JP4197291B2 - COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, COMMUNICATION TERMINAL DEVICE AND COMMUNICATION METHOD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal apparatus and a communication method that use data distributed or transferred via a network such as a public network.

  A user who intends to use data communication connects to a network such as the Internet using a data communication terminal, acquires data such as video, music, images, and programs, and uses the data widely.

The data is electronic and can be replicated by transferring it from one data communication terminal to another. However, since there are many data whose copyrights exist, there is a request that the data creator wants to prevent data reuse in other data communication terminals due to data transfer or the like.

  Therefore, DRM (Digital Rights Management) exists as a technique for restricting the use of various data at a data communication terminal. This DRM is a technology to prevent copying or falsification by a third party in order to protect copyrights and other rights of digital contents when distributing electronic data such as images, movies and music on the Internet. For example, it is used for content distribution management.

  By the way, OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) is an organization that develops unified specifications with the aim of establishing interoperability between new types of mobile phone services and applications such as games.

  According to the OMA DRM formulated by the OMA, the data creator can set the data transfer prohibition, and the data communication terminal that has received the set data cannot transfer the data. It becomes possible. As a result, it is possible to add a restriction to the distribution data so that only the data communication terminal to which the data is distributed can use the data. In OMA DRM, this is called a “transfer prohibition function”.

  Further, according to OMA DRM, the data creator can restrict the data to be usable only by the user of the specific data communication terminal by encrypting the data. By applying this mechanism, a data communication terminal using certain data transfers the data to another data communication terminal, and the other data communication terminal receiving the data transfer receives the encryption key of the data. There is a method for making it possible to use the data by obtaining it from the data creator. In OMA DRM, this is called “super distribution function” (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

  According to this super-distribution function, data is transferred via a local network, such as Bluetooth, which is a wireless communication technology that connects information devices, without using a public network such as the Internet. As a result, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication in the public network due to data duplication.

  According to the super-distribution function, the data creator can identify the user who authenticates the user who uses the data when providing the encryption key to the data communication terminal. Therefore, it is possible to realize charging for the user.

  As a method for authenticating the user, authentication using a password or authentication using a certificate is generally used. In addition, since a password and a certificate are electronic information, a user can notify or copy to another user. Therefore, by using this property and issuing a password or certificate to the user and their family, it is possible to permit the user and their family to use the data. That is, not only personal use of data but also family use of data becomes possible.

There is also a method for permitting data transfer only when the transfer source data communication terminal and the transfer destination data communication terminal are physically connected by a connection cable. According to this method, since the transfer source data communication terminal and the transfer destination data communication terminal need to be physically connected, it is possible to allow only data transfer within a limited range.
Open Mobile Alliance, "OMA Digital Rights Management version 1.0" 2003

  As described above, since the password and the certificate are electronic information, it can be transmitted to a third party other than the family by notification or duplication. Accordingly, when a family member assigned with a password or certificate intentionally leaks the password or certificate to a third party, the third party can also use the data.

  The fact that passwords and certificates hold them is verifiable but does not accurately indicate that they are an assigned family.

  From the above, in order to realize that the data is restricted to a certain family use, it is necessary to authenticate that the assigned password or certificate is the family.

  However, the conventional method has a problem that it cannot be authenticated as a family depending on a password or a certificate.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal device and a communication method that allow only a limited person such as a family member to use data. That is.

In order to solve the above-described problem , according to an aspect of the present invention , in a communication system that receives and uses data, the first communication terminal device acquires its own location information when receiving the data. Position information acquisition means; information addition means for adding the acquired own position information together with the received data; and transmission means for transmitting data including the added information to a second communication terminal device serving as a transfer destination. The second communication terminal device includes a receiving means for receiving data transmitted from the first communication terminal device, and position information acquisition for acquiring own position information when the data is received. Means for determining whether or not the data can be used by comparing the acquired position information of the device with the position information of the first communication terminal device included in the received data. Based on the determination result, it is characterized by and a control means for controlling the state of the enable or disable the data.

According to another aspect of the invention , the data availability determination unit determines that the positional relationship between the first communication terminal device and the second communication terminal device is close or the same as a result of the verification. When it is determined that the use of the data is permitted and the positional relationship between the first communication terminal device and the second communication terminal device is not close or the same, the use of the data is not permitted. It is characterized by.

Further , according to one aspect of the present invention , when there is a request for use of data, the apparatus includes position information acquisition means for acquiring current position information at the present time, and the data use availability determination means includes the acquired own information. The location information is compared with the location information of the communication terminal device included in the received data to determine whether the data can be used.

Further , according to one aspect of the present invention , the position information is expressed by an identifier of a device with which a communication terminal device directly communicates.

  According to the present invention, the positional relationship between the transfer source communication terminal device and the transfer destination communication terminal device is grasped, and the use of data after transfer is permitted only when both are determined to be in the same position. Since it did in this way, utilization of transfer data can be limited to specific users, such as a family, and safety can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a communication system to which a data communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. First, an overview of a communication system in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, data communication terminal (communication terminal apparatus) A10 ₁ is a source data communication terminal, which receives the data distributed via the network 100 such as a public network from the data delivery server 200, its For example, position information indicating the current position is acquired from the GPS 300 and recorded together with the received data. When transferring the recorded data is data communication terminal B10 ₂ a transfer destination, in the data communication terminal B10 _2, it is obtained the position information of its own, when the acquired position information and the data receiving Are matched.

Result of the collation, if the data communication terminal A10 ₁ and the data communication terminal B10 ₂ is determined to be located the same position permits the use of data after the transfer, if it is different from the determined positionally the Limit the use of transfer data.

Thus, in the present embodiment, since the permitted to use the data only the data in a position to close the data communications terminal B10 ₂ to the data communication terminal A10 ₁ that has received the position to close family data communication terminal A10 ₁ user It is possible to make data available only to the other.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the data communication terminal shown in FIG.

  In the figure, the data communication terminal 10 includes a communication unit 11, a data control unit 12, a position information acquisition unit 13, a data usage control unit 14, and a data storage unit 15.

  The data communication terminal 10 in this embodiment has a function of acquiring data created by a data creator stored in the data distribution server 200 through a network 100 such as a public network. Here, the data refers to information used on an electronic computer such as video, music, images, and programs.

  When the data communication terminal 10 acquires the data through the communication unit 11, the data communication terminal 10 moves the data to the data control unit 12. Data acquisition here refers to data received directly from a data creator, that is, data acquired from a data distribution server, and is different from data transfer acquisition described below.

  In addition to the communication function for executing communication with the GPS (Global Positioning System) as shown in FIG. 1, the communication unit 11 includes a mobile communication network, Ethernet (registered trademark), wireless LAN, Bluetooth, infrared, and the like. A function for executing communication with other devices is provided.

  Next, the operation of the data communication terminal configured as described above will be described.

  First, a processing procedure at the time of data acquisition in the data communication terminal will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In FIG. 3, when the data control unit 12 acquires the data sent from the data distribution server through the communication unit 11 (step S <b> 11), the data control unit 12 requests the position information acquisition unit 13 to acquire the position information, and acquires the position information. Position information is acquired from the unit 13 (step S12).

  Here, a method for acquiring position information will be described in detail.

(Acquisition of location information)
As described above, when the data control unit 12 acquires the data transmitted from the communication unit 11, the data control unit 12 requests the position information acquisition unit 13 to acquire position information. When the position information acquisition unit 13 receives a position information acquisition request from the data control unit 12, the position information acquisition unit 13 acquires the position information of the data communication terminal by the following position information acquisition unit. In the present embodiment, a case where GPS, wireless communication such as a wireless LAN or a mobile communication network, and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) are used as position information acquisition means will be described.

  First, the case where GPS is used as a means for acquiring position information will be described. In this case, the position information acquisition unit 13 performs GPS positioning through the communication unit 11 (receives radio waves from GPS satellites and measures the current position), and acquires position information of latitude and longitude where the data communication terminal exists. To do.

  When the data communication terminal has a plurality of communication procedures, it is possible for the data control unit 12 to instruct the position information acquisition unit 13 in advance which one to use.

  Next, a case where wireless communication such as a wireless LAN or a mobile communication network is used as position information acquisition means will be described. Here, a mobile terminal (eg, a mobile phone) is assumed as a data communication terminal.

  An ID for uniquely identifying the base station is assigned to the base station of the mobile phone, and the correspondence between the base station ID and the latitude and longitude is stored in a predetermined memory (not shown) of the data communication terminal.

  When the communication unit 11 of the data communication terminal receives the base station ID, the communication unit 11 sends information on latitude and longitude associated with the base station ID to the position information acquisition unit 13 as position information. Thereby, the position information acquisition unit 13 acquires the position information of the mobile phone. In the case of this example, the position information of the mobile phone can be measured with an accuracy of almost every base station.

Next, a case where a wireless tag such as an RFID is used as position information acquisition means will be described. Since the RFID base station has an absolute position, the position information acquisition unit 13 of the data communication terminal uses the ID of the RFID base station through the communication unit 11 in the same manner as the procedure for acquiring the position information from the cellular base station ID described above. To acquire position information.

  In addition to the position information acquisition unit described above, for example, a server device installed in each home may be accessed. In this case, the data communication terminal can acquire the position information by accessing the server device through the communication unit 11 and acquiring ID information for each server device.

  The position information in this embodiment includes information that uniquely identifies position information indirectly such as base station ID and server ID, in addition to information that directly specifies the position such as latitude and longitude. included.

  Returning to FIG. 3, when the data control unit 12 of the data communication terminal acquires its own position information as described above (step S <b> 12), it records it in the data acquisition position information in the control information additional data. That is, position information indicating where the data communication terminal has received data is stored. Further, necessary information such as the type of the position information acquired at this time is also added to the control information additional data (step S13). Thereafter, the data control unit 12 stores the control information additional data and the reception data in a pair in the data storage unit 15 (step S14).

  Next, the control information additional data will be described.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of the control information additional data. As shown in the figure, the control information additional data includes a reception data part a and a control information part b including control information related to the reception data part.

  The reception data part a is reception data (for example, data such as text, image, moving image, music, program, etc.) itself, and the control information part b is position information (data acquisition position) acquired in the processing procedure shown in FIG. In addition to (information), information on the use of the data (usage restriction information) is included.

  In the usage control information, the transfer prohibition identifier b-1 defined in the above-mentioned OMA DRM (transferable or nontransferable is given as an identifier, for example, given in advance to the father, mother, child, etc. of the user's family) Data use frequency limit information b-2 (n times (n: integer)), use period limit information b-3 (year / month / hour), use limit identifier b-4 (usable or unusable) Are given as identifiers). The acquired data acquisition position information b-5 includes, for example, latitude and longitude information by GPS, a tag ID by RFID, a base station ID such as a wireless LAN (base station ID = AE10391 in this example), and the like. . It is possible to record a plurality of these pieces of information. The data acquisition position information type b-6 is information for distinguishing which position information acquisition means has acquired the position information based on, for example, an access point such as a base station ID or a wireless LAN in the mobile communication network When acquiring position information based on the ID, the data acquisition position information type is a base station ID.

  Further, the control information additional data may be additionally written with additional information (data usage permission range b-7) that defines the specific range of the position accompanying the above information. For example, when the use within a radius of 10 m from a certain position is permitted, the range information can be added in addition to the position information. The data use permission range is often used in the case of specifying a position by latitude and longitude by GPS. This is because the base station ID or the like cannot grasp the exact position of the data communication terminal as compared with the positioning by GPS.

  The control information additional data includes transfer data acquisition position information b-8 (base station ID, etc.), transfer data acquisition position information type b-9, data utilization device current position information b-10 ( Base station ID, etc.) and data acquisition position current position information type b-11 are added, which will be described later.

  The control information additional data described above may be added in advance by a terminal operation by a data communication terminal user or a gateway device on the network. In that case, the data acquisition position information may be written in the data communication terminal.

Next, the data communication terminal moves or copies (transfers) the data to another data communication terminal.
The operation when doing this will be described. For example, a case of moving or copying data to the data communication terminal A10 ₁ data communication terminal from B10 ₂ as shown in FIG.
(Transfer data transfer)
When a data communication terminal transfers data to another data communication terminal, the transfer destination data communication terminal obtains the data usage restriction based on the present invention by acquiring the machine type and machine information of the transfer destination data communication terminal. Judge whether you have the ability to apply That is, it is determined whether the transfer destination data communication terminal is based on the present invention.

  The determination is performed by the data control unit 12, and when the data control unit 12 makes the above determination and determines that the transfer destination data communication terminal is a data transferable terminal, the transfer source data communication terminal The control information additional data transferred from the data storage unit 15 is extracted and transmitted to the transfer destination data communication terminal through the communication unit 11.

  When the transfer destination data communication terminal receives the control information additional data transmitted from the transfer source data communication terminal, the transfer destination data communication terminal confirms its own position information when receiving the transfer data.

