JP2010124426A - Information processor and communicating method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor which sets permission or rejection of communication easily and establishes secure communication. <P>SOLUTION: The information processor is provided with: a communication portion 110; a determination portion 130; and an update portion 170. The communication portion 110 receives a connection request from the other information processor connected communicably by a plurality of communication means. The determination portion 130 refers to a permission list where the permission or rejection of communication is set on each of plural communication means for each user and judges the permission or rejection of connection by the communication means from the other information processor based on the communication means to request a user ID for specifying an user of another information processor who has transmitted the connection request, and the connection. The update portion 170 updates the permission list automatically according to the state of the permission or rejection of communication for each communication means with the other information processor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a communication method.

  Communication forms of communication devices and communication software are roughly classified into the following two types. The first communication mode is communication of an unspecified number of users versus an unspecified number of users. The communication means of the first communication form includes, for example, a telephone, and is always connected to the receiving side when the calling side designates a telephone number. The second communication mode is premised on communication between specific users. The communication means of the second communication form includes, for example, a messenger, and performs communication after establishing a mutual trust relationship, that is, a buddy relationship, between users in advance.

  The problem with the first communication mode is that, for example, when there is an incoming call from an undesired party such as a nuisance call, this cannot be rejected. In particular, in the case of a videophone, it is possible that a video other than a reliable partner is transmitted, or an undesired video is suddenly sent. As described above, in the first communication mode, there is a possibility that the user cannot make a call with peace of mind.

  To address such problems, you can explicitly specify who you want to reject incoming calls, and reject incoming calls from the other party, or you can identify the other party registered in the address book and the unregistered party using the ring tone. And methods for calling attention to the user have been proposed (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 5). In addition, when a videophone call is received, a method is also proposed in which the video is sent only to the other party registered in the address book, and only the audio is sent to the other party. (For example, Patent Document 6).

  On the other hand, in the second communication mode, if the buddy relationship is correctly established, an incoming call will not be received from an undesired partner, so there is no problem in the first communication mode described above. If you make a mistake in establishing a buddy relationship, delete the buddy. If you do not want to send your own video, you can turn off the video transmission function of your device regardless of whether you are a reliable partner.

JP 2000-124987 A JP 2001-245019 A JP 2001-333142 A JP 2003-289345 A JP-A-11-041327 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-038863

  However, in the case of the above-described method for designating the ID of the other party to reject the incoming call, there is a problem that the incoming call must be received at least once, and the incoming call cannot be rejected in advance. In addition, in the method of switching the ringing tone depending on the presence / absence of registration in the address book, there is a problem that the user may inadvertently receive an incoming call and view an undesired video.

  On the other hand, in the second communication mode, since only buddy-related communication is performed, a video that you do not want to see can be sent suddenly or your video can be transmitted. There is nothing. However, it is necessary to establish a buddy relationship once before starting the communication, and it is convenient for anyone to send and receive calls just by entering the phone number immediately like a normal phone Sexuality decreases. In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to understand and difficult to use for users who have low IT literacy and do not understand the concept of buddy relations.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is a novel and capable of easily setting whether communication is possible and establishing reliable communication. An object is to provide an improved information processing apparatus and communication method.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, a communication unit that receives a connection request from another information processing apparatus that is communicably connected by a plurality of communication units, and a plurality of communication units for each user Communication from other information processing devices based on the user ID that identifies the user of the other information processing device that has transmitted the connection request and the communication means that requests the connection with reference to the permission list in which communication permission is set. An information processing apparatus is provided that includes a determination unit that determines whether or not connection is possible by means, and an update unit that automatically updates a permission list according to a communication availability status for each communication unit with another information processing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, when a connection request is received from another information processing apparatus, whether or not to accept the connection request by referring to the permission list in which communication permission is set for each of a plurality of communication means for each user. Determine. When the user who has received the connection request sets, for each communication means, whether or not communication with the user of another information processing apparatus that has made the connection request is made, the updating unit updates the permission list according to the communication availability information. By using such a permission list, whether or not communication by each communication means can be easily set in detail for each user, and reliable communication can be realized.

  Here, the permission list includes a user list in which whether or not communication for each communication means for a specific user is set, and whether or not communication for each communication means for an unspecified number of users for which no user list is set is set. A default user list. The default user list permits communication by at least one communication means, and whether or not communication by other communication means is permitted is set to be undecided. At this time, the default user list may be set to allow at least communication using the voice call function.

  In addition, when the user ID that identifies the user of the other information processing apparatus that has requested the connection is not registered in the permission list, the determination unit is configured to communicate with the other information processing apparatus based on the setting of the default user list. It is also possible to determine whether or not connection is possible.

  Furthermore, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can further include a confirmation unit that confirms whether or not communication with a user who is a communication partner can be performed by a plurality of communication units with respect to a user who has received a connection request. At this time, if the confirmation unit receives a connection request from a user who is not registered in the permission list by a communication unit that is not permitted to communicate in the default user list, the confirmation unit permits the user who has received the connection request to communicate by the communication unit. It may be confirmed whether or not.

  The updating unit can also register the user list of the user who has requested the connection in the permission list when the user who has received the connection request has selected whether to allow communication different from the setting of the default user list.

  The information processing apparatus of the present invention may further include an output unit that can output information and an input unit that receives input information from a user. Here, the confirmation unit causes the output unit to output confirmation information for confirming whether or not communication by the communication unit is permitted to the user who has received the connection request, and issues a connection request for the confirmation information input from the input unit. Receive the response of the received user.

  Further, the update unit can update the permission list based on the update information of the permission list input from the input unit.

  Further, the confirmation unit confirms whether or not to allow communication by a plurality of communication means to the user who has received the connection request when all the communication with the user who has requested the connection has been completed. Also good.

  In addition, when a user ID that identifies a user of another information processing apparatus that has requested connection is registered in the permission list, the determination unit is configured based on the setting of the user list of the user of the other information processing apparatus that has requested connection. Thus, it is possible to determine whether or not connection by a communication means from another information processing apparatus is possible.

  Furthermore, you may make it provide the confirmation part which confirms the possibility of communication by the said some communication means with the user who becomes a communicating party. At this time, when the confirmation unit receives a connection request by a communication unit set to refuse communication in the user list registered in the permission list, the confirmation unit performs communication by the communication unit to the user who has received the connection request. Confirm whether or not to allow. Then, the update unit updates the user list of the user when a setting different from the setting of the user list is made.

  In addition, whether or not communication for each communication means for each user set in the permission list is permitted is a permission status for permitting communication by a predetermined communication means, a deny status for permitting communication by a predetermined communication means, and a predetermined communication means. It can also be represented by an undetermined status in which whether or not communication is possible is not set.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, a connection request receiving step for receiving a connection request from another information processing apparatus that is communicably connected by a plurality of communication means, and for each user Refer to the permission list in which communication permission is set for each of the plurality of communication means, and other information based on the user ID for identifying the user of the other information processing apparatus that transmitted the connection request and the communication means for requesting the connection. A communication method comprising: a determination step for determining whether or not connection by a communication unit from a processing device is possible; and an update step for automatically updating a permission list according to a communication availability status for each communication unit with another information processing device. Provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus and a communication method capable of easily setting whether communication is possible and establishing reliable communication.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

<Schematic configuration of communication system>
First, based on FIG. 1, the structure of the communication system 1 concerning embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the communication system 1 according to the present embodiment.

  The communication system 1 according to the present embodiment is a system that provides a telephone service using, for example, IP (Internet Protocol). As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 1 is configured by connecting a plurality of communication terminals 100 and a call control server 200 that performs call control via a network 10. The communication terminal 100 is an information processing apparatus such as a video phone or a personal computer. The communication terminal 100 includes, for example, an imaging unit 100a that captures an image of a user who uses the communication terminal 100, a receiver 100b, and a display unit 100c that displays an image of the user of the communication terminal 100 on the other side.

  The communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment is a multi-function communication terminal capable of transmitting text messages and photo data to each other in addition to the voice call function and the videophone function. In addition, the communication terminal 100 can grasp the state of other communication terminals 100 connected via the network 10 (for example, whether or not the communication terminal 100 is powered on) even when not in a call. It has the same function as so-called messenger software. The call control server 200 is a server that controls, for example, IP address resolution and communication start / disconnection.

  Each communication terminal 100 can display image data and text data received from the counterpart communication terminal 100 on the display unit 100c. For example, when an image of the user of the counterpart communication terminal 100 captured by the imaging unit 100a is received, the image data is displayed on the display unit 100c, thereby realizing a situation where the user is conversing face-to-face. be able to. In addition, when image data captured by a digital still camera or the like is transmitted from the counterpart communication terminal 100, each user can make a call while viewing the image by displaying the image data on the display unit 100c. Can do.

  As described above, in the communication system 1 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of communication means can be executed between the communication terminals 100, but each communication terminal 100 sets whether or not communication by each communication means is possible for each call partner. It has a permission list. In such a communication system 1, each communication terminal 100 communicates with another communication terminal 100 according to the setting of the permission list, thereby realizing reliable communication. Hereinafter, the configuration of the communication terminal 100 for realizing such a function and the setting of the permission list will be described in detail.

<Hardware configuration of communication terminal>
First, based on FIG. 2, the hardware configuration of the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment.

