Abstract:
The present invention relates to an information distribution system based on a public transit system, which utilizes transportation vehicles of the public transit system to carry information and transmit the information to an information station near the operation route of the transportation vehicle, and the reverse information transmission for system management also is exists, so as to achieve the purpose of information distribution network.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an information distribution system and method thereof, and more particularly to an electronic information distribution system, which utilizes transportation vehicles of the public transit system to transmit the information to each station of the transit network of the public transit system. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    Nowadays, the public information distribution utilizes the mediums such as wired and wireless television distribution systems, telecommunication distribution system, and Internet. The wireless television distribution system requires establishing a broadcast transmitting station. The wired television distribution system requires coaxial cables or fiber optic networks to set up the transmission network. The telecommunication distribution system also requires base station, exchange center and transmission lines to form a core network and access network, and the information is transmitted from the core network to the users&#39; cell phones via the base station, and vice versa. In the Internet system, gateways, routers and transmission lines form an IP network, and the information is transferred to the server used by the user via the IP network, and the user accesses the information by means of connecting to the server. 
         [0005]    The above existing information distribution mediums have the common disadvantages concerning a large expense at the primary construction stage, and an excessively high cost in operating the system, and the telecommunication system also has the fatal defect of insufficient bandwidth. These information distribution mediums all employ the terminal devices owned by the user (e.g., television, computer, cell phone), which further restricts their practicability. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In order to solve the disadvantages in the conventional art, the present invention utilizes the public transit system (such as the public vehicle system, ferryboat system, mass rapid transit system and railway et al) as the information transmission mediums to avoid installing cables during the primary construction stage. Furthermore, the public transit system covers the living area of most of the people, which thus satisfies most peoples&#39; demanding. 
         [0007]    The information exchange of the present invention (besides the circumstance that Internet is used to broadcast the commerce client consigned information) preferably utilizes the wireless distribution. Since the long-distance distribution has been achieved by the public transit system, the short-distance distribution can be achieved by the wireless distribution, which utilizes the industrial scientific medical (ISM) channel (such as 2.4 GHz) together with the spread spectrum technique to transmit data. Being different from the wireless television distribution system and the telecommunication distribution system also using the wireless transmission, the system of the present invention using the ISM channel together with the spread spectrum technique does not need to apply for the managing department, but can be used by any one having the hardware devices, just like the currently prevailing wireless network, which is a significant advantage of the present invention as compared with the existing information distribution medium that can be operated only if a license is granted. 
         [0008]    The present invention substantially comprises a public transit system, which comprises at least one transportation vehicle that can travel according to the predetermined route, wherein a movable wireless base station is disposed on each transportation vehicle for transmitting and receiving data; at least one information exchange center, located at a position where the transportation vehicle of the public transit system stops for a relatively long time (e.g., bus station); and at least one information station, located close to the travel route of the transportation vehicle, for being helpful for the data transmission. 
         [0009]    The information exchange center receives information delivered via the Internet, and transmits the information to the movable wireless base station on the transportation vehicle in a wired or wireless manner when the transportation vehicle stops at the information exchange center. Then, when the transportation vehicle is close to the information stations, the information is transmitted to the information stations in a wired or wireless manner. Each of the information stations is capable of individually connecting to at least one extension information station (such as terminals in home or office or public places, and advertisement screens), so as to achieve the objective of information distribution network. The reverse information transmission for system management also is exists in the present invention. 
         [0010]    Since it is difficult to control the time that the transportation vehicle stays at the information station and the information exchange center, the information may be divided into several segments (the information may also be divided into several segments in advance before it is transmitted) when the information is transmitted from the information exchange center to the movable wireless base station on the transportation vehicle, and from the movable wireless base station to the information station, and the information is recombined into a complete information within the information station. If there is more than one transportation vehicle, and they are close to each other when traveling around, the information can be exchanged between them. Currently, the tricks of the public transit systems in metropolis are dense, and thus the divided information can be completely collected by the information stations in a very short time period, and then recombined. The dividing and recombining processes are commonly seen in the data transmission of computer, which thus will not be described herein any more. 
         [0011]    Furthermore, the transportation vehicle is a traffic tool that carries passengers, and the movable wireless base station may be further connected to a GPS module and a plurality of displays, so as to achieve the wired information searching and the traveling guide broadcasting network within the vehicle. 