(Confirm location information when receiving transfer data)
Upon receiving the control information additional data transmitted from the transfer source data communication terminal, the communication unit 11 of the transfer destination data communication terminal sends the received control information additional data to the data control unit 12. When the data control unit 12 receives the control information additional data, the data control unit 12 requests the position information acquisition unit 13 to acquire its own position information when receiving the control information additional data. To get. The process for acquiring the position information is the same as the position information acquisition procedure described in FIG. 3, and the position information is acquired using any one of GPS, wireless communication, RFID, and the like.

  When the data control unit 12 acquires its own position information at the time of data reception, the data control unit 12 describes the position information as transfer data acquisition position information b-8 in the control information additional data.

  Further, the data acquisition position information (position information of the transfer source data communication terminal) described in the control information additional data is checked against the transfer data acquisition position information (position information of the transfer destination data communication terminal) b-8, As a result, if the transfer data acquisition position information is different from the data acquisition position information or is not included in the range including the data use permission range, the use restriction identifier in the data use restriction information is set to be unusable. Or by making the transfer data unusable.

  On the other hand, if the transfer data acquisition position information is included in the same range as the data acquisition position information, including the data use permission range, as a result of the collation, the transfer restriction information is set to be usable by setting the use restriction identifier to be usable. The data is made available and the control information additional data is recorded in the data storage device.

  If the location information cannot be obtained temporarily, such as when the data communication terminal is out of service area, the usage restriction identifier of the control information description part b may be disabled and stored in the data communication terminal. Good. As a result, when using the transfer data described below, it is possible to control so that the data cannot be used.

  Next, a method for using the transfer data when using the transfer data in the data communication terminal based on an instruction from the user or the like will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a first processing procedure when the transfer data is used in the data control unit 12.

(First transfer data usage method)
In FIG. 5, when the data control unit 12 of the data communication terminal receives an instruction to use data by a user or another program in the data communication terminal (step S <b> 21), the data control unit 12 extracts control information additional data from the data storage unit 15. (Step S22).

Next, the data control unit 12 refers to the use restriction identifier described in the control information description unit in the extracted control information additional data, and determines whether or not the use identifier indicates that it can be used (step S23). )
If it is determined in step S23 that the usage restriction identifier is set to be usable (Yes in step S23), the data of the received data part included in the control information additional data is passed to the data usage control unit 14 ( Step S24), the use of the data is permitted. For example, in the case of text, a still image, and a moving image, display on the screen, and in the case of music data, reproduction thereof.

  On the other hand, if the use restriction identifier is set to be unusable in the determination in step S23 (No in step S23), the data cannot be used. That is, the data in the reception data part is not passed to the data usage control part 14.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when data transfer is performed, data transfer is not permitted unless the transfer destination data communication terminal and the transfer source data communication terminal are located at the same location. It is possible to limit the use of transfer data.

  In addition, since the data communication terminals are connected by radio, it is possible to restrict the use of transfer data between the data communication terminals while ensuring mobility.

  In the first transfer data usage method, the case where the verification of the position information executed when the transfer data is received is not performed when the transfer data is used is illustrated. Good.

  Next, a second transfer data utilization method showing this aspect will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a second processing procedure when the transfer data is used in the data control unit 12.

(Second transfer data usage method)
In FIG. 6, when the data control unit 12 of the data communication terminal receives a data use instruction from a user or another program in the data communication terminal (step S <b> 31), the control information additional data is received from the data storage unit 15. Take out (step S32).

  Next, the data control unit 12 determines whether or not to refer to the position information when using the data (step S33). This determination is determined in advance by another setting or the like. If it is determined in step S33 that the position information is acquired (Yes in S33), the data control unit 12 requests the position information acquisition unit 13 to acquire the position information (step S34). As a response, position information is acquired from the position information acquisition unit 13 (step S35).

  After that, when acquiring the position information, the data control unit 12 records the position information in the data utilization device current position information b-10 in the control information additional data previously extracted (step S35). In addition, necessary information (data acquisition position current position information type b-11) such as the type of position information acquired at this time is also added.

  In step S36, the data control unit 12 collates the data utilization device current position information b-10 and the data acquisition position information b-5, and determines whether or not the use of data may be permitted based on the collation result. Then, the usage restriction identifier b-4 is updated according to the result. Specifically, if the data utilization device current position information b-10 is different from the data acquisition position information or is not included in the range including the data utilization permission range as a result of the above collation, the data utilization restriction is related. If the use restriction identifier in the information is set (updated) to be unusable, and the data use device current position information b-10 is included in the same range as the data acquisition position information, including the data use permission range, use Set the restriction identifier to be usable.