  The communication terminal 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, and a host bus 104a. The communication terminal 100 includes a bridge 104, an external bus 104b, an interface 105, an input device 106, an output device 107, a storage device (HDD) 108, a drive 109, a connection port 111, and a communication device 112. With.

  The CPU 101 functions as an arithmetic processing device and a control device, and controls the overall operation in the communication terminal 100 according to various programs. Further, the CPU 101 may be a microprocessor. The ROM 102 stores programs and calculation parameters used by the CPU 101. The RAM 103 temporarily stores programs used in the execution of the CPU 101, parameters that change as appropriate during the execution, and the like. These are connected to each other by a host bus 104a including a CPU bus.

  The host bus 104 a is connected to an external bus 104 b such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect / Interface) bus via the bridge 104. Note that the host bus 104a, the bridge 104, and the external bus 104b are not necessarily configured separately, and these functions may be mounted on one bus.

  The input device 106 includes an input means for a user to input information, such as a mouse, keyboard, touch panel, button, microphone, switch, and lever, and an input control circuit that generates an input signal based on the input by the user and outputs the input signal to the CPU 101. Etc. The user of the communication terminal 100 can input various data and instruct processing operations to the communication terminal 100 by operating the input device 106.

  The output device 107 includes a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display device, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) device, and a lamp. Furthermore, the output device 107 includes an audio output device such as a speaker and headphones. The output device 107 outputs, for example, voice data or text data during a call, an image of a call partner, a shared image taken by a digital still camera, or the like. Specifically, the display device displays message information such as image data and operation contents as text or an image. On the other hand, the voice output device converts voice data and the like during a call into voice and outputs the voice.

  The storage device 108 is a data storage device configured as an example of a storage unit of the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment. The storage device 108 may include a storage medium, a recording device that records data on the storage medium, a reading device that reads data from the storage medium, a deletion device that deletes data recorded on the storage medium, and the like. The storage device 108 is composed of, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The storage device 108 drives a hard disk and stores programs executed by the CPU 101 and various data.

  The drive 109 is a storage medium reader / writer, and is built in or externally attached to the communication terminal 100. The drive 109 reads information recorded on a mounted removable recording medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, and outputs the information to the RAM 103.

  The connection port 111 is an interface connected to an external device, and is a connection port with an external device capable of transmitting data by USB (Universal Serial Bus), for example. The communication device 112 is a communication interface configured by a communication device or the like for connecting to the communication network 10, for example. The communication device 112 may be a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) compatible communication device, a wireless USB compatible communication device, or a wire communication device that performs wired communication. The communication device 112 transmits and receives various data such as audio data and image data to and from the call control server 200 via the communication network 10.

  Heretofore, the hardware configuration of the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment has been described. Next, the functional configuration of the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration example of a permission list according to the present embodiment.

<Functional configuration of communication terminal>
As shown in FIG. 3, the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment includes a communication unit 110, a communication control unit 120, a determination unit 130, an update unit 140, an output unit 150, an input unit 160, and a list storage. Unit 170.

  The communication unit 110 is a functional unit that transmits and receives data and the like to and from other communication terminals 100 via the network 10. The communication unit 110 outputs data received from other communication terminals 100 to the communication control unit 120. In addition, the communication unit 110 transmits data and the like input from the communication control unit 120 to another communication terminal 100.

  The communication control unit 120 is a functional unit that controls communication with other communication terminals 100. When receiving an incoming call from another communication terminal 100 via the communication unit 110, the communication control unit 120 controls whether or not communication with the other communication terminal 100 is possible according to the setting of a permission list described later. At this time, the communication control unit 120 outputs specific information for specifying the other communication terminal 100 to the determination unit 130, and receives a determination result on whether communication is possible from the determination unit 130. In addition, when the communication control unit 120 permits communication with another communication terminal 100, in order to allow the permitted communication means to function, the communication control unit 120 outputs data received from the other communication terminal 100 from the output unit 150, Data input from the input unit 160 is transmitted via the communication unit 110. Further, the communication control unit 120 outputs update information to the update unit 140 when changing the setting of the permission list.

  The determination unit 130 is a functional unit that determines whether or not communication with another communication terminal 100 is possible. The determination unit 130 receives, from the communication control unit 120, identification information that identifies a user of another communication terminal 100 that has made a connection request and its communication means. The determination unit 130 refers to the list storage unit 170 that stores the permission list, and determines whether or not communication by the communication unit is permitted for the user of the communication terminal 100 that has requested connection. Then, the determination unit 130 transmits the determination result to the communication control unit 120.

  The update unit 140 is a functional unit that updates the permission list stored in the list storage unit 170. The updating unit 140 receives permission list update information input from the user via the input unit 160 from the communication control unit 120 and updates the permission list. The update process of the permission list by the update unit 140 includes a process for changing the registered contents of a user who has already been registered and a process for newly registering a user.

