JP2009157648A - Communication terminal, communication method, and communication program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress increase of communication traffic when operating a widget in a communication terminal having no sufficient hardware resource, such as a mobile terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The communication terminal includes: a script storage unit which stores a script describing a process content; a request generation unit which generates a request according to the description of the script stored in the script storage unit; a request buffer unit which buffers the request generated by the request generation unit; a request transmission unit which reads out the request buffered in the request buffer unit at predetermined transmission timing and transmits the request which has been read out; a response data reception unit which receives response data in response to the request transmitted by the request transmission unit; and a response data processing unit which processes the response data received by the response data reception unit, according to the description in the script. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal, a communication method, and a communication program. The present invention is particularly effective when applied to small-scale application software such as a widget that issues a request to a web server, for example, based on a script and displays a response to the request. The present invention relates to a method and a communication program.

  Conventionally, small application programs represented by widgets are known. Based on the script, the widget issues a request to, for example, a web server, and processes, for example, displays data transmitted as a result of a response to the request. The processing result is displayed on a small window provided in the display unit.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an active configuration framework that integrates a plurality of networks having different communication protocols into a single unified framework to enable a user application to discover and use various network devices. Disclose the system. The framework system interconnects services and service users to provide discovery and use of networking services using Plug and Play (PnP) brokers. The service user communicates with the service through the PnP broker interface, independent of the communication protocol used by the device providing the service.
JP 2001-290724 A

  Each widget is independently connected to a web server. Therefore, when a large number of widgets are operated, requests are issued to the web server at random, and communication traffic in the communication terminal that operates the widgets increases. In particular, when the communication terminal is a mobile terminal, the processing burden associated with issuing a request may increase due to a lack of hardware resources. An increase in processing load may be a factor that decreases the performance of the communication terminal, and may also be a factor that increases power consumption. Furthermore, an increase in communication traffic may become a factor that increases the load on a server or network that is a communication control device.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, in the first embodiment of the present invention, a script storage unit that stores a script that describes processing contents, and a request generation unit that generates a request according to the description of the script stored in the script storage unit A request buffer unit that buffers the request generated by the request generation unit, a request transmission unit that reads the request buffered in the request buffer unit at a predetermined transmission timing, and transmits the read request. A communication terminal is provided that includes a response data receiving unit that receives response data in response to a transmitted request, and a response data processing unit that processes the response data received by the response data receiving unit in accordance with the description of the script.

  It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention. In addition, a sub-combination of these feature groups can also be an invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. In addition, not all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solving means of the invention.

  FIG. 1 shows an overview of a network system 10 using the communication terminal 100 of the present embodiment. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a communication terminal 100, a web application server 200, and a network 400.

  The communication terminal 100 is, for example, a portable terminal, and lacks hardware resources such as calculation speed and memory capacity as compared with a desktop personal computer or the like. In the communication terminal 100, for example, a small-scale application program for executing web access such as a widget is operated.

  The widget 120 executes processing according to the script. The processing executed by the widget 120 includes request transmission such as web access. The widget 120 is a kind of small-scale application program, and displays the execution result on the window generated on the display unit 118. The widget 120 obtains and displays one-line news by accessing a news site, for example. The widget 120 obtains and displays a ranking result by accessing a book ranking site, for example.

  The web application server 200 may be a service server in which the widget 120 issues a request and provides information and the like. Although a web application is illustrated here as a service, the service is not limited to a web application. For example, it may be a service that provides a database or the like. The network 400 provides a communication environment by a protocol according to, for example, IP (Internet Protocol).

  FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration example of the communication terminal 100. The communication terminal 100 includes a script storage unit 104 that stores a script 102, a request generation unit 106, a sub-buffer unit 108, a request buffer unit 110, a request transmission unit 112, a response data reception unit 114, and response data processing. Unit 116, display unit 118, current position detection unit 122, and timer 124.

  The script 102 describes the processing content of the widget 120. For example, the script 102 can be described as a text document using ECMAScript in the syntax of XML (Extensible Markup Language). The script storage unit 104 stores the script 102.

  The request generation unit 106 generates a request according to the description of the script 102 stored in the script storage unit 104. The request generation unit 106 generates an HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) request for the purpose of acquiring a web page from a web server, for example.