         [0012]    The installation of the present invention has a relatively low cost, and being different from the large-area television broadcasting, the present invention provides a small-scale local broadcasting service, and particularly, small-scale commercial firms may have intensive advertisement in several areas of the several bus lines (taking bus as an example), thereby achieving the truly “customized” advertisement service. Furthermore, the present invention is not only suitable for small area broadcasting, but also achieves the cross-area low cost broadcasting with the aids of the transportation vehicle such as railways. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an information distribution route according to the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a schematic structural view of an information exchange center according to the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a schematic structural view of a movable wireless base station according to the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is schematic structural view of an information station according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a schematic structural view of an on-bus or on-boat wired information searching and traveling guide broadcasting network formed by combining the movable wireless base station of the present invention with a GPS and an externally-connected display; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a schematic view of a broadcasting network formed by combining the information station with the extension information stations according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    A specific embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 6 , which only illustrates the possible implementation of the present invention, so as to make the present invention be more comprehensible, but not intended to limit the implementation of the present invention. Definitely, several modifications of the implementation within the spirit and scope of the present invention may be made by those ordinarily skilled in the art. 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , the information distribution system of the present invention includes: a public transit system, which has at least one transportation vehicle that travels along a predetermined route, wherein a movable wireless base station is disposed on each transportation vehicle; at least one information exchange center  102 , which is located at a position where the transportation vehicle in the public transit system usually stops and stays for a relatively long time; and at least one information station  103 , which is located close to the route that the transportation vehicle travels along; 
         [0021]    The information exchange center  102  receives the information transmitted from a network  101 , and transmits the information to the movable wireless base station on the transportation vehicle when the transportation vehicle stops at the information exchange center  102 , and the information is transmitted to the information stations  103  when the transportation vehicle stops at the information stations  103 . Each of the information stations  103  is connected to at least one extension information station, so as to achieve the object of information distribution network. The reverse information transmission for system management also is exists in the present invention. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the information exchange center  102  includes a heterogeneous network interfacing module  208  for providing a communication channel for receiving the information; a wireless receiving/transmitting module  202  for exchanging the information with the movable wireless base station in the transportation vehicle; a storage module  206  for temporally storing the information after receiving the information, which may be a hard disc or a non-volatile memory; a wired high-speed receiving/transmitting module  203  for exchanging the information with the movable wireless base station in the transportation vehicle; a central processing unit (CPU)  204  for managing the operation of the information exchange center  102 ; a memory module  205  for cooperating with the operation of the CPU  204 ; a power module  201  for providing the power required by the information exchange center  102 ; and a display and input module  207  for displaying or editing the received data. 
         [0023]    Except the power module  201 , other modules in the information exchange center  102  are all connected to the CPU  204 , and the power module  201  is connected to each module to provide the power depending on the circuit designing requirements. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the movable wireless base station includes: a wireless receiving/transmitting module  302  for receiving the information and transmitting the information to the information station  103 ; a storage module  306  for temporally storing the information after receiving the information, which may be a hard disc or a non-volatile memory; a wired high-speed receiving/transmitting module  303  for receiving the information and transmitting the information to the information station  103 ; a CPU  304  for managing the operation of the movable wireless base station; a memory module  305  for cooperating with the operation of the CPU  304 ; a power module  301  for providing the power required by the movable wireless base station; a distribution module  307  for distributing the received data and displaying the received data on the displays  502  in the transportation vehicles. Still referring to  FIG. 5 , the movable wireless base station is further connected to a GPS module  501 , which is coupled with the data output by the distribution module  307 , so as to display the current position and the information relevant to the position on more than one display  502  in the transportation vehicle. 
         [0025]    Except the power module  301  and the GPS module  501 , other modules within the movable wireless base station are all connected to the CPU  304 , and the power module  301  is connected to each module to provide the power depending on the circuit designing requirements. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the information station  103  includes: a wireless receiving/transmitting module  402  for exchanging the information with the movable wireless base station on the transportation vehicle; a storage module  406  for temporally storing the information after receiving the information; a wired high-speed receiving/transmitting module  403  for receiving the information from the movable wireless base station on the transportation vehicle; a CPU  404  for managing the operation of the information station  103 ; a memory module  405  for cooperating with the operation of the CPU  404 ; a power module  401  for providing the power required by the information station  103 ; a display module  407  for displaying the received data; and an extension module  408  for connecting and transmitting the data to more than one peripheral extension information station  607 . 
         [0027]    Except the power module  401 , other modules within the information station  103  are all connected to the CPU  404 , and the power module  401  is connected to each module to provide the power depending on the circuit designing requirements. 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , it is a schematic architectural view of the information station  103  and the extension information station  607 . The extension information station  607  includes: an extension module  606  for receiving the information from the information station  103 ; a display module  605  for displaying the received information; a CPU  602  for managing the operation of the extension information station  607 ; a memory module  603  for cooperating with the operation of the CPU  602 ; a storage module  604  for storing the information after receiving the information, which may be a hard disc or a non-volatile memory; and a power module  601  for providing the power required by the extension information station  607 . 
         [0029]    Except the power module  601 , other modules within the extension information station  607  are all connected to the CPU  602 , and the power module  601  is connected to each module to provide the power depending on the circuit designing requirements.