Data communication system, relay apparatus, and portable terminal apparatus

Abstract

The following are provided: a data communication system, a relay apparatus, and a portable terminal apparatus in which when a mobile portable terminal apparatus such as a mobile telephone displays a screen based on display screen definition data received from the central apparatus, the exception handling of the data communication can be dynamically changed according to the communication environment of the portable terminal apparatus. The central apparatus adds, to the display screen definition data, communication control data where an exception handling procedure for communication between the portable terminal apparatus and the central apparatus is set. The portable terminal apparatus displays an image based on the display screen definition data received from the central apparatus, and performs data communication with the central apparatus according to the communication control data extracted from the display screen definition data.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a data communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a web screen displayed on a mobile telephone of the data communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of HTML sentences (display screen definition data) defining a web screen displayed on the mobile telephone of the data communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of HTML sentences as the display screen definition data in the data communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the CPU of a central apparatus of the data communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of the structure of the data stored in a communication control data storage unit;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the CPU of a mobile telephone of the data communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the structure of a data communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the CPU of a relay apparatus of the data communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of HTML sentences as the display screen definition data in a data communication system according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of the screen transition of the mobile telephone when information to specify the image displayed on the mobile telephone from the start to end of data communication is added to the communication control data.

Claims

1. A data communication system comprising: a portable terminal apparatus having a display for displaying an image; anda central apparatus capable of data communication with said portable terminal apparatus, said portable terminal apparatus displaying the image on the display based on display screen definition data received from said central apparatus, and transmitting data accepted through the displayed image to said central apparatus, whereinsaid central apparatus comprises: a storage unit for storing the display screen definition data defining the image displayed on the portable terminal apparatus; anda controller capable of performing an operation of adding communication control data where an exception handling procedure for the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus is set, to the display screen definition data,said portable terminal apparatus comprises a controller capable of performing an operation of extracting the communication control data from the received display screen definition data, andsaid portable terminal apparatus performs data communication with said central apparatus according to the extracted communication control data.

2. A data communication system according to claim 1, wherein said central apparatus further comprises: a database storing the communication control data so as to be associated with environment data identifying a communication environment of said portable terminal apparatus; anda controller capable of performing operations of: extracting the communication control data from said database based on the environment data received from said portable terminal apparatus; andadding the extracted communication control data to the display screen definition data.

3. A data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication control data includes information to specify an image displayed on said portable terminal apparatus from start to end of the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus.

4. A data communication system comprising: a portable terminal apparatus having a display for displaying an image; anda central apparatus capable of data communication with said portable terminal apparatus, said portable terminal apparatus displaying the image on the display based on display screen definition data received from said central apparatus, and transmitting data accepted through the displayed image to said central apparatus, whereinsaid central apparatus comprises: means for storing the display screen definition data defining the image displayed on the portable terminal apparatus; andmeans for adding communication control data where an exception handling procedure for the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus is set, to the display screen definition data,said portable terminal apparatus comprises: means for extracting the communication control data from the received display screen definition data, andsaid portable terminal apparatus performs data communication with said central apparatus according to the extracted communication control data.

5. A data communication system according to claim 4, wherein said central apparatus further comprises: a database storing the communication control data so as to be associated with environment data identifying a communication environment of said portable terminal apparatus; andmeans for extracting the communication control data from said database based on the environment data received from said portable terminal apparatus; andmeans for adding the extracted communication control data to the display screen definition data.

6. A data communication system according to claim 4, wherein the communication control data includes information to specify an image displayed on said portable terminal apparatus from start to end of the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus.

7. A relay apparatus that relays data communication between a portable terminal apparatus having a display for displaying an image and a central apparatus, said relay apparatus comprising a controller capable of performing an operation of adding communication control data where an exception handling procedure for the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus is set, to display screen definition data received from said central apparatus, said display screen definition data defining the image displayed on the display of said portable terminal apparatus, whereinsaid relay apparatus transmits the display screen definition data to which the communication control data is added, to said portable terminal apparatus.

