Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F9/00—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units
  • G06F9/06—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
  • G06F9/46—Multiprogramming arrangements
  • G06F9/50—Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
  • G06F9/5005—Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU] to service a request
  • G06F9/5027—Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU] to service a request the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/01—Protocols
  • H04L67/04—Protocols specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/34—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications involving the movement of software or configuration parameters 
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F2209/00—Indexing scheme relating to G06F9/00
  • G06F2209/50—Indexing scheme relating to G06F9/50
  • G06F2209/509—Offload
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
  • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
  • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
  • H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
  • H04L69/329—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W92/00—Interfaces specially adapted for wireless communication networks
  • H04W92/04—Interfaces between hierarchically different network devices
  • H04W92/10—Interfaces between hierarchically different network devices between terminal device and access point, i.e. wireless air interface

Definitions

• the present invention relates to methods, apparatuses, and programs for delegating information processing, and, more specifically, to a method and for requesting., via a wireless link, delegation of information processing between two information terminals
• Fig. 1 The mode of wireless information transmission and reception that is conventionally performed by portable information terminals is show in Fig. 1.
• portable information terminals such as handheld game machines and personal digital assistants (PDAs)
• PDAs personal digital assistants
• a wireless module such as a radio module or infrared module
• head-to-head-competition game playing or data exchanges can be achieved between two portable information terminals.
• the portable information terminal can access the Internet via a cellular phone or handset and a cellular telephone network, so that (a) content may be downloaded from a desired server to upgrade its software, or (b) news reception, e-mail transmission and reception, and e- commerce transactions may be performed.
• a cellular telephone system suffers high usage fees due to coverage of its base stations and limited radio resources.
• usage fees especially become prohibitive and thus unrealistic, when large amounts of content are downloaded or Internet access is conducted for a relatively long period of time, such as e-mail transmission and reception or e-commerce transactions .
• a hot-spot access service is also available, as shown in Fig. 2.
• This is a radio access service at public spots, such as airports and stations, where hot-spot access service equipment provides a connection to the Internet via inexpensive means, such as cable communication, so that Internet access services are provided to portable information terminals located in the hot-spot service area via a radio link.
• the portable information terminal When located in the hot-spot service area, the portable information terminal establishes a short- range radio communication link with the access service equipment to allow access to the Internet, so that (a) content may be downloaded from a desired server to upgrade its software, or (b) news reception, e-mail transmission and reception, and e-commerce transactions may be performed.
• this service system eliminates the need for expensive telephone charges and thus involves low cost, there is a disadvantage that service cannot be enjoyed unless one takes the trouble to go to the hot spot .
• the present invention provides a network service to information terminals that is inexpensive and involves no time constraints.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the mode where a prior art portable information terminal accesses the Internet via a handset or cellular phone.
• Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the mode where a prior art portable information terminal accesses the Internet via hot-spot access service equipment.
• Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating delegation of information processing according to one embodiment of the present invention.
• Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a wireless module according to one embodiment of the present invention.
• Fig. 3 shows portable information terminals 10, 20 and 30.
• the portable information terminals 10, 20, 30 include, among others, handheld game machines, such as Nintendo Gameboy, and electronic organizers or digital personal assistants (PDAs) , such as Palm.
• PDAs digital personal assistants
• the portable information terminals 10, 20, 30 are equipped with a short-range wireless communication capability over a short distance of several meters at most, by incorporating wireless communication modules 11, 21, and 31, such as radio or infrared modules, or adding them as external functionality. This wireless communication capability allows the portable information terminals 10, 20, 30 to communicate with one another and exchange various types of data.
• Hot-spot access service equipment 40 shown in Fig. 3 which is similar to that shown in Fig. 2, provides a connection to the Internet via inexpensive communication means, such as cable and xDSL communication, so that an access service for a wide-area network, such as the Internet, for example, is provided, via a wireless link, to portable information terminals located in the hot-spot service area.
• inexpensive communication means such as cable and xDSL communication
• the usage fees for the wireline-based Internet are lowered drastically, with always-on connection service based on a cable modem or xDSL is offered at several thousands yen or lower.
• access service equipment combining a controller (see Fig.
• Hot spots include, for example, school campuses, convenience stores, stations, parks, shopping areas, and game centers.
• the access service equipment 40 can concurrently provide Internet access services to a plurality of portable information terminals located in a service area 60.
• a provider who offers information service or e-commerce service and a portable information terminal via the wireless link preferably known security measures are used.
• the gateway implement communication software that locks security, such as virtual private network (VPN) , for example.
• VPN virtual private network
• the portable information terminal 20 When the portable information terminal 20 wishes to receive a certain Internet access service, it must move into some hot-spot service area. However, if it cannot move for some reason, or will be able to move in the future but wants to receive the service as immediately as possible at this moment, it can cause another portable information terminal 10 to perform information processing, such as information transmission and/or reception processing.
• the portable information terminal 10 For such delegation of information processing, the portable information terminal 10 (Slave) includes software for executing an agent or delegation function. An appropriate agent or delegation certificate is granted from the requesting portable information terminal 20 (Master) to the portable information terminal 10 (Slave) .
• the portable information terminal 10 to which the delegation certificate is granted moves into the hot-spot service area 60 and receives a necessary service via the access service equipment 40; the terminal 10 then moves back to its previous location and passes the requested service to the requesting portable information terminal 20 and deletes the agent certificate.
• the portable information terminal 20 (Master) that grants the agent certificate can receive the desired service without having to move to the hot-spot service area 60.
• a group ID may be set for transmission and reception of bulletin-board content; a user ID may be set for transmission and reception of e- mail; a password and an upper ceiling for transaction money may additionally be set for e-commerce transactions.
• the capability of deleting the agent certificate is also important; the function should desirably be installed to prevent a portable information terminal to which the agent certificate is granted from misusing its authentication ID.
• public or otherwise disclosed information that are required to be delivered actively, such information may be conveyed to an unspecified number of portable information terminals that are accidentally encountered during roaming, even without authentication IDs.
• a wireless module that is incorporated into or added externally to the portable information terminal may be of general configuration as shown in Fig. 4.
• the communication scheme of the wireless module may be infrared, radio, or other wireless communication, and various protocols may be used.
• An embodiment of the operation where delegation of information processing is requested and a report of the processing requested is received is described.
• the portable information terminal 20 that serves as a requester wishes Internet access (such as, for example, transmission and reception of e-mail) .
• the portable information terminal 20 has no plan to immediately go to a hot-spot service area.
• it requests to the nearby portable information terminal 10 the delegation of Internet access processing. This request for delegation is performed via a link established between the wireless modules 21 and 11.
• the request for delegation includes granting a delegation certificate or agent certificate from the portable information terminal 20 to the portable information terminal 10, conveyance of delegated processing content, and transfer of ID and/or password.
• the portable information terminal 10 moves into the hot-spot service area 60.
• a wireless link is established between the hot-spot access service equipment 40 and the portable information terminal 10.
• the portable information terminal 10 accesses the Internet via the established wireless link, and executes the requested information processing content. For e-mail transmission alone, the delegation of information processing may be terminated at that moment. If the delegation of information processing is not yet terminated, the portable information terminal 10 subsequently returns to the neighborhood (over a distance where a wireless link may be established) of the portable information terminal 20.
• a wireless link is reestablished between the portable information terminals 10 and 20, and the portable information terminal 10 reports, via that link, to the portable information terminal 20 the content of the information processing executed (for example, delivery of e-mail received) .
• the terminal 10 also deletes the delegation certificate.
• the access service equipment 40 transmits to the nearby portable information terminal 10 a request for delegation of information processing for other portable information terminals.
• This request for delegation is made via a wireless link established between the access service equipment 40 and wireless module 11.
• the request for delegation includes granting a delegation certificate or agent certificate from the access service equipment 40 to the portable information terminal 10, conveyance of delegated processing content, and transfer of ID and/or password. For requests for general delegated processing that does not require privacy, transfer of ID and/or password may be omitted.
• the portable information terminal 10 moves to the neighborhood of another portable information terminal (for example, portable information terminal 30) .
• a wireless link is established between the portable information terminal 30 and the portable information terminal 10 that has moved thereto.
• the portable information terminal 10 conveys, via the wireless link established, the information requested from the Internet, to the portable information terminal 30.
• the embodiment of the present invention offers the following benefits by combining the prior art hot-spot service and the portable information terminal equipped with the agent capability.
• a far more inexpensive and optimized service can be offered, as compared to the cellular telephone service.
• a requesting portable information terminal may enjoy a wide-area network service without paying any telephone charge.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Software Systems (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
• Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

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Family Applications (1)

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• 2001
  • 2001-04-23 JP JP2001124060A patent/JP2002345006A/ja active Pending
• 2002
  • 2002-04-04 TW TW091106825A patent/TW569586B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2002-04-19 WO PCT/US2002/012276 patent/WO2002086714A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2002-04-19 EP EP02734004A patent/EP1428118A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2002-04-19 AU AU2002305198A patent/AU2002305198A1/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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