  The sub buffer unit 108 is provided for each script 102. The sub-buffer unit 108 buffers the request generated by the request generation unit 106 according to the script 102 corresponding to the sub-buffer unit 108. Then, the sub-buffer unit 108 transfers the buffered request to the request buffer unit 110 at a predetermined transfer timing. Further, the sub-buffer unit 108 transmits all buffered requests at the transfer timing, and releases the buffer area in which the requests are buffered after the request is transmitted.

  The transfer timing in the sub-buffer unit 108 may be either when the buffer period expires or when the buffer number upper limit is reached. The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value in the sub-buffer unit 108 may be different for each corresponding script. The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value in the sub-buffer unit 108 can be changed according to the time zone.

  The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value in the sub-buffer unit 108 is set to the large traffic amount buffer period or the large traffic amount buffer number upper limit value in the period included in the time zone in which the traffic amount in the network 400 is larger than the average traffic amount. it can. In a period included in a time zone in which the traffic volume in the network 400 is less than the average traffic volume, the small traffic buffer period shorter than the large traffic buffer period or the small traffic buffer number smaller than the upper limit of the large traffic buffer number An upper limit may be set. When several requests among buffered requests are transmitted to the same transmission destination, the sub-buffer unit 108 may integrate a plurality of requests from the same transmission destination and handle them as one request. .

  The request buffer unit 110 buffers the request generated by the request generation unit 106. When several requests among buffered requests are transmitted to the same transmission destination, the request buffer unit 110 may integrate a plurality of requests of the same transmission destination and handle them as one request. .

  The request transmission unit 112 reads the request buffered in the request buffer unit 110 at a predetermined transmission timing, and transmits the read request. The transmission timing in the request transmission unit 112 may be either when the buffer period of the request buffer unit 110 expires or when the buffer number upper limit is reached. The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value of the request buffer unit 110 may be different for each corresponding script. The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value of the request buffer unit 110 can be changed according to the time zone.

  The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value of the request buffer unit 110 is set to the large traffic amount buffer period or the large traffic amount buffer number upper limit value in a period included in the time zone in which the traffic amount in the network 400 is larger than the average traffic amount it can. In a period included in a time zone in which the traffic volume in the network 400 is less than the average traffic volume, the small traffic buffer period shorter than the large traffic buffer period or the small traffic buffer number smaller than the upper limit of the large traffic buffer number Can be set to the upper limit. The request buffer unit 110 transmits all buffered requests at the transmission timing, and releases the buffer area in which the request is buffered after the request is transmitted.

  The response data receiving unit 114 receives response data in response to the request transmitted by the request transmitting unit 112. An example of the response data is an XML document. The response data processing unit 116 processes the response data received by the response data receiving unit 114 in accordance with the description of the script 102.

  The display unit 118 displays the processing result of the response data processed by the response data processing unit 116. For example, the processing result can be displayed as the widget 120. The current position detection unit 122 detects the current position. Examples of the current position detection unit 122 include a GPS (Global Positioning System).

  The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value of the sub-buffer unit 108 or the request buffer unit 110 can be changed according to the current position detected by the current position detection unit 122. For example, when the current position detection unit 122 can determine that the current position is home, the buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value may be set to be small so that the widget 120 is updated frequently. Alternatively, when the current position detection unit 122 can determine that the user is out, the buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value may be set to be large so that the update frequency of the widget 120 is lowered. When the schedule is determined in advance, the current position can be detected by the timer 124. For example, when it is scheduled to be in the train during the morning work hours, the current position can be estimated by the timer 124. For example, when the user is in the train, the buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value is set to be small and the widget 120 is set. The update frequency of can be set high.

  FIG. 3 shows a processing flow example of request transmission. The widget 120 refers to the script 102 and generates a request. Thereafter, the generated request is transmitted to the sub-buffer unit 108 (step 502). The sub-buffer unit 108 buffers the request (step 504). It is determined whether the transfer timing has been reached (step 506). If it is determined that the transfer timing has not yet been reached (No in step 506), the process waits until the transfer timing is reached (step 506).

  If it is determined that the transfer timing has been reached (Yes in step 506), the sub-buffer unit 108 transmits the buffered request to the request buffer unit 110 (step 508). After transmitting the buffered request, the sub-buffer unit 108 releases the buffered buffer area (step 510). Thereafter, the sub-buffer unit 108 enters an idle state and waits for transmission of a new request (step 512).