  The output unit 150 is a functional unit that outputs data, and includes, for example, a display device such as a CRT display device, a liquid crystal display device, an OLED device, and a lamp, and an audio output device such as a speaker and headphones. The output unit 150 outputs voice data, image data, text data, and the like received through communication with another communication terminal 100. The output unit 150 can also display operation information and the like of the communication terminal 100 to the user.

  The input unit 160 is a functional unit to which data is input. The input unit 160 includes, for example, an input means for a user to input information such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, a button, a microphone, a switch, and a lever, and an input control circuit that generates an input signal based on an input by the user. Is done. The input unit 160 transmits an input signal as input information to the communication control unit 120.

  The list storage unit 170 is a storage unit that stores a permission list in which communication enable / disable information is set for each communication unit for each user. The list storage unit 170 is a nonvolatile storage area such as a flash memory or a hard disk drive. The permission list can be configured, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, the permission list is configured by associating a user ID 171 for specifying a user with communication enable / disable information by a function that can be realized by a plurality of communication means. Examples of functions that can be realized by a plurality of communication means include a voice call function 172, a presence function 173, a videophone function 174, a text reception function 175, and a photo reception function 176. Since the permission list can hold information on whether or not communication by each communication means is permitted or not set for each user ID 171, it is possible to set whether to allow communication in detail for each user. Can do.

  Heretofore, the functional configuration of the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment has been described. The communication terminal 100 has a plurality of communication means capable of realizing functions equivalent to those of ordinary messenger software, such as a voice call function, a videophone function, a presence function, a text reception function, and a photo reception function. The communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment establishes secure communication by determining whether or not communication is possible for each communication means for each user based on the permission list. Therefore, the contents of the permission list and the permission list setting process and update process will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5B. FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing a new user registration process for the permission list according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5B is a flowchart showing information update processing for the permission list according to the present embodiment.

<Contents of permission list>
As described above, the permission list is a list that holds the communication availability information set for each communication means for each user. Here, in contrast to a buddy list that stores a conventional buddy relationship, a user who wants to communicate in the future, that is, a user who has established a trust relationship is registered in the buddy list. Therefore, communication with users who are not registered in the buddy list is not possible. On the other hand, the permission list according to the present embodiment includes a user who has established a trust relationship registered in the buddy list, a user who refuses any communication in the future, a user who allows only a part of communication, All of the default users to which an unspecified number of persons belong are registered.

  Looking at the permission list in more detail, as shown in FIG. 4, first, a default user 177 to which a large number of unspecified persons belong and a user 178 set individually are registered in the user ID 171. In the list of default users 177 (default user list), communication permission / prohibition information is set for a user who makes a communication request for the first time or a user who has not been individually set, and at least one of a plurality of communication means. Communication means are allowed. On the other hand, whether or not each communication means is set for each user is set in the individually set user 178 list (user list). When there is a connection request from the user, registration of each user is performed. Whether or not the communication means is available is determined based on the contents.

  Here, in the permission list, “permission” means permission of communication by the communication means, “rejection” means rejection of communication by the communication means, and “undecided” means communication of the communication means. Whether it is possible or not means that it is not set. In the case of “undecided”, for example, when there is a connection request by the communication means, the user may be allowed to determine whether communication is possible.

<New user registration process for permission list>
Next, a new user registration process for the permission list will be described with reference to FIG. 5A. As shown in FIG. 5A, first, the communication terminal 100 receives an incoming call from another communication terminal 100 (step S110). When receiving an incoming call from another communication terminal 100, the communication terminal 100 checks whether there is a registration of the user who has requested connection in the permission list (step S120). If the user ID does not exist in the permission list, the communication terminal 100 determines whether communication is possible according to the default user setting (step S130). If the user ID exists in the permission list, the process proceeds to process A shown in FIG. 5B. The description of the processing A will be described later.

  When the data (list) to be applied to the user who has made a connection request is determined, it is determined whether or not the communication means that has requested the connection is permitted based on the data (step S140). If the communication means that requested the connection is not permitted, the process ends without establishing a communication connection. At this time, a message indicating that the connection is rejected may be transmitted to another communication terminal 100. On the other hand, if the communication means that requested the connection is permitted, the connection is established and communication is started (step S150). If it is undecided whether to permit the communication means, for example, a pop-up menu may be displayed to confirm with the user whether communication by the communication means is permitted.

  Thereafter, when the communication terminal 100 ends the communication with the other communication terminal 100 (step S160), the communication terminal 100 checks whether or not the user is permitted to connect with another communication means (step S170). In the confirmation in step S170, for example, voice data, text data, or the like can be output from the output unit 150 to ask the user for confirmation. Specifically, for example, a pop-up menu may be displayed to confirm whether or not the user is allowed to connect by other communication means.

