to the data stored in the data memory 4, the central processing unit 2 executes the following automatic dialing and subsequent steps.

In other words, ■Automatically dial and ■Send an inquiry signal to the service information station G.0The inquiry signal includes the code of this computer communication system, the service code (at this stage, the code that specifies the service information station), the password code, Send user code. On the other hand, service information station G receives this inquiry signal (6)
■Check each code. After confirming that all codes match, send the <response code. The response code is received on the terminal device Tl side, and after confirming this, the service information station G transmits the Q◆ service menu, and the terminal device T1 receives this as 0. The screen shown in FIG. 6 is an example. Here, when the computer communication user selects the 0 service providing station (service menu), that is, in the example of FIG. 6, selects "Slope Information", the 0 service information station G
Communication with the remote control is turned off and automatic dialing is performed. These are automatically implemented on the computer. That is, the service providing unit H1 selected in the E memory is selected. Here too, [phase] inquiry signal is sent 0
Next, the service providing unit H1 receives the inquiry signal and checks each O code. After that, the [share] response code is sent, and the [phase] response code is received on the terminal device TI side.0 Then, the [phase] service content is transmitted, and the @ service content is received on the terminal device TI side. , the display screen will appear.

FIG. 7 shows one example of this.

A computer communication user who operates the terminal equipment 21TI,
After confirming this information, if you select the 0th order service provider H2, communication with the next service provider H1 will be automatically cut off, and communication with the newly selected service provider H2 will be interrupted. Start.

That is, [phase] communication is automatically switched. The computer communication user feels as if he/she is receiving several different services through one continuous communication, and the operation is not troublesome.The order of communication with this second service providing unit H2 is shown in FIG. [Phases] are shown below.

The example in FIG. 8 shows an example of the content received from the second service providing unit H2. If the content of the service of the first service providing unit H1 is centered on screen information, for example, the content received from the second service providing unit H2 is The content of the service provided by the second service providing unit H2 can be voice-centered.

Although the above description focuses on one terminal device TI, these steps can be executed on each terminal.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the explanation, the computer communication terminal of this invention! The service station of the computer communication system to which the device is applied is a service information station that provides a service menu, and a plurality of service providers that are selected based on the guidance information of the service information station and provide services corresponding to the menu. Since the host computer is divided into sections, data signals and stored data can be distributed instead of being concentrated on a particular host computer. As a result, in order to secure the required computer communication network, it is possible to downsize each computer, and the number of lines can be kept as small as possible, especially the terminal equipment used in such a computer communication system. If you select the next service station after communicating with one service station, communication with the previous station will be automatically interrupted and communication with the newly selected station will be automatically interrupted. This makes it easier for computer communication users to operate the service, as it can be started automatically and automatically switched.
Since one line is not occupied for a long time, it has various practical advantages, such as allowing computer communication users to efficiently utilize each line, and even the computer communication network.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The accompanying drawings show embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of a computer communication network to which the computer communication terminal device of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a step chart diagram of an example of computer communication, and FIGS. Figure 9 is a diagram showing computer communication examples on the display screen, Figure 1θ, Figure 1
1 is a perspective view of each computer communication terminal device. Dormitory 10 Drunk No. 11-L Jogonshi 11mi-1j (Method) 1 'IG display 1988 Patent application No. 305096St2 Name of invention Terminal device in computer communication 3 Person who performs supplementary city 'Ilf Relationship with 'l Special, 1 Applicant Address 111 Baba + 1'l + 29 6t, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Name Prosumer Co., Ltd. 1 Representative Hide Hara 4 Agent 220 Address 110-2 Takashima 2F, Nishi-ku, Yokohama '-No. 5 Supplement 11: Instruction No. 11 February 1939 23116
Supplement 11: Target of

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Computer communication in which a plurality of computer terminal devices T1, T2, T3, T4, etc. receiving data services and a plurality of service stations consisting of computers providing data services are connected via a telephone line network. The service station includes one or more service information stations G for providing a data service menu, and T1, T2, and T1 from the service information station G to the terminal device side.
3. For use in a computer communication system that is divided into a plurality of service providing stations H1, H2, H3, etc. for providing services corresponding to each service menu provided to T4... In the computer terminal device; terminal devices T1, T2, T3, T4, etc. comprising the above-mentioned computer 1, terminal input device 7, display 8, etc.
is a data memory that stores data such as telephone numbers of service stations such as the service information station G, service providing stations H1, H2, etc., and a terminal device user can access the service stations via the input device. The automatic dialing means automatically dials the service station corresponding to the selection when the terminal device user selects one of the service stations via the input device 7. and, when a next service station is selected after receiving the service of that service station, automatic switching means is provided for cutting off communication with the previous service station and automatically starting communication with the service station selected later. A terminal device in computer communication characterized by comprising: (2) The service station that the terminal user selects via the input device or automatic dialing means is a service information station for guiding the service menu, and after the terminal user confirms the service menu, When one of the menus is selected, the service station selected by being switched by the automatic switching means of the automatic dialing means is a service for providing a service corresponding to the selected menu. A terminal device in computer communication according to claim 1, which is a providing station. (3) There are one service station with which the terminal user can communicate.
After receiving the service,
When the terminal user selects another service menu, the subsequent service station that is switched and selected by the automatic switching means of the automatic dialing means is another service providing station that provides a service with different contents from the previous service. A terminal device for computer communication according to claim 1, characterized in that: