WO2001052087A1

WO2001052087A1 - Information card, data processing system therefor and data processing method using the same

Info

Publication number: WO2001052087A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/000041
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jun Suck Kim; Byong Il Park
Original assignee: Olrim.Com Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2000-01-11
Filing date: 2001-01-11
Publication date: 2001-07-19
Also published as: KR20000018090A; JP2001195552A; KR200207210Y1

Abstract

Disclosed relates to an information card for storing various user information and data for addressing a predetermined resource through the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW), etc., and to a data processing system and a data processing method thereof. The data processing system executes a process of accessing a resource corresponding to the information card, stores information data useful to the user, and manages the overall information data based on the stored data. The data processing system of the invention comprises a personal computer (44), an information card (10) having a magnetic stripe (2), and a card reader (45) for reading data from the information card (10). The magnetic stripe (2) of the information card (10) contains a predetermined discrimination code and information data. The discrimination code is used for identifying the kind of the information card (10) or the kind of the information data, or for representing a Uniform Resource Location (URL). The personal computer (44) includes a specific program for processing the information card (10) and a database for storing the information data of the information card (10).

Description

INFORMATION CARD, DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM THEREFOR AND DATA PROCESSING METHOD USING THE SAME

Technical Field The present invention relates to an information card for storing various user information and data for addressing a predetermined resource through the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW), etc., and to a data processing system therefor and a data processing method using the same. The data processing system executes a process of accessing a resource corresponding to the information card, stores information data useful to the user, and manages the overall information data based on the stored data.

Background Art Recently, according to the development of the World Wide Web (WWW), the Internet on the basis of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) has been rapidly popularized. Furthermore, as the various available Web browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer, Mosaic, Netscape Navigator, or the like) have been developed and extended, users can access resources on the World Wide Web by navigating or surfing free on the Internet.

The World Wide Web utilizes an addressing system known as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that defines the Location of a resource on the Internet . The URLs are comprised of up to four parts: a protocol, a domain name, a path, and a filename. The combination of these four parts can form a complex address for corresponding resource. The complexity of the addressing system makes the users difficult and inconvenient for addressing desired resources through the Web browsers.

Meanwhile, various devices that facilitate easy access for the resources on the World Wide Web are disclosed in the U.S. Patent No. 5,640,193, No. 5,905,251, No. 5,938,727 and No. 5,940,595 and the Korean Patent Publication No. 98-87833. The devices disclosed in the Patents are designed to address a resource by reading corresponding bar code, i.e., URL information, printed on a plastic card, a newspaper, a magazine, or the like, by means of a bar code reading device connected with a communications terminal such as a personal computer. However, since the bar code reading device is too much expensive, it is subject to restrictions for being used widely.

Besides, it is considered that a method for writing the URL information using a magnetic card is useful for the purpose of addressing a desired resource on the World Wide Web. To give an example, the Korean Patent Laid-open No. 95- 2757 discloses a method for dialing a telephone number automatically by using a magnetic information written on a magnetic card. However, it has a problem that various information cannot be written on the magnetic card as the number of written characters is limited to. That is, according to ISO standard, standards for writing information data on the magnetic card include track I (IATA) , track II (IBM) and track III (THRIFT) . It is defined that the track I writes 79-byte data comprised of alphabets A to Z and numerals 0 to 9, the track II stores 109-byte data of numerals, and the track III inputs 40-byte data of numerals on the magnetic card, respectively. Therefore, according to the standards, it is impossible to write non-alphabet character such as the Korean, Chinese and Japanese characters. Namely, in case of the magnetic card, it is impossible to input various information related to the user. Moreover, as the Internet has been widely spread, a visiting card information related to the user further includes a URL information, E-mail address, etc., in addition to the traditional telephone and facsimile numbers. Consequently, the conventional magnetic card cannot accommodate the various environments increased and extended rapidly.

Besides, various purpose cards, such as a credit card, a stock card, a department store card, etc., have been used widely and increasingly. Accordingly, it is desired to provide a method for managing the various purpose cards integratedly and for applying them to an electronic commerce (E-commerce) on the basis of the Internet, for example.

Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information card capable of storing various information data by means of the magnetic writing method.

Besides, another object of the present invention is to provides an information card containing URL information to be utilized as a communication connection card, and an information card including visiting card information to be used as a visiting card.

Furthermore, another object of the present invention to provide a data processing system and method for executing appropriate processes corresponding to the respective information cards such as the communication connecting card, the visiting card, and so on. To accomplish an object in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information card comprising: a substrate; and a magnetic stripe formed on the substrate for storing magnetic data; the magnetic stripe includes a first storage section for storing a discrimination code and a second storage section for information data, and the discrimination code represents the kind of the information card.

To accomplish another object according to the present invention, there is provided a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code identifies the kind of the information card, the system comprising: an input means through which a user inputs various commands; a display means for providing an output screen; a data reading means for reading data from a magnetic card; and a data processing device, coupled with a predetermined communications network, for processing input data from the data reading means, the data processing device including a database for storing the information data of the information card, executing a process of connecting communications with the communication network based on the information data if the information card is identified as a communication connection card by means of the discrimination code, and executing a process of registering the information data to the database if the information card is identified as a visiting card by means of the discrimination code. To accomplish another object according to the present invention, there is provided a data processing method for a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code identifies the kind of the information card, the method comprising the steps of: reading data from the information card; identifying the kind of information card based on the read discrimination code; connecting communications based on the read information data if the information card is identified as a communication connection card; and storing the read information data in a data storing means if the information card is identified as a visiting card.

To accomplish another object in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information card comprising: a substrate; and a magnetic stripe formed on the substrate for storing magnetic data, the magnetic stripe includes a first storage section for storing a discrimination code and a second storage section for information data, and the discrimination code corresponds to a URL information.

To accomplish another object according to the present invention, there is provided a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code represents a URL information, the system comprising: an input means through which a user inputs various commands; a display means for providing an output screen; a data reading means for reading data from a magnetic card; and a data processing device, coupled with a predetermined communications network, for processing input data from the data reading means, the data processing device including a URL storing means for storing a URL information corresponding to the discrimination code, and executing a process of connecting communications with the communication network based on the discrimination code.

To accomplish another object according to the present invention, there is provided a data processing method for a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code represents a URL information, the method comprising the steps of: reading the discrimination code from the information card; generating the URL information based on the discrimination code; and connecting communications based on the URL information.

To accomplish another object in accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information card comprising: a substrate; and at least one magnetic stripe formed on the substrate for storing magnetic data; the magnetic stripe includes a first storage section for storing a discrimination code and a second storage section for information data, and the discrimination code represents the kind of the information card.

To accomplish another object according to the present invention, there is provided a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code identifies the kind of the information data, the system comprising: an input means through which a user inputs various commands; a display means for providing an output screen; a data reading means for reading data from a magnetic card; and a data processing device, coupled with a predetermined communications network, for processing input data from the data reading means, the data processing device including a database for storing the information data of the information card, executing a process of connecting communications with the communication network based on the information data if the information data is identified as a communication connection card by means of the discrimination code, and executing a process of registering the information data to the database if the information data is identified as a visiting card information by means of the discrimination code .

To accomplish another object according to the present invention, there is provided a data processing method for a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code identifies the kind of the information data, the method comprising the steps of: reading data from the information card; identifying the kind of information data based on the read discrimination code; connecting communications based on the read information data if the information data is identified as a communication connection data; and storing the read information data in a data storing means if the information data is identified as a visiting card information.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Brief Description of Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a party of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention:

In the drawings : Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an information card in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2a is a diagram showing a data format on a magnetic stripe 2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 2b is a diagram showing a data format of an information data 22 in Fig. 2a;