  If other communication means are permitted, the user is newly registered in the permission list, and a user list in which communication by communication means other than the current communication means is also “permitted” is generated (step S180). On the other hand, when communication by another communication means is refused, the process is terminated without registering the user in the permission list. In this case, when such a user next issues a connection request, whether or not communication is possible is determined according to the user list of the default user as in this case.

  The process for registering a new user in the permission list has been described above. Next, information update processing for the permission list will be described based on FIG. 5B.

<Information update processing for permission list>
Process A shown in FIG. 5B shows communication availability control and user list update processing when a user is registered in the permission list. If it is determined in step S120 in FIG. 5A that the user who has made the connection request is registered in the permission list, the communication terminal 100 refers to the user list in the permission list stored in the list storage unit 170 ( Step S210). Then, the determination unit 130 determines whether or not the communication unit that has requested connection is permitted (step S220).

  In step S220, if the communication means that requested the connection is permitted, communication is started (step S230). On the other hand, if the communication means that requested the connection is rejected, the process ends without establishing a communication connection. At this time, a message indicating that the connection is rejected may be transmitted to another communication terminal 100. In addition, when it is undecided whether or not communication by the communication means that has requested the connection has been made, for example, it may be confirmed whether or not the user is permitted to receive an incoming call. Such confirmation can be performed by, for example, outputting a voice message or a text message indicating that incoming / outgoing is selected using the output unit 150 and allowing the user to input a selection result from the input unit 160. Specifically, for example, a pop-up menu may be displayed to confirm whether the user is allowed to receive incoming calls.

  When the communication starts in step S230 and then ends (step S240), the communication terminal 100 confirms whether or not to change the registered contents of the permission list of the user who was the communication partner (step S250). For this confirmation, for example, the output unit 150 is used to output a voice message, a text message, or the like for confirming whether or not to change the registered contents of the permission list, and to allow the user to input the presence / absence of the change from the input unit 160. Can be performed. Specifically, for example, a pop-up menu may be displayed to confirm whether or not to change the registered contents of the permission list for the user.

  In step S250, when the user desires to change the permission list, the communication terminal 100 causes the user to input the changed content, and updates the reflected content in the user list of the permission list (step S260). For example, a setting screen for setting “permitted”, “rejected”, and “undecided” for each communication unit may be displayed on the output unit 150 and the changed content may be input from the input unit 160. Or you may make it change collectively, confirming whether all the communication means are "permitted" (or "rejected"). On the other hand, if there is no change in the permission list in step S250, the process ends without changing the contents of the permission list.

  The information update process for the permission list according to the present embodiment has been described above. By providing such a permission list, first, a user who is not registered as a user performs communication according to the registered contents of a default user permitted to communicate by at least one communication means. At this time, the communication means permitted to the default user is limited to communication means (for example, voice call) that can be allowed by the user in communication with a partner whose trust relationship is not established. Thereby, a user's anxiety and stress in communication with the other party in whom the trust relationship is not established can be eliminated. Further, by providing a default user list for an unspecified number of users in the permission list, connection requests from users who are not registered in the permission list can be prevented from being completely denied.

  Thereafter, the user can set whether or not to allow communication by each communication means for the user who was the communication partner. At this time, in the first communication means with the user who was the communication partner, the user will allow communication by all communication means in the future, or allow communication by some communication means, or all communication means It is possible to determine whether or not to refuse communication. If it is not possible to make a determination with a single communication, the current setting may be suspended and “undecided” may be set.

  When the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment receives a connection request from a user who is not registered as a user and establishes communication once, the communication terminal 100 automatically confirms with the user whether or not to register as a user. For this reason, the user does not need to make a troublesome setting such that communication is possible only after a user who has established a buddy relationship is registered as in a conventional buddy list. In addition, since it is possible to set whether communication is possible for each communication means, it is possible to set whether communication is possible for each user in detail. Therefore, the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment can provide reliable communication to the user by including such a permission list.

  The operations “permitted”, “denied”, and “undecided” set for the communication means in the permission list are not limited to the above example. For example, in communication with an unreliable partner, it may be better not to permit the communication means even if the communication means is once permitted. For this reason, the permission list may not be automatically changed, but may be changed after confirming the change to the user. At this time, the permission list change may be confirmed every time communication means other than the communication means permitted by the default user are permitted, and the change is confirmed when the permission list is permitted more than a predetermined number of times. You may make it do.

  Further, the status of the permission list may be only “permitted” and “undecided”. For example, if there is a connection request by the video phone function from a partner who has not been permitted communication by the video phone function, there is a possibility that communication by the video phone function will be forcibly refused thereafter. Therefore, for a communication means that has been rejected, “undecided” may be set in the permission list, and it may be confirmed whether or not to accept a connection request every time. Thus, the operation of the permission list can be changed flexibly.

