JP2007058260A - Content distribution method, and mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content distribution method by a mobile terminal and the mobile terminal, capable of preparing a content by a user itself without using an external management server, and capable of managing it in real time with self-responsibility. <P>SOLUTION: This mobile terminal 101 (or 200) is communicatable indirectly with a mobile terminal 102 of a client via a communication control facility 103, or is communicatable directly therewith by infrared communication or the like. The mobile terminal 101 includes a display part 208 operated under the control of a CPU 201, a content preparation part 209, a security control part 210, and a content server 211. The content such as a face photograph of the user prepared by the content preparation part 209 is registered in the content server 211, and the content is distributed to the client mobile terminal 102 under the control of security control part 210. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content distribution method and a mobile terminal, and more particularly to a content distribution method and a mobile terminal that distribute content using a mobile terminal itself as a content server in a mobile terminal having an external connection function such as the Internet or BLUETOOTH.

  With the progress of communication technology using a network, a large amount of information (or content) can be transmitted and received from a PC (personal computer) or other terminals via the network. In addition, the number of users is increasing rapidly.

  Personally managed homepages that post private information such as user's and family's face photos are generally not intended for an unspecified number of users, but a relatively limited range of users such as creator's friends and acquaintances Most of them are targeted. In particular, in recent years, many inventions and improvements have been made with respect to content creation functions from mobile terminals such as mobile phones, PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and content upload functions to content servers. For example, in mobile phones with built-in cameras, parts that form content such as photographs and mail data created by a camera module are becoming private. And the security function which restrict | limits these information delivery destinations is important.

  However, due to the development of search engines, there is a possibility that a link to the content will be made outside the owner's recognition range using keywords in the content as keywords, and private information may be viewed by a third party without the owner's knowledge Has increased. For this purpose, a technique for strengthening security by restricting access using IDs and passwords such as BASIC authentication of HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) has been developed. However, even with this method, security cannot be said to be perfect due to leakage of IDs and passwords.

  There are already many content creation / distribution systems that use mobile terminals, but most systems create content on mobile terminals and register them with content servers. In the conventional content distribution system, since the content server is in an organization different from the owner, the owner cannot grasp the timing of reference in real time, and the owner cannot prevent unauthorized access by an unintended third party. Security issues emerge outside the owner's management area, such as data leaks from content servers. Furthermore, the fact that it is difficult to detect in real time that the content server is away from the portable terminal at hand and is being accessed is lacking in the content management, the interactiveness of the reference, and the entertainment.

  The prior art in such a technical field is disclosed in many technical literatures. An information processing apparatus and an information processing method for easily managing access by others to own personal information are disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). In addition, a mobile phone and a communication system having a server function and capable of bidirectional data communication are disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2). Furthermore, a personal information disclosure system and information disclosure method for ensuring security by pre-registering access restrictions in a terminal are disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 3).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-5833 (page 5-6, FIG. 2) JP 2001-157256 A (page 4-5, FIG. 1) JP 2003-152895 (page 6-7, FIG. 1)

  The prior art as described above has insufficient security, and lacks interactive and entertainment properties. In other words, the management server that registers and manages various types of contents becomes a target of so-called hackers, and is out of the scope of monitoring of the information owner with respect to leakage of personal data and impersonation. In addition, when security is secured without a password for the telephone number and access period, unauthorized access cannot be reliably prevented when used by a third party, and security is insufficient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and solves or alleviates such problems, and enables a content owner to easily and in real time limit information distribution at his / her own risk. And it aims at providing a portable terminal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the content distribution method and the mobile phone according to the present invention adopt the following characteristic configuration.

(1) The step of registering content in the content server unit of the mobile terminal, and when there is an acquisition request for the registered content from another mobile terminal, the identification information of the mobile terminal that has made the acquisition request is acquired A content distribution method comprising: a step of causing a user of the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content to determine whether or not the content can be distributed to the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content based on the acquired identification information.
(2) The content distribution method according to (1), further including a step of displaying a connection confirmation on the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content when there is a content acquisition request from the mobile terminal.
(3) The content distribution method according to (1) or (2), further including a step of allowing the user of the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content to determine whether or not access confirmation from the next time is possible for the mobile terminal that requested the content acquisition. .
(4) The content distribution method according to (1), (2), or (3), comprising: a step of identifying a mobile terminal that is permitted to access the content registered in the content server unit.
(5) The content distribution method according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the mobile terminal having the registered content and the mobile terminal requesting content acquisition are transmitted and received via a communication control organization.
(6) The content distribution method according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the mobile terminal having the registered content and the mobile terminal that requests the content acquisition are directly accessed by BLUETOOTH or infrared communication.
(7) In a portable terminal that can communicate with each other indirectly via a communication control engine or directly by infrared communication,
A content creation unit in which a user creates content, a content server unit that registers the content created in the content creation unit and makes other mobile terminals accessible, and content in the content server unit from the other mobile terminals And a security control unit that monitors a request for acquisition and causes a user of the mobile terminal to determine whether the content can be acquired.
(8) The security control unit displays access from the other portable terminal on the confirmation screen of the display unit of the portable terminal requested to acquire the content, and allows the user to select whether or not access is possible (7 ) Mobile devices.
(9) The mobile terminal according to (7), wherein the security control unit defines a mobile terminal that enables access to the content based on an access rule registered together with the content in the content server unit.

