JP2005191936A - Function stop device of portable communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the leakage and improper use of individual information due to the loss or theft of a portable communication apparatus such as a portable telephone. <P>SOLUTION: The function stop device of the portable communication apparatus 1 is provided with a function stop means 10 for comparing specific signals stored beforehand with specific signals received from the outside and stopping the function of the communication apparatus or deleting the individual information when both match. When both signals match, a comparator circuit 15 outputs a drive signal to the thyristor 17 of a power interruption means 16 and makes the thyristor 17 electrically conductive. By the conduction of the thyristor 17, a power source circuit is short-circuited, a fusion part 18 is fused by the short-circuit current, the supply of driving power to the apparatus is interrupted, and a function stop state is attained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a function stop device and a function stop system for stopping the function of a portable communication device that has been lost or stolen and making its use impossible.

  In recent years, portable communication devices such as mobile phones, notebook computers with communication functions, and other mobile devices have become widespread. A portable communication device is provided with receiving means and transmitting means by radio waves, storage means for storing personal information, etc. Generally, the storage means includes financial account information, insurance contract information, various card information, and related parties as personal information. Important secrets such as phone number information and customer information are stored.

  Recently, in order to cope with unforeseen circumstances such as loss or theft of portable communication devices that store personal information, devices with a system that automatically locks the functions of devices and restarts them with a password have also appeared. However, many users do not assume the shortage in the first place, and they are not familiar with all the thick operation manuals.

  Therefore, for example, when the mobile phone is lost, the fact is notified to the communication management company and replaced. Upon receiving the notification, the communication management company takes measures to stop the communication of the small-sized phone, and is taking measures to switch the user so that the user can purchase a new mobile phone and continue using the same number as before.

  However, even if measures are taken to stop communication via the telephone network, the personal information stored in the lost mobile phone is not erased, so the problem of reading or misusing the personal information cannot be solved. Accordingly, the present invention has an object to solve problems such as leakage of personal information and occurrence of economic damage in a portable communication device that has been lost or stolen, and provides a new device for stopping the function of the portable communication device for that purpose. The purpose is to do. It is another object of the present invention to provide a function stop system for the portable communication device.

  A first invention according to the present invention for solving the above problem is a function stop device for a portable communication device having storage means for storing personal information. The apparatus includes a function stop unit that compares a specific signal stored in advance with a specific signal received from the outside, and stops the function of the communication device or erases personal information when the two match. And

  In the function stop device, the function stop means can include a power shut-off means for shutting off the driving power of the portable communication device or a memory erasing means for erasing the stored contents of the storage means.

A second invention according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is a function stop system for a portable communication device having storage means for storing personal information. And this system
A portable communicator comprising a function stop means for comparing a specific signal stored in advance with a specific signal received from the outside, and stopping the function of the communication device or erasing personal information when the two match; Communication comprising transmission means for transmitting a call signal for calling a communication device, reception means for receiving a response signal from the portable communication device, and specific signal transmission means for transmitting the specific signal when a response signal is received And a device.

  The function stop device of the portable communication device according to the present invention functions, for example, when a communication company entrusted by the original owner of the portable communication device transmits a specific signal to the portable communication device by radio waves. Can be stopped instantaneously. After the function stoppage, it becomes impossible for the person who currently owns the portable communication device to read or misuse the personal information stored in the storage means. Loss can be prevented. In addition, erasing personal information using a specific signal can prevent damage to a lost individual, so that an effect equivalent to a function stop can be obtained. Furthermore, according to the function stop system of the portable communication device of the present invention, the function stop processing can be suitably performed.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a function stop system according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a mobile phone having a storage unit storing personal information will be described as an example of the portable communication device. However, the present invention can be applied to other portable communication devices as well.

  A portable communication device 1, which is a mobile phone, includes an antenna 2, a reception circuit 3 that amplifies a signal received by the antenna 2 and converts the signal into a predetermined signal, a control unit 4 that processes a signal from the reception circuit 3, and a control unit 4. A transmission circuit 3a for amplifying the transmission signal from the signal and converting it into a predetermined signal form, a storage means 5 for storing system programs and personal information, an input means 6 having a numeric keypad and a push button, a sound generation means 7 such as a small speaker, A voice input unit 8 such as a small microphone, a display unit 9 such as a liquid crystal display, a function stop unit 10, a power supply device 11 that supplies driving power to each device, and an input / output (I / O) unit 12 are provided. These main parts are constituted by integrated circuits formed on a common substrate.