<Communication using permission list>
Hereinafter, an example of communication using the permission list according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5B. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, a user who receives a connection request from a communication partner at the communication terminal 100 including the permission list is referred to as “user A”. Further, it is assumed that a user having a user ID “Taro”, “Hanako”, “Sales_A”, or “Sales_B” is a user who requests connection to the user A. To simplify the explanation, the communication terminal 100 always makes a voice call when making a call to the other party, and can freely use text message transmission, photo transmission, and videophone function after the voice call starts. It shall be possible.

  In the initial state of the communication terminal 100 (for example, a state that has not been set immediately after purchase of the communication terminal 100), only the default user 177 shown in FIG. 4 is registered in the permission list. The setting of each communication means of the default user 177 is a state where communication by at least one communication means is permitted, and for example, only the voice call function is permitted. The setting of each communication means of the default user 177 can be changed by the user A.

  First, it is assumed that the connection request by the voice call from Taro is made to the communication terminal 100 of the user A. At this time, the communication terminal 100 checks whether or not the user ID “Taro” of the user requesting the connection received together with the connection request is registered in the permission list. At this time, since only the default user is registered in the permission list, the communication terminal 100 determines whether or not communication with Taro is possible according to the registration contents of the default user. Since Taro requests connection by voice call and the default user is permitted to connect by voice call, the communication terminal 100 allows the voice call to Taro and rings a ringing tone to the user A. Encourage the start of a voice call. When user A goes off-hook, a voice call with Taro is started.

  After the voice call with Taro is started, for example, it is assumed that the communication terminal 100 of Taro requests the communication terminal 100 of the user A to start communication using the videophone function. At this time, the communication terminal 100 of the user A refers to the permission list and confirms whether or not the default user is permitted to communicate by the videophone function. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the default user is not permitted to communicate using the videophone function. Therefore, the communication terminal 100 of the user A transmits a message for refusing communication by the videophone function to the communication terminal 100 of Taro.

  Alternatively, the communication terminal 100 of the user A may transmit a message to the user A that there is a request to start communication by the videophone function from Taro, and let the user A determine whether or not it is possible. When the user A permits a request to start communication by the videophone function from Taro, the videophone video from Taro is transmitted to the communication terminal 100 of the user A and displayed on the output unit 150. In addition, since user A has permitted a request to start communication using the videophone function from Taro, it can be determined that user A intends to permit communication with Taro using the videophone function. Therefore, the communication terminal 100 of the user A newly creates a user list “Taro” in the permission list. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the user list of “Taro” is the content permitted for the videophone function for the same registered content as the default user.

  The users A and Taro do not perform an operation for understanding the concept of the permission list and establishing a buddy relationship before starting communication. Taro just made a voice call as before, and then shifted to video phone communication, and user A also received an incoming call from Taro and only allowed video phone communication. As described above, the user can be registered without performing any special operation on the permission list according to the present embodiment.

  Next, it is assumed that the Hanako communication terminal 100 makes a connection request to the user A communication terminal 100 through a voice call. At this time, as in the case of Taro described above, since Hanako is not registered as a user, whether or not communication is possible is determined according to the contents of the user list of the default user. Since a voice call is permitted for the default user, a voice call between Hanako and user A is started.

  Thereafter, when the voice call is terminated, for example, the communication terminal 100 of the user A confirms whether or not the communication with the Hanako is permitted not only for the voice call but also for other communication means. You may make it do. For example, the communication terminal 100 of the user A causes the output unit 150 to display a message “Do you permit not only voice calls but also videophone calls, photo reception, and text message reception in the future when communicating with Hanako?” May be. On the other hand, when user A replies “YES”, a Hanako user list that permits communication by all communication means is generated in the permission list of communication terminal 100 of user A. On the other hand, when the user A answers “NO”, for example, the processing may be terminated without generating a Hanako user list.

  Further, it is assumed that a connection request by voice call is made from the communication terminal 100 of Sales_A to the communication terminal 100 of user A. At this time, as in the case of Taro described above, since Sales_A is not registered as a user, whether or not communication is possible is determined according to the contents of the user list of the default user. Since the voice call is permitted for the default user, the voice call between the Sales_A and the user A is started.

