JP2009003776A - Information apparatus and start control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information apparatus which achieves security while securing portability of a PC in order to meet the request for an information protection method of securing security against theft while making the best use of advantages of the PC which is easy to carry, and a start control method. <P>SOLUTION: The information apparatus is provided with a short-distance wireless communication means having a specific area as a wireless communication enabled area, and it is determined whether the information apparatus is located within the wireless communication enabled area or not, and the start of the information apparatus is stopped when it is determined that the information apparatus is not located within the wireless communication enabled area as a result of determination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an activation operation of an information device, and more particularly to an information device activation control method using wireless communication.

  In recent years, PCs (Personal Computers) have become smaller and more power efficient, making it easy to carry around. On the other hand, the risk of being taken out by third parties is also increasing. If it is taken out, it may lead to leakage of important information stored in the PC.

There has been proposed an information processing system that can start up a PC only when identification information held by the authentication key is confirmed by wireless communication using an authentication key having a wireless communication function when using the PC (see Patent Document 1). ). In this case, care must be taken in managing the authentication key, and if the PC and the authentication key are taken out in pairs, the PC can be easily used.
JP 2004-70849 A

  There is a demand for an information protection method that ensures the security in the event of theft while taking advantage of a PC that is easy to carry.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information device and a startup control method that realize security while ensuring portability of a PC.

With the information device according to the present invention,
In the information device that can be used through the activation process, when it is determined that the short-range wireless communication unit having a predetermined range in the wireless communicable range and the information device is not in the wireless communicable range, the activation process is performed. There is provided an information device comprising an activation control means for canceling.

An information device activation control method according to the present invention includes:
An activation control method for controlling whether or not an information device can be activated, and determining whether or not the information device is within a wireless communication range by a short-range wireless communication unit having a specific range as a wireless communication range. As a result, the activation of the information device is stopped when it is determined that it is not within the wireless communicable range.

Provided are an information device and a startup control method for realizing security while ensuring portability of a PC.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication system according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, information devices 100a and 100b, an access point 101, a LAN 102, and a startable range 103 are shown.

Information devices 100a and 100b are, for example, notebook PCs. It can be carried anywhere and used with a built-in battery. In addition, a short-range wireless communication device is built in, and information can be exchanged with an external information device by this communication device. Near field communication here refers to a communication method having a service area of about several meters to several tens of meters and capable of communicating with only information devices existing in the service area using a wireless medium. Specifically, Bluetooth ^™ or the like is generally used.

  The access point 101 is a so-called access point (AP) in short-range wireless communication, for example. In the present embodiment, the access point 101 is physically fixed at a predetermined place, or installed at a place isolated from a person other than the administrator. That is, the access point 101 is installed so that it cannot be moved from the location intended by the administrator who manages it.

  The LAN 102 is, for example, a local area LAN. The access point 101 is connected to communication equipment on the communication path.

  The startable range 103 indicates a range in which an OS (Operating System) of the information device 100a (or 100b) can be started. In the example of FIG. 1, the information device 100 a is “startable” because it is within the startable range 103, whereas the information device 100 b is “out of start” because it is outside. The information device 100 itself determines which of the startable ranges 103 is based on, for example, the electric field strength, error rate, or communication response speed of a radio wave transmitted from the access point 101.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block configuration diagram of the information device 100 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, a CPU 200, a main memory 201, a bus controller 202, an HDD 203, an input / output controller 204, a keyboard 205, a display device 206, a short-range wireless communication unit 207, and an antenna 208 are shown.

  The CPU 200 is a central processing unit and controls the entire information device 100. It also has a function of executing a program and executing a predetermined process corresponding to the program.

  The main memory 201 is composed of a semiconductor memory, and is used as an area for storing programs and data when the CPU 200 processes the programs.

  The bus controller 202 has a function of controlling a bus for transmitting information between the components of the information device 100. The instruction from the CPU 200 reads / writes data in the main memory 201 via the bus or gives an instruction to other devices.

  The HDD 203 is a large-capacity storage device configured by, for example, a magnetic disk device (Hard Disk Drive). An application executed by the CPU 200 and data necessary for execution are stored and transferred to the CPU 200 via the bus controller 202 as necessary.

  The input / output controller 204 has a function of providing an interface between the CPU 200 and the HDD 203, the keyboard 205, the display device 206, and various input / output devices such as the short-range wireless communication unit 207.

  The keyboard 205 is an input device incorporated in the information device 100. The user of the information device 100 can give any instruction by pressing the keyboard 205.

The display device 206 is a display device incorporated in the information device 100. For example, it is a liquid crystal display (LCD), and the information device 100 displays information to the user.