  The control means 4 can be constituted by a microcomputer, and the control program is stored in a part of the storage means 5. The power supply device 11 is attached to a battery case containing a rechargeable battery such as a lithium ion battery. The input / output means 12 performs matching of signals transmitted between the peripheral means such as the input means 6, the sound generation means 7, the sound input means 8 and the display means 9 and the control means 4.

  The function stop means 10 which is a characteristic part of the present invention includes a classification circuit 13 for classifying a specific signal from reception signals on the output side of the reception circuit 2, a storage unit 14 for storing a specific signal in advance, and a received specific signal and storage. A comparison circuit 15 that compares the specified signals and outputs a power cut-off signal when the two coincide with each other, and a power cut-off means that cuts off power supply from the power supply device 11 to the control means 4 and the like by the cut-off signal from the comparison circuit 15 16 is provided. Note that a part of the storage 5 can be used instead of providing the storage unit 14.

  The power shut-off means 16 has a small thyristor 17 connected in parallel between both poles of the power supply device 11 and a fusing part 18 such as a fuse connected in series. The two electrodes are short-circuited, and the melted portion 18 is melted by the short-circuit current to cut off the power supply.

  The communication device 20 performs a function stop operation of the portable communication device 1 and is installed, for example, in a communication management company that is a communication contract source of the portable communication device 1. The communication device 20 amplifies the transmission signal from the antenna 21, the reception circuit 22 that amplifies the signal received by the antenna 21 and converts it to a predetermined signal, the control means 23 that processes the signal from the reception circuit 22, and the control means 23. A transmission circuit 24 for converting the signal into a predetermined signal form, a keyboard input unit 25, a display unit 26 such as a liquid crystal display, an output unit 27 such as a printer, and an input / output (I / O) unit 28.

  The transmission circuit 24 and the antenna 21 constitute a transmission means 29, and the reception circuit 22 and the antenna 21 constitute a reception means 29a. The control means 23 can be further connected to a management device such as a host computer (not shown) so that customer data of the portable communication device 1 can be obtained. The communication device 20 can be constituted by a computer device. In this case, the control means 23 performs a control operation by a system program or a control program stored in a storage unit (not shown).

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a method of stopping the function of the portable communication device 1 by the system of FIG. 1, and the function stopping method of the portable communication device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in step S1, the telephone number of the portable communication device 1 whose function is to be stopped is input from the input unit 25 of the communication apparatus 20, and whether or not the input is made correctly is confirmed by the display unit 26 and then the function stop command is input. To do.

  Then, based on the function stop command, the control means 23 transmits the calling signal of the portable communication device 1 from the transmission circuit 24 in step S2. The calling signal received by the portable communication device 1 is input to the control means 4 through the receiving circuit 3. If the portable communication device 1 is in a normal state and the reception button provided on the input unit 6 is not pressed, a response signal (answering response signal) is immediately sent from the control unit 4 via the transmission circuit 3a. Sent to.

  A response signal from the portable communication device 1 is input to the control means 23 via the receiving circuit 22 of the communication device 20. If the control means 23 determines in step S3 that there is a response signal, the specific signal is transmitted to the portable communication device 1 in the next step S4. For example, a special encryption code can be used as the specific signal. The portable communication device 1 that has received the special signal classifies the special signal by the classification circuit 13 and inputs it to the comparison circuit 15. The classification circuit 13 is configured to classify and output a special signal that matches a prestored pattern when it exists in the received signal.

  Next, the comparison circuit 15 compares the special signal stored in advance in the storage means 14 with the received special signal in step S5, and if they match, performs a function stop treatment in step S6. More specifically, when a drive signal is output from the comparison circuit 15 to the gate of the thyristor 17 constituting the power shut-off means 16, and the thyristor 17 is driven by this, the cathode and the anode are electrically connected to short-circuit the power circuit and blow out. The part 18 is melted to cut off the power supply to the control means 4 and the like. This function stops the function of the portable communication device 1.