  According to the content distribution method and the portable terminal of the present invention, the following remarkable effects in practical use can be obtained. First, since the content owner himself / herself monitors the access to the content from another mobile terminal in real time and determines whether or not the access is possible with his / her own intention and responsibility, the unauthorized access can be managed and prevented. Second, since the content owner has a function to monitor the content distribution, the security is high, and private information such as personal photos and e-mail data stored in the terminal is better than the conventional content distribution system. It can be included in content with peace of mind. Third, due to strict access restrictions, it is difficult to become a database target for search engines, and the content distribution range and confidentiality can be maintained. Fourth, since the content server is not located in an external server organization but is provided in a portable terminal held by itself, effects such as vibrations and ringtones on access to other users (mobile terminals) are provided. Can be added, and a content update notification or the like can be made possible.

  Hereinafter, a configuration and operation of a preferred embodiment of a content distribution method and a mobile terminal according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall system configuration diagram of a preferred embodiment of a content distribution system that implements the content distribution method of the present invention. The content distribution system 100 includes a mobile terminal A 101, a mobile terminal B 102, and a communication control engine 103.

  Here, the portable terminal A 101 is a portable terminal having both functions of a content distribution server and a client, and is capable of distributing and receiving content. On the other hand, the mobile terminal B102 is a mobile terminal that has a client function (may also have a server function) and can receive content. The mobile terminal A 101 and the mobile terminal B 102 can communicate with each other between the mobile terminals indirectly via the communication control engine 103 or directly by BLUETOOTH, infrared communication (IRDA), or the like.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main part of a circuit configuration of a mobile phone which is a preferred embodiment of the mobile terminal according to the present invention that can be used in the content distribution system 100 of the present invention. The mobile phone (or mobile terminal) 200 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 201, a communication control unit 202, a ROM (read only memory) 203, a resource control unit 204, a key input control unit 205, a key input unit 206, and display control. A unit 207, a display unit (for example, a liquid crystal display device: LCD) 208, a content creation unit 209, a security control unit 210, a content server unit 211, and a work memory 212. These components are connected to each other via a bus 213.

  The communication control unit 202 provides services such as the Internet, BLUETOOTH, IRDA, and enables communication with other portable terminals. The ROM 203 is a memory for storing various control programs to be executed by the CPU 201, image data, music data, mail data, resources stored in a terminal such as a telephone directory, contents of a homepage to be disclosed, and the like. The resource control unit 204 controls access to resources stored in the ROM 203. Key input from the user can be performed by the key input control unit 205 and the key input unit 206, and screen display can be performed by the display control unit 207 and the display unit (LCD) 208. A friendly user interface is provided by the content creation unit 209, and anyone can easily create content for a home page in the mobile terminal. Then, the content created by the content creation unit 209 is operated as a home page on the content server unit 211. The security control unit 210 controls access to the content server unit 211 from other terminals. The work memory 212 provides a memory that is temporarily used for the operation of each component in the terminal.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows a screen for accessing a mobile terminal as a content server, and a display screen of the display unit 208 of the mobile terminal 200 for confirming whether to permit access from another terminal. An example is shown. FIG. 3A is a specific example of the connection confirmation screen. A message “Do you want to access the following site?” Is displayed together with the telephone number under the heading “Connection confirmation”. Then, the user can select by touching “OK” or “NO” displayed below the user.

  On the other hand, FIGS. 3B and 3C show specific examples of the access confirmation screen of the mobile terminal 200. In FIG. 3B, a message “Do you want to allow access from xxx?” Is displayed on the display unit 208 together with the title “confirmation screen”. Therefore, the user touches and selects either “OK” or “NO” confirmation dialog. When “OK” is selected, the access is permitted, and when “NO” is selected, the access is not permitted (or denied). In FIG. 3C, a message “Do you want to display a confirmation screen for access from xxx next time?” Is displayed under the title of “Confirmation screen”, and the user is “OK” or “NO”. Touch the confirmation dialog to make it selectable. When “OK” is selected, a confirmation screen is displayed for the next access from the terminal, and when “NO” is selected, a confirmation screen is not displayed for the next access.