Fig. 3 shows a conversion table of hexa codes and Korean characters in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a data processing system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 shows an example of an output screen provided by the data processing system in Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a plan view showing an information card in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Now referring to Fig. 1, an information card 10 comprises a substrate 1 and a magnetic stripe 2 formed thereon. Preferably, the substrate 1 can be formed by a substantially flat piece of material. Examples of materials which can be utilized to form the substrate 1 include, but are not limited to, dielectric materials such as plastic, paper, or the like. The kind of the information card 10 includes a credit card, a stock card, a visiting card, an access card, and so on. The reverse side of the substrate 1, i.e., the side having no magnetic stripe, is used in general in such a manner that individual or corporate information corresponding to the visiting card, an advertising copy for goods, etc., are printed thereon. Moreover, the front side of the substrate 1 except for the magnetic stripe 2 can be used for the above purpose .

Fig. 2a shows an example of a data format on the magnetic stripe 2 wherein the data is written according to a track I standard. The magnetic stripe 2 contains a total of 79 bytes data including 1 byte of start of text (STX) , 3 bytes of discrimination code 21, 73 bytes of information data 22, 1 byte of end of text (ETX) and 1 byte of carriage return (CR) , for example. The discrimination code 21 represents the kind of information card 10. That is, if the information card 10 is a visiting card, the discrimination code 21 may be set to "000", if the card 10 is a communication connection card storing a uniform resource location (URL) information as the information data 22, the code 21 may be set to "100", for example. Here, when the code 21 is allotted only by numerals, a total of 1,000 codes from "000" to "999" can be provided. When the code 21 is assigned by hexa code using numerals and alphabet characters, a total of 4,096 codes (16x16x16) from "000" to "FFF" are available. Furthermore, it is possible to execute the data processing appropriate to the kind of the information card 10 by classifying the discrimination codes 21 and assigning the respective classified codes 21 to the respective information cards 10. That is, when the card 10 is a visiting card, codes 21 from "000"h to "0FF"h are assigned, for example, when the card 10 is a credit card, codes 21 from "500"h to "5FF"h are allotted, and so on. Meanwhile, Fig. 2b shows an example of the data format forming the information data 22 where the information card 10 is a visiting card. The information data 22 includes 12 bytes of individual name data, 18 bytes of company name data, 12 bytes of telephone number data, 11 bytes of mobile terminal number data, and 20 bytes of E-mail address data. Here, the individual name data or the company name data can be composed of English, Korean, or Japanese characters, etc. In this case, each of the classified discrimination code 21 includes a code for expressing the kind of the character used therein. That is, when the information card 10 is a visiting card wherein the individual and company names are made up of Korean characters, a code "000"h is allotted, for example; when the card 10 is a visiting card wherein the names are composed of English characters, a code "001"h is assigned; when the card 10 is a visiting card wherein the names are of Japanese characters, a code "002"h is given, and so on. The assignment of the discrimination codes 21 can be made in various manners and the objects of the assignment can be extended, not limited to the kind of the characters. If the individual and company names are composed of non-alphabet characters, each of the character is made of 3 bytes. According to the track I standard, the data storing on the magnetic stripe 2 of the substrate 1 is limited to the alphabet and numeral. So, it is required to provide a separate manner for storing non-alphabet characters, such as Korean or Japanese, if necessary. In this embodiment, the non-alphabet characters are input and identified in a manner that 3 bytes of data as a hexa code correspond to each character.