  Next, after elapse of a predetermined time (for example, several millimeters) from the transmission of the special signal from the communication device 20, the call signal is transmitted again from the communication device 20 to the portable communication device 1 in step S7. Since the response signal from the portable communication device 1 is not transmitted to the communication device 20 when the function stop processing of the portable communication device 1 has been completed as described above, the control unit 23 of the communication device 20 determines in step S8. It is determined that there is no response, and the display unit 26 displays a function stop completion. The portable communication device information and the function stop completion information can be output from the output means 27 together with the display.

  If there is no response from the portable communication device 1 in step S3, the control means 23 adds 1 to the counter in step S9, and whether the accumulated count value reaches a preset number of times in step S10. Judge whether or not. If the set number of times has not been reached, the timer circuit of the control means 23 is activated, and when it is set up, the process returns to step S2 and the above procedure is repeated.

  If it is determined in step S10 that the count value has reached the preset number of times, a display indicating that the function has not been stopped is displayed on the display means 26. It is also possible to output the portable communication device information and the function incomplete information from the output means 27 together with the display. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a response in step S8, that is, if the function stop procedure of the portable communication device 1 fails and the transmission function continues as before, the process proceeds to step S9 and the above operation is repeated. Note that the above-described series of procedures in a normal case is executed in an extremely short time of about several milliseconds to tens of milliseconds.

  In the embodiment described so far, the function stop unit 10 is configured to drive the power shut-off unit 16 to stop the function of the portable communication device 1. However, the function stop means 10 can also be configured to erase the stored contents of the storage means 5 at once. In this case, a batch erase signal is output from the comparison circuit 15 to the control means 4 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 1, and the control means 4 that receives it outputs a rewritable portion (for example, rewritable EPROM) of the storage means 5. Erase the stored personal information and transmission control program at once. The batch erasure control program is stored in advance in a non-rewritable portion of the storage means 5, for example, a storage portion constituted by a ROM, and is read and executed.

  In the case of the batch erasing method of the stored contents, the classification circuit 13 for classifying the specific signal from the reception signal output from the reception circuit 2, the storage unit 14 for storing the specific signal in advance, and the specific signal stored for the received specific signal The function stop means 10 in this case is constituted by a comparison circuit 15 that outputs a batch erase signal to the control means 4 when the signals are compared and the two match, and a batch erase control program by the control means 4. The batch erase program itself by the control means 4 constitutes the memory erase means 30 described above.

  The function stop device and system for a portable communication device according to the present invention can be used to prevent leakage or misuse of personal information due to loss or theft of a portable communication device such as a mobile phone.

1 is a block diagram of a function stop system according to the present invention. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the method of stopping the function of a portable communication apparatus by the system of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable communication device 2 Antenna 3 Reception circuit 3a Transmission circuit 4 Control means 5 Storage means 6 Input means 7 Voice generation means 8
8 Voice input means 9 Display means 10 Function stop means

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Power supply device 12 Input / output means 13 Classification circuit 14 Memory | storage part 15 Comparison circuit 16 Power supply cutoff means 17 Thyristor 18 Fusing part 20 Communication apparatus

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Antenna 22 Reception circuit 23 Control means 24 Transmission circuit 25 Input means 26 Display means 27 Output means 28 Input / output means 29 Reception means 29a Transmission means

Claims (3)

A function stop device for a portable communication device having storage means 5 for storing personal information,
A portable type comprising a function stop means 10 for comparing a specific signal stored in advance with a specific signal received from the outside and stopping the function of the communication device or erasing personal information when the two match. Function stop device for communication equipment.   2. The portable communication device according to claim 1, wherein the function stop means includes a power shut-off means for cutting off the driving power of the portable communication device or a memory erasing means for erasing the stored contents of the storage means. Function stop device. A function stop system for a portable communication device having storage means 5 for storing personal information,
A portable communicator provided with a function stop means 10 for comparing a specific signal stored in advance with a specific signal received from the outside, and stopping the function of the communication device or erasing personal information when the two match.
Transmitting means 28 for transmitting a calling signal for calling the portable communication device, receiving means 29 for receiving a response signal from the portable communication device, and control means 23 for transmitting the specific signal when a response signal is received A communication device 20 comprising:
A function stop system for a portable communication device, comprising:

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