JPH11308333A - Portable telephone set having user limiting function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a portable telephone set usable only for a previously registered user by detecting the physical features of a user through the portable telephone set, comparing them with the previously stored physical feature data of the regular user and clocking call origination when they are not matched. SOLUTION: A portable telephone set 100 is provided with a feature measuring part 11 for measuring the physical features of the user as the feature data, a feature storage memory 12 for storing the previously registered feature data of the regular user, and a control part 13 for controlling operation or the like. Among these components, a feature comparing part 17 of the control part 13 compares the feature data measured by the feature measuring part 11 with the feature data of the regular user stored in the feature storage memory 12 and when the feature comparing part 17 judges that the features are not matched, a call origination lock part 17 locks the call origination of the portable telephone set. When the feature comparing part 17 judges that the features are matched, the call origination of the portable telephone set is unlocked by a call origination unlock part 19.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone as a mobile station for mobile communication, that is, a portable telephone. In this specification, “mobile phone” refers to a mobile phone / PHS (Personal) regardless of the type of access method to the communication channel.
nal Handy phone System) This refers to all portable telephones used in mobile communications such as satellite mobile phones.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of mobile phone and PHS services, the number of mobile phone users is steadily increasing.
It is a device completely integrated into the daily lives of many people. This is because a mobile phone is an extremely convenient device, but there are problems that arise due to characteristics such as portability and charging according to usage time.

One of the problems is as follows. For example, when the mobile phone is used against the will of the owner of the mobile phone due to theft or the like, the owner has to pay a telephone charge even though the call is made by another person.

[0004] In order to prevent such an unintended call by the owner of the mobile phone, the conventional mobile phone requires the user to input a preset password prior to use, and the correct password is required. By enabling a call only when is entered, only a specific user who knows the password can use it. However, such a conventional mobile phone cannot be used even if the owner himself forgets the password. In addition, when a mobile phone is used, it cannot be used unless a password is entered, and there is a problem in operability.

[0005]

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a portable telephone with a user-limited function that can be used only by a pre-registered user, and a registered user. Is to provide a mobile phone that does not need to remember a password or the like when used.

[0006]

According to the user-limited function of the present invention, the portable telephone detects the physical characteristics of the user, compares the detected physical characteristics with the physical characteristics data of the regular user stored in advance, and matches the data. If not, the call is locked and illegal abuse can be prevented.

In FIG. 2, sensors are installed at regular intervals around the housing of the mobile phone, and the sensor group detects the shape of the portion where the user's hand contacts the mobile phone. When the detected data matches the stored data, the call can be made. If they do not match, the call is locked by the call locking means and the mobile phone cannot make a call.

According to the present invention, there is provided a portable telephone which is used by one or a plurality of specific users, and in which the specific user is registered in advance to restrict the use of other users, Characteristic measuring means for measuring physical characteristics of
Feature storage means for storing physical characteristics of a specific user;
A feature comparison unit that compares physical characteristics of the current user and the specific user; and an operation restriction unit that restricts the operation of the mobile phone when the physical characteristics of the current user and the specific user do not match. A mobile phone is provided. It is desirable that the feature measuring means be arranged on the surface of the housing of the mobile phone. As an example of such a characteristic measuring means, a sheet in which a plurality of sensors are arranged in a matrix form covers a part or the whole of the housing surface. In order to improve the discriminating power of physical characteristics, it is effective to use a plastic material for the grip on the surface of the housing or to clearly indicate the grip on the surface of the housing.

As the feature measuring means, in addition to measuring the body characteristics in contact with the grip on the surface of the housing, there is also a form in which the body characteristics are measured without contact using an image sensor.

The sensor used for the characteristic measuring means does not need to be one type, and a plurality of types of measured quantities are measured to compare the physical characteristics of the current user and a specific user. We also provide phones.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (1) Basic Embodiment The configuration of a mobile phone 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the mobile phone 100. As shown in FIG. The mobile phone 100 is installed on a surface around a housing of the mobile phone 100, and a feature measuring unit 11 that measures a user's physical features as feature data, and a feature that stores feature data of a registered regular user in advance. A storage unit 12; a control unit 13 for controlling the operation of the mobile phone 100; an input unit 14 for receiving a user operation; a telephone function main unit 15 for controlling the function of the mobile phone 100 as a telephone; And a display unit 16 for displaying the same. The control unit 13 compares the feature data measured by the sensor unit 11 with the feature data of the authorized user stored in the feature storage memory 12, and the feature comparison unit 17 determines that the two do not match. A call lock unit 18 that locks the call of the mobile phone in the event of a call, and a call lock release unit 19 that releases the call lock of the mobile phone when the feature comparison unit 17 determines that they match.