Fig. 3 shows a rule of correspondence between the hexa codes and Korean characters. The Korean characters, Hangul are composed of a total of 2,350 characters from "ga [ga] " to "hing [hig] " . The Hangul can be input and identified in a manner that each 3 -byte data is allotted to each of the Hangul, such that "ga" corresponds to "000"h, "gak" to "002"h, ..., and "hing" to "92F"h, respectively. The method of applying 3 -byte hexa codes is fit to the Hangul which has a large number of character. Meanwhile, if the number of character is not great relatively, such as Japanese characters, 2 -byte hexa codes can be applied to correspond to each of the characters. Moreover, if it may provide an appropriate standard for inputting graphic character data, such as Korean, or Japanese characters into the magnetic stripe 2, the Korean characters, Hangul can be composed of 2- byte ASCII codes.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a data processing system for executing data processes corresponding to the respective information cards 10 according to the information stored on the magnetic stripe 2. The data processing system in accordance with the present invention comprises a personal computer 44 and a card reader

45. The personal computer 44 include an input means, such as a keyboard 41 and a mouse 42, and a display device, such as a monitor 43. The card reader 45, connected with, for example, a serial port of the personal computer 44, reads magnetic data from the information card 10. The personal computer 44 is applied as an information processing device for processing data input from the card reader 45. Here, other appropriate information processing devices than the personal computer 44 can be used. The personal computer 44 is coupled to Internet through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) , an integrated services digital network (ISDN), or the like. Moreover, the computer 44 includes a specific program for executing appropriate process corresponding to the input data from the card reader 45. The program is provided in the form of floppy or compact disk to be installed in the personal computer 44. The program is executed on the basis of an operating system (OS), such as Windows 98, Linux, or the like. So, when a user install the program through the Windows 98 for example, a tray icon responsive to the program is generated on the monitor 43.

Hereinafter, the operation of the data processing system is discussed, giving an example of a communication connecting card or a visiting card as the information card 10.

Under the OS execution, when the read data are input to the data processing system by passing into a slit having a magnetic head thereon, not depicted, of the card reader 45, the data processing system checks the discrimination code 21 of the input data and identifies the kind of the information card 10, thus executing the data process corresponding to the information card 10.

First, when the information card 10 is the communication connection card, the data processing system drives the World Wide Web client software or Web browsers (e.g. Internet

Explorer, Mosaic, Netscape Navigator, or the like), installed therein, and addresses a resource corresponding to the URL stored on the information card 10 as the information data 22. As described in detail, the URLs comprise of up to four parts: a protocol, a domain name, a path, and a filename. The URL protocols include: "file" for addressing a file stored on a local storage; "ftp" for accessing a file from a file transfer protocol (FTP) server; "http" for addressing a document of hypertext markup language (HTML); or the like. The data processing system according to the invention executes the web browser based on the URL information automatically, that is, it initiates the network access routine automatically. Furthermore, the data processing system may register the URL information input from the information card 10 into the item "favorites" on the web browser so that the user can address the corresponding resource thereafter.

Meanwhile, when the information data 22 of the card 10 is that of the visiting card, the data processing system generates a database according to the input information. Here, the system identifies whether the individual and company names are composed of the Hangul or not. If so, the system executes a process of converting the Hangul characters by treating a total of 30-byte data, for example, corresponding to the names, as the hexa data. The process of converting the Hangul characters is executed based on the conversion table of the hexa codes and the Hangul characters in Fig. 3. That is, the system executes the conversion process, splitting the input data in the unit of 3-byte in sequence and referring to the conversion table based on the input 3-byte hexa data. Moreover, if the information data is of other graphic characters, such as Japanese characters, the conversion process can be executed in the same manner as described above. Accordingly, the data processing system establishes a plurality of the conversion tables of hexa codes and specific characters, if necessary. The conversion table of hexa codes and Hangul characters is loaded in a RAM when running the corresponding program. Here, data corresponding to characters are stored as ASCII codes responsive to the characters.

Next, when completing the Hangul conversion, the system executes a process of registering the information data by updating the database set in a predetermined region on a hard disc, for example, based on the input information data. Then, the system displays the registered data on the monitor 43.