The short-range wireless communication unit 207 is a communication unit for performing wireless communication with the access point 101. In this embodiment, the short-range wireless communication unit 207 has a service area of about several meters.

The antenna 208 is an external or internal antenna connected to the short-range wireless communication unit 207. A shape suitable for the communication method of the short-range wireless communication unit 207 can be obtained.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration diagram according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 shows the HW 300, the BIOS 301, the OS 302, and the application 303.

  The HW 300 indicates a hardware part that is a component of the information device 100.

  The BIOS 301 is a basic program that is executed first when the information device 100 is activated. A program having such a function is usually called BIOS (Basic Input and Output). This program is written on a non-rewritable medium such as a ROM (Read-Only Memory), and normally cannot be rewritten by the user.

  The OS 302 is activated by the BIOS 301. For example, it is responsible for providing a user interface (UI) with a user and starting management of an application running on the information device 100.

  The application 303 indicates application software that runs on the information device 100.

  In the present embodiment, the BIOS 301 has a function of starting up the OS 302, and is configured to be able to control whether to start up the OS 302 based on the determination of the BIOS 301.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation flow at the time of starting the information device 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 particularly describes the operation until the BIOS 301 shown in FIG.

  The BIOS 301 receives the radio wave transmitted from the access point 101 by the short-range wireless communication unit 207, and determines whether or not the radio wave can be received at a predetermined electric field strength or higher (step S01). That is, it can be determined that the electric field strength is equal to or greater than the predetermined value within the startable range 103. If it is not within the range of the startable range 103 (No), it is determined that the start is impossible, and the series of flows is ended without starting the OS 302.

  If it is within the startable range 103 (Yes), it is next authenticated whether or not the user of the information device 100 is an appropriate user (step S02). For example, a method of checking a password match that only the user can know can be considered for authentication. Alternatively, biometric authentication based on fingerprints, palm veins, and voiceprint matching can be used. If the authentication fails (No), it is determined that the activation is impossible, and the series of flows is terminated without activating the OS 302.

  When the authentication is successful (Yes), activation of the OS 302 is permitted by the BIOS 301 (step S03), and the information device 100 can be used in a normal state under the management of the OS 302.

As described above, when the information device 100 is configured to be normally usable only at a predetermined location, as long as it is within the startable range, only the PC can be carried and used as usual. If the startable range is set to an appropriate range that can be reached by the administrator, even if it is hidden and taken out due to theft, the use of the information device 100 is restricted outside the range intended by the administrator. Can be.

  Therefore, by configuring as described above, it is possible to provide an information device and an activation control method that realize security while ensuring portability of a PC.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

It is a figure which shows an example of the communication system concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the block block diagram of the information equipment 100 concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the software block diagram concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation | movement flow of the information equipment 100 concerning this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

100a, 100b ... information device, 101 ... access point, 102 ... LAN, 103 ... startable range, 200 ... CPU, 201 ... main memory, 202 ... bus controller, 203 ... HDD, 204 ... input / output controller, 205 ... keyboard, 206 ... display device, 207 ... short-range wireless communication unit, 208 ... antenna, 300 ... HW, 301 ... BIOS, 302 ... OS, 303 ... Application

Claims (6)

In information equipment that can be used through the startup process,
Short-range wireless communication means having a predetermined range as a wireless communication range;
An information device comprising: an activation control unit that suspends the activation process when it is determined that the information device is not within the wireless communicable range. The activation control means includes
An authentication requesting means for confirming that the user is an authorized user of the information device;
2. The activation process according to claim 1, wherein even if it is determined that the wireless communication range is within the range, if the authentication request unit cannot confirm that the wireless communication is valid, the activation process is stopped. Information equipment.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the short-range wireless communication unit determines a wireless communicable range based on at least one state of radio wave intensity, error rate, and communication response speed. An activation control method for controlling whether or not an information device can be activated,
By using short-range wireless communication means having a specific range in a wireless communicable range, it is determined whether the information device is in a wireless communicable range,
As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the wireless communication range is not within the range, the start control method is characterized in that the start of the information device is stopped. The information device further comprises authentication request means for confirming that the information device is a legitimate user of the information device,
When it is determined that the wireless communication range is within the range, the user is authenticated by the authentication request unit;
5. The activation control method according to claim 4, wherein activation of the information device is stopped when it cannot be confirmed that the user is a valid user as a result of authentication.   5. The activation control method according to claim 4, wherein the short-range wireless communication unit determines a wireless communicable range based on at least one state of a radio wave intensity, an error rate, and a communication response speed.

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