Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07C—TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
  • G07C9/00—Individual registration on entry or exit
  • G07C9/00174—Electronically operated locks; Circuits therefor; Nonmechanical keys therefor, e.g. passive or active electrical keys or other data carriers without mechanical keys
  • G07C9/00309—Electronically operated locks; Circuits therefor; Nonmechanical keys therefor, e.g. passive or active electrical keys or other data carriers without mechanical keys operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M11/00—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
  • H04M11/04—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems

Definitions

• the present invention relates in generally to a security system for admitting a user to visit a security area, and more specifically, to a security system for admitting a user using a standard cellular phone.
• cellular telephones are equipped with a hardware code uniquely identifying each phone to the system.
• a code is for instance called IMEI code in the GSM system. If a owner to a cellular phone for some reason loses his phone, for instance due to theft, he may prohibit the thief or someone else from using his phone by reporting it as stolen to the telecommunication operator. Not only will his specific telephone account be closed but his specific telephone will also be useless, since the unique IMEI code is placed on a blacklist and the telephone system will refuse to connect calls using hardware which is present at the blacklist.
• each cellular telephone has each cellular telephone a unique number which uniquely identifies the specific telephone.
• radio keys used to open garage doors.
• Such radio keys may comprise a identification code, which is sent when a user press a button, and which is identified by a receiver opening the garage door.
• Such radio keys are somewhat expensive to produce and are not very flexible in their application. For instance can it be cumbersome to handle several different doors and several different users. It would therefore be beneficial if a more flexible security system could be achieved for admitting a user to a security area where several different persons have, or do not have, access to different security areas through several different locked doors.
• the object of the present invention is thus to provide a security system for admitting a user, having a standard cellular telephone, into, or allowing a user to visit, a security area.
• Said security system being flexible, supporting multiple users each having a unique cellular telephone and possibly multiple locks individually responsive to each cellular telephone.
• An advantage of the present invention is that a flexible security system is achieved which uses standard cellular telephones as electronic radio keys.
• the security system may control a door for admitting a user to enter a specific area, or may with regular intervals check if a user is present in a specific area.
• Another advantage with the present invention is that a security system with high flexibility and good security is achieved with very low-cost means.
• Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic view of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention
• Figure 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention
• Figure 3 shows a schematic block diagram of another preferred embodiment according to the present invention.
• a user 101 is approaching a door 102 leading to a security area.
• security area is used, in the present text, in a very broad sense. It may thus not necessarily indicate an area with extremely high security requirements, though such areas are of course included, but may also include any area behind a locked door, such any ordinary housing.
• Said user 101 has a standard cellular telephone 104, in this preferred embodiment a GSM telephone, though any standard cellular telephone comprising a unique hardware code may be used, which, upon request, or on a regular basis, sends a IMEI message.
• This IMEI message is received by a security apparatus
• the security apparatus 103 being connected to the locking function of said door 102.
• the security apparatus 103 may be designed, or tuned, to only receive signals which are sent within a specified area from said security apparatus 103, so that distant cellular telephones, sending IMEI messages, do not affect the locking function of the door 102.
• the function of said security apparatus 103 are more detailed in figure 2.
• Figure 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the security apparatus shows in figure 1.
• the broadband receiver is broadband in terms of receiving the complete GSM band. In another preferred embodiment the broadband receiver may be designed to receive a much wider band, or several separated bands, such as both the GSM and the PCN band.
• the messages received by the broadband receiver is forwarded to a GSM message decoder 203.
• the GSM message decoder is designed only for recognising a GSM IMEI message and may therefore be a relatively low-cost implementation.
• an I/O ( input/output ) device 204 Connected to the GSM message decoder 203 is an I/O ( input/output ) device 204 for storing, retrieving and deleting records in a register 205 located in the GSM message decoder.
• the I/O device 204 is used to store IMEI codes in the register 205.
• IMEI codes When a IMEI message is received and decoded it is compared with the stored IMEI codes, and if a match occur, that is if the decoded IMEI is present in the stored set of IMEIs, the GSM decoder signals to a validating device 206 which unlocks the door 102 admitting the user 101 access to the security area behind the door 102.
• the storing of IMEI codes may be performed through the radio interface, comprising the broadband receiver 201.
• the GSM message decoder is also arranged to receive digits, as well as instructions for storing a sequence of digits in said register 205.
• FIG. 3 shows another preferred embodiment according to the invention, where the security apparatus comprises a transmitting device 301 coupled to the antenna 202 and the GSM message decoder 203.
• the security apparatus may send a message to cellular phones within reach requesting transmission of the IMEI code.
• the security apparatus may also fetch other data from the cellular phone such as the telephone number of a telephone subscription installed in said phone, a digit sequence entered on the cellular phone by said user, or other types of information which may be combined with the IMEI for increased security.
• the security apparatus may be mounted in a corridor or in a room for surveillance purposes. It may then transmit an alarm signal to a security service or may sound an alarm if a non-authorised person is visiting the room or corridor.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20414323

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (3)

Citations (7)

• 1999
  • 1999-02-01 SE SE9900335A patent/SE522117C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2000
  • 2000-01-28 AU AU27047/00A patent/AU2704700A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-01-28 WO PCT/SE2000/000178 patent/WO2000045582A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (7)

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