Fig. 5 shows an example of an output screen on the monitor 43, output when the user inputs the information data through the card reader 45 or selects an icon on the monitor 43 by means of the mouse 42. The output screen in Fig. 5 comprises: a function selection section 51; a register list section 52; an input section 53, on which the user can search for desired information data by inputting corresponding individual or company name, register a new information data, and amend the data manually; and a detailed display section 54 for displaying detailed information data corresponding to the name selected on the register list section 52. The function selection section 51 has: a termination key 511 for terminating the output screen; an addition key 512 inputting desired information data manually; a deletion key 513 deleting registered information data; a search key 514 conducting a search for the information data; and a mode key 515 setting operation modes of the data processing system. The operation modes selected through the mode key 515 includes an automatic amendment mode for deciding whether to update new information data if data input from the information card 10 are overlapped with existing data, and a transmission mode for deciding whether to transmit registered data to a desired web server. The transmission process is provided so that the user can refer to the registered data at any place. That is, when the transmission function is selected, the data processing system transmits the information data previously registered to a predetermined Internet server or other network servers so that the user can refer to desired information by accessing the server through another data processing system at any place.

In the above embodiment, the data processing system first identifies the kind of the input information card. Then, if the information card is identified as the communication connection card, the system executes the process of connecting communications based on the URL information stored on the information card. Besides, if the card is identified as the visiting card, the system establishes a database based on the input information data so that the user can refer to the database thereafter. Then, the database is transmitted to and stored on a predesignated network server so that the user can refer to the database through other data processing systems at any place.

Meanwhile, the embodiment is discussed above by giving an example of a communication connection card or a visiting card as the information card 10, whereas, the present invention can be applied to a stock card, a credit card, or the like, efficiently. However, in case of the stock card or the credit card, for example, separate account numbers are added to the card, which may cause a problem that the information data storage, allotted 73 bytes in Fig. 2 for example, is not enough. Accordingly, it is preferable to assign a proper discrimination code to the bank or stockbroking firm information, and to provide the URL information, corresponding to the discrimination code, to the data processing system in the form of a table, for example. That is, in case of the URLs having public needs, the URLs corresponding to the discrimination codes of the information cards 10 are can be stored and managed by the data processing system in the form of the table separately, the other individual information data, such as the account numbers, can be written on the information card 10, thus diversifying the scope of application of the data processing system or the information card 10. Moreover, in this case, the user can address a resource by inputting corresponding information code only or by clicking corresponding URL stored in the data processing system.

Furthermore, it is possible that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without deviating from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, the information card 10 has the same shape of a general credit card or visiting card in an example of the present invention, whereas, the shape, the size and the material thereof can be applied to variously. Moreover, the magnetic stripe 2 of the information card 10 can be provided plurally on the substrate 1 as shown in Fig. 6. That is, it is possible to write both the URL information and the information data on a first magnetic stripe 2_λ and a second magnetic stripe 2₂, respectively, established on the information card 10. In this case, the discrimination codes stored on the magnetic stripe 2 are not set to identify the kind of the information card 10, but to represent the kind of the information data stored thereon.

Besides, in case of the visiting card in the embodiment described above, it is possible to allot the entire section except STX, ETX and CR to the information data storage, not assigning a separate discrimination code. Here, it is desired to set the information data to be distinguished from the discrimination code by allotting a data value other than "0"h to "F"h to the first byte of the discrimination code, or by setting the first byte following STX to a specific data value. Furthermore, it is desired to set the first byte following STX to represent the kind of the characters as well.

Industrial Applicability

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to provide an information card applying a magnetic stripe for writing various information data thereon.

Besides, according to the invention, the information card can be utilized as a communication connecting card storing a URL on the magnetic stripe thereof.

Furthermore, the information card can be used as a visiting card having various business information, such as individual name, company name, telephone number, and so on.

Moreover, the present invention provides a data processing system and method for executing a process of connecting communications against the communication connecting card and for utilizing the information data included in the visiting card efficiently.

It is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents .

Claims

1. An information card comprising: a substrate; and a magnetic stripe formed on the substrate for storing magnetic data; the magnetic stripe includes a first storage section for storing a discrimination code and a second storage section for information data, and the discrimination code represents the kind of the information card.