  After step 508, the request buffer unit 110 buffers the request transmitted from the sub-buffer unit 108 (step 514). It is determined whether the transmission timing has been reached (step 516). If it is determined that the transmission timing has not yet been reached (No in step 516), the process waits until the transmission timing is reached (step 516). If it is determined that the transmission timing has been reached (Yes in step 516), the request buffer unit 110 transmits the buffered request (step 518). After transmitting the buffered request, the request buffer unit 110 releases the buffered buffer area (step 520). Thereafter, the request buffer unit 110 enters an idle state and waits for transmission of a new request (step 522).

  FIG. 4 shows a processing flow example of response data. First, it is determined whether the response data receiving unit 114 has received response data (step 602). If response data is received, the process proceeds to step 604. If not received, the process returns to step 602 to wait for response data.

  In step 604, reception of the response data is completed (step 606), and the request that is the basis of the response data is specified (step 606). Thereafter, the response data is processed according to the script 102 (step 608). After the processing, processing data is displayed (step 610). Thereafter, the process returns to step 602 and waits for reception of response data.

  According to the embodiment described above, the request from the widget is buffered in the sub-buffer unit 108 and the request buffer unit 110. As a result, even if the widget 120 issues requests in pieces, it can be sent at once by matching the request timing by buffering. For this reason, communication traffic can be reduced, and the widget can be comfortably used even in an environment where hardware resources such as a portable terminal are limited.

  Further, since the sub-buffer unit 108 is provided for each widget 120 (for each script 102), requests for each widget 120 can be transmitted together. When a widget is normally displayed by a plurality of requests, it is possible to avoid a situation in which display is incomplete by the request buffer unit 110.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment. The communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU peripheral unit having a CPU 1505, a RAM 1520, a graphic controller 1575, and a display device 1580 that are connected to each other by a host controller 1582. The communication terminal 100 includes an input / output unit having a communication interface 1530, a hard disk drive 1540, and a CD-ROM drive 1560 connected to the host controller 1582 by the input / output controller 1584. Further, the communication terminal 100 includes a legacy input / output unit having a ROM 1510, a flexible disk drive 1550, and an input / output chip 1570 connected to the input / output controller 1584.

  The host controller 1582 connects the RAM 1520 to the CPU 1505 and the graphic controller 1575 that access the RAM 1520 at a high transfer rate. The CPU 1505 operates based on programs stored in the ROM 1510 and the RAM 1520 to control each unit. The graphic controller 1575 acquires image data generated by the CPU 1505 or the like on a frame buffer provided in the RAM 1520 and displays the image data on the display device 1580. Alternatively, the graphic controller 1575 may include a frame buffer that stores image data generated by the CPU 1505 or the like.

  The input / output controller 1584 connects the host controller 1582 to the communication interface 1530, the hard disk drive 1540, and the CD-ROM drive 1560, which are relatively high-speed input / output devices. The communication interface 1530 communicates with other devices via a network. The hard disk drive 1540 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1505 in the communication terminal 100. The CD-ROM drive 1560 reads a program or data from the CD-ROM 1595 and provides it to the hard disk drive 1540 via the RAM 1520.

  The input / output controller 1584 is connected to the ROM 1510, the flexible disk drive 1550, and the relatively low-speed input / output device of the input / output chip 1570. The ROM 1510 stores a boot program executed when the communication terminal 100 is started, a program depending on the hardware of the communication terminal 100, and the like. The flexible disk drive 1550 reads a program or data from the flexible disk 1590 and provides it to the hard disk drive 1540 via the RAM 1520. The input / output chip 1570 connects various input / output devices via a flexible disk drive 1550 such as a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, and a mouse port.