  After that, it is assumed that Sales_A informs that voice data is to be transmitted verbally in a voice call, and that there is a request for transmission of photo data from the communication terminal 100 of Sales_A to the communication terminal 100 of user A. At this time, the communication terminal 100 of the user A outputs to the user A a message that the photograph data is about to be transmitted from the Sales_A from the output unit 150 and transmits the message to the user A, and the photograph from the communication terminal 100 of the Sales_A is transmitted to the user A. Ask whether data can be sent. On the other hand, when the user A wishes to refuse the reception of the photo data, the user A inputs that fact from the input unit 160 so that the photo data from the Sales_A is not displayed on the output unit 150. At this time, the communication terminal 100 of the user A notifies the Sales_A communication terminal 100 that the reception of the photo data is rejected.

  Thereafter, when the voice call is terminated, for example, the communication terminal 100 of the user A confirms whether or not the communication with the Sales_A will reject not only the voice call but also communication by other communication means in the future. You may make it do. For example, the communication terminal 100 of the user A causes the output unit 150 to display a message “Do you want to reject not only voice calls but also videophone calls, photo reception, and text message reception in the future when communicating with Sales_A?”. May be. On the other hand, when user A replies “YES”, a user list of Sales_A that permits communication by all communication means is generated in the permission list of communication terminal 100 of user A. On the other hand, when user A replies “NO”, for example, the process may be terminated without generating a user list of Sales_A.

  In addition, when the user A desires to receive the photo data when there is a request for the transmission of the photo data from the communication terminal 100 of the Sales_A to the communication terminal 100 of the user A, the user A indicates that fact. Enter from. Then, the communication terminal 100 of the user A may display the photographic data from the Sales_A on the output unit 150. After that, when the voice call is ended, as in the case of Hanako described above, the communication terminal 100 of the user A communicates with the user A not only with the voice call but also with other communication means in the future. You may make it confirm whether it permits.

  Finally, it is assumed that there is a connection request by voice call from the communication terminal 100 of Sales_B to the communication terminal 100 of user A. At this time, as in the case of Taro described above, since Sales_B is not registered as a user, whether or not communication is possible is determined according to the contents of the user list of the default user. Since a voice call is permitted for the default user, a voice call between Sales_B and user A is started.

  Thereafter, it is assumed that the voice call with Sales_B ends and communication ends without Sales_B being registered in the permission list. After that, when the user A wants to refuse any communication including the voice call with the Sales_B, the user A investigates the communication terminal 100, and the user of the Sales_B rejects the communication by all the communication means in the permission list. You can add a list. For the user registration to the permission list by the user A, for example, a setting menu is displayed on the output unit 150 of the communication terminal 100, and the user registration of Sales_B and the setting of rejection of communication by all communication means are input from the input unit 160. Can be done. When such a user list is registered in the permission list, even if a connection request by voice call is subsequently sent from Sales_B, the communication terminal 100 of the user A refuses this.

  Heretofore, an example of communication using the permission list has been described. By using the communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment, the user list is automatically generated in the process of communicating with the communication partner without understanding the concepts such as permission list and establishment of trust relationship. Also, the registered contents of the permission list can be changed by the user himself / herself, and after user registration, communication can be permitted or denied for a part of the communication means depending on the situation. Further, in the communication with the user registered in the permission list, the confirmation process of the registered contents in the permission list is basically skipped, so that smooth communication can be realized.

  Heretofore, the communication terminal 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention and the communication method using the permission list have been described. By using such a permission list, whether or not communication by each communication means can be easily set in detail for each user, and reliable communication can be realized. In addition, in a videophone that can implement the communication method using the permission list of the present embodiment from two communication means such as video communication and audio communication such as a videophone function, the permission list of the default user is set as in the present embodiment. Suppose that it was operated. By making the voice call “permitted” to the default user, it is possible to provide the user who is the recipient with the same usability as a normal voice call. At the same time, by setting the other communication means to “undecided”, the video of the user who is the receiver is not inadvertently transmitted to the display unit of the videophone, or the other party's video is not shown off, Security is maintained. That is, the user can use it like a normal voice call from the beginning without making any troublesome settings, and can maintain security related to video transmission / reception.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can come up with various changes or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. Of course, it is understood that these also belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, only a voice call is permitted for the default user, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, communication means other than voice calls may be permitted. For example, the default user may be permitted to receive only text messages, or both voice calls and text messages may be permitted.