2. The information card as recited in claim 1, wherein the second storage section stores a URL information.

3. The information card as recited in claim 1, wherein the second storage section includes a visiting card information.

4. The information card as recited in claim 3, wherein the visiting card information includes at least one of an owner name of corresponding information card, a company name, a telephone number, a mobile communication number, and an E- mail address.

5. The information card as recited in claim 1 or 3 , wherein the discrimination code further includes an information for identifying the kind of characters used in the visiting card information.

6. The information card as recited in claim 4, wherein the character of the visiting card information is formed of data having at least 2-byte if the character is of non- alphabet, the data forming the non-alphabet character is a hexa code .

7. An information card comprising: a substrate; and a magnetic stripe formed on the substrate for storing magnetic data, the magnetic stripe contains visiting card information data, and the visiting card information data includes at least one of an owner name of corresponding information card, a company name, a telephone number, a mobile communication number, and an E-mail address.

8. The information card as recited in claim 7, wherein the first byte of the visiting card information data is allotted as an information for identifying the kind of character.

9. An information card comprising: a substrate; and a magnetic stripe formed on the substrate for storing magnetic data, the magnetic stripe includes a first storage section for storing a discrimination code and a second storage section for information data, and the discrimination code corresponds to a URL information.

10. An information card comprising: a substrate; and at least one magnetic stripe formed on the substrate for storing magnetic data, the magnetic stripe includes a first storage section for storing a discrimination code and a second storage section for information data, and the discrimination code represents the kind of the information data.

11. A data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code identifies the kind of the information card, the system comprising: an input means through which a user inputs various commands ; a display means for providing an output screen; a data reading means for reading data from a magnetic card; and a data processing device, coupled with a predetermined communications network, for processing input data from the data reading means, the data processing device including a database for storing the information data of the information card, for executing a process of connecting communications with the communication network based on the information data if the information card is identified as a communication connection card by means of the discrimination code, and for executing a process of registering the information data to the database if the information card is identified as a visiting card by means of the discrimination code.

12. The data processing system as recited in claim 11, wherein the discrimination code further includes a character identification information about an owner's name or a company name, and the data processing device further contains at least one character conversion table so as to execute a process of converting characters based on the discrimination code.

13. The data processing system as recited in claim 11, wherein the data processing device receives a command of data transmission from the input means and transmits corresponding information stored in the database to a predesignated network server.

14. A data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code represents a URL information, the system comprising: an input means through which a user inputs various commands; a display means for providing an output screen; a data reading means for reading data from a magnetic card; and a data processing device, coupled with a predetermined communications network, for processing input data from the data reading means, the data processing device including a URL storing means for storing a URL information corresponding to the discrimination code, and executing a process of connecting communications with the communication network based on the discrimination code.

15. The data processing system as recited in claim 14, wherein the data processing device executes a process of connecting communications with the communication network based on the input discrimination code when the discrimination code is input or designated by means of the input means.

16. A data processing method for a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code identifies the kind of the information card, the method comprising the steps of: reading data from the information card; identifying the kind of information card based on the read discrimination code; connecting communications based on the read information data if the information card is identified as a communication connection card; and storing the read information data in a data storing means if the information card is identified as a visiting card.

17. The data processing method as recited in claim 16 further includes a step of transmitting the stored information data to a predesignated network server.

18. A data processing method for a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code identifies the kind of the information data, the method comprising the steps of: reading data from the information card; identifying the kind of information data based on the read discrimination code; connecting communications based on the read information data if the information data is identified as a communication connection data; and storing the read information data in a data storing means if the information data is identified as a visiting card information.

19. The data processing method as recited in claim 18 further includes a step of transmitting the stored information data to a predesignated network server.

20. A data processing method for a data processing system which stores a discrimination code and information data and processes input data from an information card in which the discrimination code represents a URL information, the method comprising the steps of: reading the discrimination code from the information card; generating the URL information based on the discrimination code; and connecting communications based on the URL information.