Next, the operation of the mobile phone 100 will be described.

User Registration Operation FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation when the portable telephone 100 registers an authorized user.

Step 21: The user registration switch (not shown) of the input unit 14 is turned on to shift the operation mode to the user registration mode. In order to prevent registration by an unauthorized user, it is desirable to have a means for identifying the authorized user, such as requesting the input of a password set for each machine before performing the user registration operation. The identification of the authorized user in the user registration mode is not always necessary, and may be somewhat complicated since it is only necessary to perform the identification once for each authorized user in principle.

Step 22: After pressing the user registration switch, the authorized user holds the mobile phone 100 in his hand. Here, the holding method is the same as when a general mobile phone is used for a telephone call.

Step 23: The user enters the mobile phone 100
Is held in hand, the feature measuring unit 11 measures the physical features of the user. When the measurement is completed, the display unit 16 displays a message notifying the fact.

Step 24: After completion of the feature measurement, the user turns on the memory registration switch (not shown) of the input unit 14.

Step 25: When the memory registration switch is pressed, the feature data measured by the feature measuring unit 11 is stored in the feature storage memory 12 as registration data.

FIG. 3 shows a portable telephone 1 in which an authorized user has already been registered.
It is a flowchart showing operation at the time of using 00.

Step 31: First, the mobile phone 100
Shifts the operation mode to the user characteristic comparison mode. In this operation mode, a call cannot be made (call lock). Since the mobile phone 100 normally operates in this operation mode, there is no need for the user to intentionally operate the mobile phone 100 in principle.

Step 32: The user enters the mobile phone 100
have. As in the case of registration, the way of holding here is the same as the way of using a general mobile phone for telephone calls.

Step 33: The user enters the mobile phone 100
Is held in hand, the feature measuring unit 11 measures the physical features of the user. When the measurement is completed, the display unit 16 displays a message notifying the fact.

Step 34: The feature comparison unit 17 compares the registered data stored in the feature storage memory 12 with the measurement data measured in step 33. If the registered data and the measured data match, the process proceeds to step 35; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 36.

Step 35: The outgoing call lock is released by the outgoing call lock releasing section 19, and the mode is shifted to a telephone number input mode, which is an operation mode in which the user can make a call.

Step 36: The call lock is maintained by the call lock unit 18 and a message indicating that the call cannot be used is displayed on the display unit 16. (2) Various Embodiments Form Using Sheet-Type Contact Sensor Next, a mobile phone 40 according to a second embodiment of the present invention is described.
0 will be described. The mobile phone 400 is the same as the mobile phone 100 except that the configuration of the feature measuring unit 11 is different. Here, only the differences from the mobile phone 100 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, a feature measuring section 41 (shaded portion in FIG. 4) of the portable telephone 400 is a sheet-like contact sensor 42 wrapping the surface of the housing. The sheet-shaped contact sensor 42 has a plurality of minute contact sensors 43 arranged in a matrix on a sheet.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the mobile phone 400. Those having the same functions as those of the mobile phone 100 are given the same numbers. The mobile phone 400 determines the shape of the contact portion between the user's body and the housing by using the sheet-like contact sensor 42.
Measure with The contact sensor 43 is managed by assigning an address here by the control unit 13. The contact sensor 43 that has detected the contact of the fingertip, the palm, etc.
Notify. The control unit 13 obtains the shape information of the touched portion from the entire detection results of the plurality of contact sensors 43. FIG. 6 shows an example of characteristic data of the mobile phone 400, that is, shape data. In the column of non-contact (0) / contact (1), 0 indicates that there is nothing to contact the contact sensor at the corresponding address, and 1 indicates that there is something to contact. In the example of FIG.
The contact sensors at addresses 1, 2, and 5 have no contact, and the contact sensors at addresses 3 and 4 have a contact. In the entire shape data of FIG.
0 represents the shape 44 of the contact portion.

Function for Improving Discrimination Rate The shape of the contact portion does not always completely match even if the same person performs. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a certain degree of judgment for matching / mismatch between the registered data and the measurement data, but it is desirable that this width be as small as possible. If the position where the user holds the mobile phone 400 is limited to a narrow range at the time of identification, measurement accuracy can be improved. like this,
The third and fourth embodiments are mobile phones in which a grip position is specified.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the structure of a portable telephone 700 according to the third embodiment. The housing 71 is covered with a plastic part 72, and a characteristic measuring part 73 is provided on the surface of the plastic part 72. The plastic part 72 is made of a plastic material that deforms according to the shape of the hand when held by the user and maintains the shape when deformed even when the user releases the hand. The feature measuring unit 73 is, for example, the sheet-like contact sensor 4 according to the second embodiment.
2 and is deformed together with the plastic part 72, and maintains its shape even when the hand is released. In the third embodiment, since the grip position can be specified and the user's body comes into contact with a larger area, the feature measuring unit 73 is used.
Can perform more accurate measurement, and as a result, the discriminating power of the user can be improved.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a structure of a mobile phone 800 according to the fourth embodiment. In the mobile phone 800, the grip position 81, which is the position where the forefinger to the little finger contact the housing surface when the user holds the right hand, is clearly indicated by color coding. Thereby, the grip position of the user can be specified, and as a result, the discriminating power of the user can be improved.