8. A relay apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: a database storing the communication control data so as to be associated with environment data identifying a communication environment of said portable terminal apparatus; anda controller capable of performing operations of: extracting the communication control data from said database based on the environment data received from said portable terminal apparatus; andadding the extracted communication control data to the display screen definition data.

9. A relay apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the communication control data includes information to specify an image displayed on said portable terminal apparatus from start to end of the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus.

10. A relay apparatus that relays data communication between a portable terminal apparatus having a display for displaying an image and a central apparatus, said relay apparatus comprising means for adding communication control data where an exception handling procedure for the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus is set, to display screen definition data received from said central apparatus, said display screen definition data defining the image displayed on the display of said portable terminal apparatus, whereinthe display screen definition data to which the communication control data is added is transmitted to said portable terminal apparatus.

11. A relay apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: a database storing the communication control data so as to be associated with environment data identifying a communication environment of said portable terminal apparatus; andmeans for extracting the communication control data from said database based on the environment data received from said portable terminal apparatus; andmeans for adding the extracted communication control data to the display screen definition data.

12. A relay apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the communication control data includes information to specify an image displayed on said portable terminal apparatus from start to end of the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus.

13. A memory product storing a computer program executable by a computer that relays data communication between a portable terminal apparatus having a display for displaying an image and a central apparatus, said computer program comprising steps of causing the computer to add communication control data where an exception handling procedure for the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus is set, to display screen definition data received from said central apparatus, said display screen definition data defining the image displayed on the display of said portable terminal apparatus; andcausing the computer to transmit the display screen definition data to which the communication control data is added, to said portable terminal apparatus.

14. A memory product according to claim 13, further comprising steps of: causing the computer to store the communication control data in a database so as to be associated with environment data identifying a communication environment of said portable terminal apparatus; andcausing the computer to extract the corresponding communication control data from the communication control data stored in said database in advance based on the environment data received from said portable terminal apparatus; andcausing the computer to add the extracted communication control data to the display screen definition data.

15. A memory product according to claim 13, further having, as the communication control data, information to specify an image displayed on said portable terminal apparatus from start to end of the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus.

16. A data communication method in which a portable terminal apparatus having a display for displaying an image and a central apparatus capable of data communication with said portable terminal apparatus are used, said portable terminal apparatus displays the image on the display based on display screen definition data received from said central apparatus; and data accepted through the displayed image is transmitted to said central apparatus, said data communication method comprising steps of: storing the display screen definition data defining the image displayed on said portable terminal apparatus, in a storage unit of said central apparatus;adding communication control data where an exception handling procedure for the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus is set, to the display screen definition data;extracting the communication control data from the display screen definition data received by the portable terminal apparatus; andperforming data communication with said central apparatus according to the extracted communication control data.

17. A data communication method according to claim 16, further comprising steps of: storing the communication control data in a database of said central apparatus so as to be associated with environment data identifying a communication environment of said portable terminal apparatus,extracting the communication control data stored in said database of said central apparatus based on the environment data transmitted from said portable terminal apparatus; andadding the extracted communication control data to the display screen definition data.

18. A data communication method according to claim 16, wherein the communication control data includes information to specify an image displayed on said portable terminal apparatus from start to end of the communication between said portable terminal apparatus and said central apparatus.

19. A portable terminal apparatus that is capable of data communication with an outside, has a display for displaying an image, displays the image on the display based on display screen definition data received from the outside, and transmits the data accepted through the displayed image, to the outside, said portable terminal apparatus comprising a controller capable of performing an operation of extracting communication control data where an exception handling procedure for the data communication is set, from the display screen definition data defining the image displayed on the display, whereinsaid portable terminal apparatus performs the data communication with the outside according to the extracted communication control data.

20. A portable terminal apparatus that is capable of data communication with an outside, has a display for displaying an image, displays the image on the display based on display screen definition data received from the outside, and transmits the data accepted through the displayed image, to the outside, said portable terminal apparatus comprising: means for extracting communication control data where an exception handling procedure for the data communication is set, from the display screen definition data defining the image displayed on the display; andmeans for performing the data communication with the outside according to the extracted communication control data.