  Thereafter, in step S37, the data control unit 12 refers to the use restriction identifier and determines whether or not the data can be used. If the use restriction identifier is set to be usable in this determination (Yes in step S37), the data of the received data part included in the control information additional data is passed to the data use control part 14 (step S37). S38), permitting the use of the data.

  On the other hand, if the use restriction identifier is set to be unusable in the determination in step S37 (No in step S37), the data cannot be used. Specifically, the data control unit 12 does not send the data in the reception data unit to the data usage control unit 14.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when data is transferred from the transfer source data communication terminal to the transfer destination data communication terminal, the transfer data is used by referring to the current position information of the transfer destination data communication terminal. It is possible to limit the positions to be played.

  In other words, according to the present invention, the family uses the property that many of them live together, and permits and restricts the use of data based on the positional relationship between data communication terminals that use the data. The data can be used only by a limited number of people such as family members as well as employees in the office.

  Further, the data communication terminal may collate the position information executed when receiving the transfer data according to a predetermined timing. Thus, by referring to the position information of the data communication terminal periodically, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the position restriction where the data is used.

  Further, it is of course possible to combine a plurality of position information confirmation when receiving the transfer data, position information confirmation when using the transfer data, and periodic position information confirmation.

  The data communication terminal in the present embodiment is, for example, a mobile station device such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) having a wireless communication function, or a computer.

1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system to which a data communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structural example of a data communication terminal. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of the data acquisition in a data communication terminal. It is a figure which shows the structural example of control information addition data. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st process sequence at the time of transfer data utilization in a data control part. It is a flowchart which shows the 2nd process sequence at the time of transfer data utilization in a data control part.

Explanation of symbols

10 data communication terminals 10 ₁ , 10 ₂ data communication terminals A, B
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Communication part 12 Data control part 13 Location information acquisition part 14 Data utilization control part 15 Data storage part 100 Network 200 Data delivery server 300 GPS

Claims (5)

A communication system having first and second communication terminal devices for receiving and transmitting data , wherein the first communication terminal device is:
When receiving data, position information acquisition means for acquiring own position information;
Information adding means for including the acquired own position information and the received data in a transfer signal ;
And transmitting means for transmitting to the second communication terminal device is a transfer destination of the transfer signal, said second communication terminal device,
Receiving means for receiving the transfer signal transmitted from the first communication terminal device;
Position information acquisition means for acquiring own position information when receiving the transfer signal ;
Collating the positional information of the first communication terminal device included in the transmission signal and the acquired own position information, determines data availability determining means availability of the data contained in the transfer signal When,
Control means for controlling the data to be usable or unusable based on the determination result;
Bei example and depending on whether or not the position of the first communication terminal device and a second communication terminal device can verify that it is the same or close, the data availability determining means, the data A communication system for determining availability.   Receiving means for receiving a transfer signal transmitted from the transfer source communication terminal;
  Position information acquisition means for acquiring own position information when receiving the transfer signal;
  Data availability determination means for collating the acquired location information with the location information of the transfer source communication terminal included in the transfer signal, and determining availability of the data included in the transfer signal;
  Control means for controlling the data to be usable or unusable based on the determination result;
  And determining whether the data can be used or not according to whether the location of the transfer source communication terminal and the communication terminal device are the same or close to each other. A communication terminal device designed to do this. The communication terminal device according to claim 2 ,
When there is a request to use data, it has location information acquisition means for acquiring its own location information at the present time,
Wherein the data availability determining means, said transfer collates the positional information of the source communication terminal, communication terminal you so that to determine the availability of the data contained in the transfer signal and the acquired own position information apparatus. In the communication terminal device according to claim 2 or 3 ,
A communication terminal device in which position information of the transfer source communication terminal is expressed by an identifier of the transfer source communication terminal. A communication method used in a communication system having first and second communication terminal devices for receiving and transmitting data ,
When receiving data, obtaining its own location information;
Including the acquired own position information and the received data in a transfer signal ;
Performs sending to the second communication terminal device is a transfer destination of the transfer signal at the first communication terminal device,
Receiving the transfer signal transmitted from the first communication terminal device;
When receiving the transfer signal , obtaining own position information;
Collating the positional information of the first communication terminal device included in the transmission signal and the acquired own position information, the data availability determining which determine constant the availability of the data contained in the transfer signal Steps,
Controlling the data to be usable or unusable based on the determination result; and
Whether the first communication terminal device and the second communication terminal device are in the same position or close to each other in the data availability determination step. A communication method for determining whether or not the data can be used.