Next, a cellular phone 90 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is described.
0 will be described with reference to FIGS. The mobile phone 900 is a mobile phone in which the feature measuring unit 11 of the mobile phone 100 is configured by the image sensor 91. The image sensor 91 is, for example, a CCD camera. Characteristic data used for user identification in the mobile phone 900 is as follows:
This is image data of a predetermined specific part of the body. The target body part may be a face contour, a retinal blood vessel pattern, or the like.

Discrimination Using Plural Types of Sensors In the sixth embodiment of the present invention, the physical characteristics of the user are measured by using a plurality of types of sensors in the characteristic measuring section. The feature data is obtained as a table including a number of independent items corresponding to the number of types of sensors. In this embodiment, for example, in addition to the above-mentioned sheet-like contact sensor and image sensor,
Any sensor that can be incorporated into the mobile phone, such as body temperature, pulse, blood type, etc., can be used for the feature measuring unit. Also, the physical characteristics measured by each sensor need not be characteristics that can identify an individual by themselves.
For example, a feature that can only take a certain value with respect to time, such as the ABO blood type, requires a perfect match. Is satisfied, the item is regarded as a match. In this way, each item is evaluated, and finally, a match / mismatch between the feature data is determined.

According to the sixth embodiment, the match / mismatch is determined by using a plurality of types of body characteristics. Therefore, it is possible to uniquely identify a user by itself, such as blood type and body temperature. Since a plurality of features that cannot be measured are measured, and the user is specified thereby, the choice of sensors used in the feature measuring unit can be increased.

Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and it is understood that changes and improvements can be made within the ordinary knowledge of those skilled in the art. Of course.

[0036]

According to the present invention, since the user has the function of detecting the physical characteristics of the user and the function of comparing the characteristic data of the user, the user himself / herself is not aware of the user-limited function if the user is a regular user. In this case, there is an effect that calls other than the authorized user are restricted. Therefore, there is an effect that the abuse of the mobile phone by an unauthorized user can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a mobile phone 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing the structure of 00.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when the mobile phone 100 registers an authorized user.

FIG. 3 is a mobile phone 1 in which an authorized user has already been registered.
It is a flowchart showing operation at the time of using 00.

FIG. 4 is a mobile phone 4 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the housing | casing surface of 00.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the mobile phone 400.

FIG. 6 is an example of characteristic data of a mobile phone 400;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile phone 700 according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile phone 800 according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile phone 900 according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile phone 900 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 41, 73 Feature measurement unit 12 Feature storage memory 13 Control unit 14 Input unit 15 Telephone function main unit 16 Display unit 17 Feature comparison unit 18 Call lock unit 19 Call lock release unit 42 Sheet contact sensor 43 Contact sensor 44 Shape of contact part 71 Housing 72 Plastic part 81 Grip position 91 Image sensor 92 Image processing part 100, 400, 700, 800, 900 Mobile phone

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] April 19, 1999

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (1) Basic Configuration The basic configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to the mobile phone shown in FIG.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0026

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Step 36: The call lock is maintained by the call lock unit 18 and a message indicating that the call cannot be used is displayed on the display unit 16.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0027

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

(2) Various Embodiments Form Using Sheet-Type Contact Sensor Next, the mobile phone 40 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
0 will be described. The mobile phone 400 is the same as the mobile phone 100 except that the configuration of the feature measuring unit 11 is different. Here, only the differences from the mobile phone 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the feature measuring unit 41 (shaded portion in FIG. 4) of the mobile phone 400 is a sheet-like contact sensor 42 that wraps the surface of the housing. The sheet-shaped contact sensor 42 has a plurality of minute contact sensors 43 arranged in a matrix on a sheet.

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0029

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Function for Improving Discrimination Rate The shape of the contact portion does not always completely match even if the same person performs. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a certain degree of judgment for matching / mismatch between the registered data and the measurement data, but it is desirable that this width be as small as possible. If the position where the user holds the mobile phone 400 is limited to a narrow range at the time of identification, measurement accuracy can be improved. like this,
The mobile phones in which the grip position is specified are the second and third embodiments.