  A communication program provided to the hard disk drive 1540 via the RAM 1520 is stored in a recording medium such as the flexible disk 1590, the CD-ROM 1595, or an IC card and provided by the user. The communication program is read from the recording medium, installed in the hard disk drive 1540 in the communication terminal 100 via the RAM 1520, and executed by the CPU 1505. A communication program installed and executed in the communication terminal 100 works on the CPU 1505 or the like to cause the communication terminal 100 to function as each unit described with reference to FIGS. That is, the communication program displays the communication terminal 100, the script storage unit 104, the request generation unit 106, the sub buffer unit 108, the request buffer unit 110, the request transmission unit 112, the response data reception unit 114, the response data processing unit 116, and the display. Unit 118, current position detection unit 122, and timer 124.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 shows an overview of a network system 10 that uses a communication terminal 100 of the present embodiment. 2 shows an exemplary functional configuration of the communication terminal 100. A processing flow example of request transmission is shown. The example of a processing flow of response data is shown. An example of the hardware constitutions of the communication terminal 100 which concerns on this embodiment is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Network system 100 Communication terminal 102 Script 104 Script storage part 106 Request production | generation part 108 Subbuffer part 110 Request buffer part 112 Request transmission part 114 Response data reception part 116 Response data processing part 118 Display part 120 Widget 122 Current position detection part 124 Timer 200 Web application server 400 Network 1505 CPU
1510 ROM
1520 RAM
1530 Communication interface 1540 Hard disk drive 1550 Flexible disk drive 1560 CD-ROM drive 1570 Input / output chip 1575 Graphic controller 1580 Display device 1582 Host controller 1584 Input / output controller 1590 Flexible disk 1595 CD-ROM

Claims (11)

A script storage unit for storing a script describing processing contents;
A request generation unit that generates a request according to the description of the script stored in the script storage unit;
A request buffer unit that buffers the request generated by the request generation unit;
A request transmission unit that reads the request buffered in the request buffer unit at a predetermined transmission timing, and transmits the read request;
A response data receiver that receives response data in response to the request transmitted by the request transmitter;
A response data processing unit that processes the response data received by the response data receiving unit according to a description of the script;
A communication terminal comprising: Further comprising a sub-buffer unit for each script,
The sub-buffer unit buffers the request generated by the request generation unit according to a script corresponding to the sub-buffer unit, and transfers the buffered request to the request buffer unit at a predetermined transfer timing.
The communication terminal according to claim 1. The request buffer unit or the sub-buffer unit transmits all the buffered requests at the transmission timing or the transfer timing, and after transmitting the request, a buffer area where the request is buffered. Open,
The communication terminal according to claim 2. The transmission timing or the transfer timing is either when the buffer period expires or when the buffer number upper limit is reached,
The communication terminal according to claim 3. The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value is different for each corresponding script,
The communication terminal according to claim 4. The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value is changed according to a time zone,
The communication terminal according to claim 4. The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value is set to a large traffic amount buffer period or a large traffic amount buffer number upper limit value in a period included in a time zone in which the traffic amount in the network is larger than the average traffic amount. In a period included in a time period in which the traffic volume is less than the average traffic volume, the small traffic buffer period shorter than the large traffic buffer period or the small traffic buffer upper limit smaller than the large traffic buffer upper limit The value is set to the above,
The communication terminal according to claim 6. The communication terminal is a mobile communication terminal,
It further includes a current position detection unit that detects the current position,
The buffer period or the buffer number upper limit value is changed according to the current position detected by the current position detector.
The communication terminal according to claim 4. When several requests among the buffered requests are transmitted to the same destination, the request buffer unit or the sub buffer unit integrates a plurality of requests from the same destination, Treated as one request,
The communication terminal according to claim 2. A script storage stage for storing the script describing the processing contents;
A request generation stage for generating a request according to the description of the script stored in the script storage stage;
A request buffer stage for buffering the request generated in the request generation stage;
A request transmission step of reading the request buffered in the request buffer step at a predetermined transmission timing and transmitting the read request;
A response data receiving step for receiving response data in response to the request transmitted in the request sending step;
A response data processing step of processing the response data received in the response data receiving step according to a description of the script;
A communication method comprising: A communication program that can be used in a communication terminal, wherein the communication terminal is
Script storage unit that stores scripts that describe the processing content,
A request generation unit that generates a request according to the description of the script stored in the script storage unit;
A request buffer unit that buffers the request generated by the request generation unit;
A request transmission unit that reads the request buffered in the request buffer unit at a predetermined transmission timing, and transmits the read request.
A response data receiver that receives response data in response to the request transmitted by the request transmitter;
A response data processing unit that processes the response data received by the response data receiving unit according to a description of the script;
Communication program to function as.

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