  In the above embodiment, only information used when a connection request is received from the other party is registered in the permission list. However, the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, such information registered in the permission list may be used as information used when making a connection request to the other party. For example, it is assumed that the communication terminal 100 is an information processing apparatus having specifications that start communication from a video call. At this time, when communicating with the user “Taro” who is permitted to communicate by the videophone function shown in FIG. 4, the camera of the communication terminal 100 of the user (user A) is turned on from the beginning. On the other hand, when communicating with the user “Sales_A” whose communication by the videophone function is rejected, the camera of the communication terminal 100 of the user (user A) may be turned off and communication may be started by voice call. Furthermore, user lists for reception and transmission can be registered in the permission list.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, each communication terminal 100 includes a permission list, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, a server connected to the communication terminal 100 via the network 10 may be held.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when the communication means that first requested connection is denied in the permission list, the communication itself is refused, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, it is assumed that the user list of the user A set to permit communication by the voice call function and reject communication by the videophone function is registered in the permission list of the communication terminal 100 of the user B. At this time, when a connection request for communication by videophone is first made from the communication terminal 100 of the user A to the communication terminal 100 of the user B, the communication terminal 100 of the user B does not refuse the communication itself but permits the communication. Establish communication by voice call. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a situation in which communication itself is not established. Note that this example is realized by two functions such as video communication and voice communication, such as a videophone function, and if there is a function that allows communication among these functions, the permission is given. Communication is established by the function that is performed. Therefore, even if the user A requests to send a photo, the voice call is not established.

It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the communication system concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the communication terminal concerning the embodiment. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the communication terminal concerning the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the permission list | wrist concerning the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the user new registration process with respect to the permission list | wrist concerning the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the information update process with respect to the permission list | wrist concerning the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Communication terminal 110 Communication part 120 Communication control part 130 Judgment part 140 Update part 150 Output part 160 Input part 170 List memory | storage part

Claims (13)

A communication unit that receives a connection request from another information processing apparatus that is communicably connected by a plurality of communication means;
Refers to a permission list in which communication permission is set for each of the plurality of communication means for each user, based on a user ID for identifying a user of another information processing apparatus that has transmitted the connection request and a communication means for requesting a connection. A determination unit for determining whether or not connection by the communication unit from the other information processing apparatus is possible,
An update unit that automatically updates the permission list according to the communication availability status for each communication means with the other information processing apparatus,
An information processing apparatus comprising: The permission list is
A user list in which the availability of communication for each communication means for a specific user is set;
A default user list in which whether or not communication is possible for each communication means for an unspecified number of users for which the user list is not set;
With
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the default user list permits communication by at least one communication unit, and whether to allow communication by another communication unit is set to be undetermined.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the default user list is set so as to permit communication by at least a voice call function.   The determination unit, when a user ID for identifying a user of another information processing apparatus that has made the connection request is not registered in the permission list, from the other information processing apparatus based on the setting of the default user list The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein whether or not connection by the communication unit is possible is determined. For a user who has received a connection request, further comprising a confirmation unit for confirming whether or not communication by the plurality of communication means with a user as a communication partner is possible,
When the confirmation unit receives a connection request from a user who is not registered in the permission list by a communication unit that is not permitted to communicate in the default user list, the confirmation unit performs communication by the communication unit to the user who has received the connection request. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein confirmation is made as to whether or not to permit.   The update unit registers the user list of the user who has made the connection request in the permission list when the user who has received the connection request has selected whether to allow communication different from the setting of the default user list. The information processing apparatus described. An output unit capable of outputting information;
An input unit for inputting input information from the user;
Further comprising
The confirmation unit causes the output unit to output confirmation information for confirming whether or not communication by the communication unit is permitted for the user who has received the connection request, and for the confirmation information input from the input unit The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a response from a user who has received the connection request is received.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the update unit updates the permission list based on update information of the permission list input from the input unit.   The confirmation unit confirms whether or not to allow communication by the plurality of communication means to a user who has received a connection request when all communication with the user who has requested the connection is completed. Item 6. The information processing device according to Item 5.   The determination unit, when a user ID that identifies a user of another information processing apparatus that has requested the connection is registered in the permission list, sets a user list of a user of the other information processing apparatus that has requested the connection The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein whether or not connection by the communication means from the other information processing apparatus is determined based on the information. A confirmation unit for confirming whether or not communication by the plurality of communication means with a user who is a communication partner is possible,
When the confirmation unit receives a connection request by a communication unit set to refuse communication in the user list registered in the permission list, the confirmation unit communicates with the user who has received the connection request by the communication unit. Confirm whether or not to allow
The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the update unit updates the user list of the user when a setting different from the setting of the user list is made.   Whether or not communication for each communication means for each user set in the permission list includes a permission status for permitting communication by a predetermined communication means, a deny status for permitting communication by a predetermined communication means, and a predetermined communication means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is represented by an undetermined status in which whether or not communication is possible is not set. A connection request receiving step for receiving a connection request from another information processing apparatus communicably connected by a plurality of communication means;
Refers to a permission list in which communication permission is set for each of the plurality of communication means for each user, based on a user ID for identifying a user of another information processing apparatus that has transmitted the connection request and a communication means for requesting a connection. A determination step of determining whether or not connection by the communication means from the other information processing apparatus is possible;
An update step of automatically updating the permission list according to the communication availability status for each communication means with the other information processing apparatus;
Including a communication method.

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