[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0030

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the structure of a portable telephone 700 according to the second embodiment. The housing 71 is covered with a plastic part 72, and a characteristic measuring part 73 is provided on the surface of the plastic part 72. The plastic part 72 is made of a plastic material that deforms according to the shape of the hand when held by the user and maintains the shape when deformed even when the user releases the hand. The characteristic measuring unit 73 is, for example, the sheet-shaped contact sensor 4 according to the first embodiment.
2 and is deformed together with the plastic part 72, and maintains its shape even when the hand is released. In the second embodiment, in addition to being able to specify the grip position and making contact with the user's body over a wider area, the feature measuring unit 73 is used.
Can perform more accurate measurement, and as a result, the discriminating power of the user can be improved.

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0031

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of a mobile phone 800 according to the third embodiment. In the mobile phone 800, the grip position 81, which is the position where the forefinger to the little finger contact the housing surface when the user holds the right hand, is clearly indicated by color coding. Thereby, the grip position of the user can be specified, and as a result, the discriminating power of the user can be improved.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0032

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Next, a cellular phone 90 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is described.
0 will be described with reference to FIGS. The mobile phone 900 is a mobile phone in which the feature measuring unit 11 of the mobile phone 100 is configured by the image sensor 91. The image sensor 91 is, for example, a CCD camera. Characteristic data used for user identification in the mobile phone 900 is as follows:
This is image data of a predetermined specific part of the body. The target body part may be a face contour, a retinal blood vessel pattern, or the like.

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0033

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Identification Using Plural Types of Sensors In the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the physical characteristics of the user are measured using a plurality of types of sensors in the characteristic measuring section. The feature data is obtained as a table including a number of independent items corresponding to the number of types of sensors. In this embodiment, for example, in addition to the above-mentioned sheet-like contact sensor and image sensor,
Any sensor that can be incorporated into the mobile phone, such as body temperature, pulse, blood type, etc., can be used for the feature measuring unit. Also, the physical characteristics measured by each sensor need not be characteristics that can identify an individual by themselves.
For example, a feature that can only take a certain value with respect to time, such as the ABO blood type, requires a perfect match. Is satisfied, the item is regarded as a match. In this way, each item is evaluated, and finally, a match / mismatch between the feature data is determined.

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0034

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

According to the fifth embodiment, a match / mismatch is determined using a plurality of types of body characteristics, so that it is possible to uniquely identify a user by itself, such as blood type and body temperature. Since a plurality of features that cannot be measured are measured, and the user is specified thereby, the choice of sensors used in the feature measuring unit can be increased.

[Procedure amendment 11]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Brief description of drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile phone 100 which is a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when the mobile phone 100 registers an authorized user.

FIG. 3 is a mobile phone 1 in which an authorized user has already been registered.
It is a flowchart showing operation at the time of using 00.

FIG. 4 is a mobile phone 4 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the housing | casing surface of 00.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the mobile phone 400.

FIG. 6 is an example of characteristic data of a mobile phone 400;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile phone 700 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile phone 800 according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile phone 900 according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile phone 900.

[Description of Signs] 11, 41, 73 Feature measurement unit 12 Feature storage memory 13 Control unit 14 Input unit 15 Telephone function main unit 16 Display unit 17 Feature comparison unit 18 Call lock unit 19 Call lock release unit 42 Sheet contact Sensor 43 Contact sensor 44 Shape of contact part 71 Housing 72 Plastic part 81 Grip position 91 Image sensor 92 Image processing part 100, 400, 700, 800, 900 Mobile phone

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A mobile phone used by one or more specific users, wherein the specific user is registered in advance to restrict the use of other users. Feature measuring means for measuring a feature; feature storing means for storing the physical characteristics of the specific user; feature comparing means for comparing the physical characteristics of the current user and the specific user; and the current use A mobile phone comprising: an operation limiting unit configured to limit an operation of the mobile phone when physical characteristics of a user and a specific user do not match. 2. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein said characteristic measuring means is arranged on a surface of a housing of said mobile phone. 3. The mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein the characteristic measuring means is a sheet in which a plurality of sensors are arranged in a matrix and covers a part or the entire surface of the housing. Mobile phone. 4. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the grip on the surface of the housing has plasticity. 5. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein a grip portion is clearly indicated on the surface of the housing. 6. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein said characteristic measuring means measures a characteristic of a body in contact with a grip on a surface of said housing. 7. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein said characteristic measuring means is an image sensor. 8. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein said feature measuring means measures a plurality of kinds of measured quantities, and said feature comparing means measures said current user for said plurality of kinds of measured quantities. And a physical phone of a specific user.