  Next, the operation of the content distribution apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG. 4 shows the entire processing sequence. On the other hand, FIG. 5 shows a processing sequence of access control.

  First, FIG. 4 shows a series of operations from the mobile terminal B102 as a client to the mobile terminal A101 as a content server in the content distribution apparatus 100 of the present invention until the content of the mobile terminal A101 is acquired through access authentication. The processing operation is shown.

  A user (user) of the mobile terminal A101 uses the content creation unit 209 to create content to be distributed in the mobile terminal (step A1). The created content is registered in a content server existing in the portable terminal A101 (step A2). The telephone number of the portable terminal A101 is inputted from the portable terminal B102, and an access to the portable terminal A101, that is, a connection request is made (step B1). This is the state shown in FIG. At this time, the telephone number of the portable terminal B102 is transmitted to the portable terminal A101.

  Therefore, the mobile terminal A101 notifies the user as a confirmation dialog that the mobile terminal B102 has requested access to the content existing on the mobile terminal A101 (step A3). Next, access control is performed to confirm the presence or absence of access permission from the user (that is, “OK” or “NO”) (step A4). The information of the access source is linked from the contents server unit 211 in the mobile phone 200 or the phone book in the terminal stored in the ROM 203, and is notified in a friendly manner to the user, and a vibrator, ringtone, etc. are added. Also good.

  Next, the result for the user's access permission is transmitted to the portable terminal B102 (step A5). The mobile terminal B102 determines whether the access is OK (step B3). In the case of access permission (or “OK”) (step B3: YES), the user is notified of the result. That is, an authentication OK notification screen is displayed (step B4). And a content acquisition request is transmitted to the portable terminal A101 side. The mobile terminal A101 that has received this content acquisition request determines whether or not the content server is running (step A6). If the content server is not activated (step A6: NO), the content server is activated (step A7). After the content server is activated or when the content server is activated (step A6: YES), the portable terminal A101 distributes the content requested from the portable terminal B102. Finally, the mobile terminal B102 performs content display for displaying the content received from the mobile terminal A101 on the screen of the display unit (step B6). If the access right cannot be obtained in step B3 described above (step B3: NO), the content acquisition has failed, and an access failure screen display is performed (step B5).

  Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the details of the access control process (step A4) in FIG. 4, ie, whether or not access from the mobile terminal B102 is permitted on the server-side mobile terminal A101. explain. First, an inquiry is made as to whether or not to permit the current access (step C1). When access is permitted (step C1: YES), an access permission dialog is displayed again at the next access (valid until the session expires) to confirm whether or not confirmation by the user is required. (Step C2). If Steps C1 and C2 are “NO”, the user confirmation process for access control is terminated.

  Next, FIG. 6 shows a notification processing flowchart to the client when content is updated on the content server (portable terminal A 101) side. Based on the registration data on the content server, an update notification is sent from the mobile terminal A101, which is the content server, to the mobile terminal B102 of the client (step D1). This update notification screen is displayed on the display unit of the portable terminal B102 (step D2). Receiving the update notification, the client portable terminal B102 transmits a content acquisition request to the portable terminal A101 (step D3), and acquires the content. At this time, if the registered data on the content server matches the information of the accessing client, the access control screen is not displayed and the access can be made as it is.

  The content distribution method and the preferred embodiment of the portable terminal according to the present invention have been described above in detail. However, such an example is merely an example of the present invention and does not limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that various modifications and changes can be made in accordance with a specific application without departing from the gist and spirit of the present invention.

  For example, communication between portable terminals may use communication between portable terminals such as BLUETOOTH and IRDA described above without the intervention of a communication control organization provided by a mobile communication organization. As a means for identifying a communication partner, not only a telephone number but also other identification means such as a mail address or IMEI may be used, and a plurality of identification means may be combined for security enhancement. When the created content is registered in the server in the mobile terminal, a function may be provided that allows other than a specific access partner to automatically register an access rule such as shutout together.

  With respect to the access control rule from other portable terminals, it is possible to make a setting so that a specific partner is not checked for access by the server software of the server side terminal in consideration of smooth content reference from the client. In order to improve the interactive and entertainment characteristics of the conventional content distribution system, a distribution service may be provided that gives not only a reference right to a specific user but also a right to edit the content such as writing characters (however, security From the viewpoint, these editing results are once stored in the work memory 212, and the editing COMMIT, that is, storage in the ROM 203 requires user confirmation by the content owner).

1 is a system configuration diagram of a preferred embodiment of a content distribution system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of suitable embodiment of the portable terminal by this invention. A specific example of the screen display of the portable terminal shown in FIG. 2 is shown, in which (A) is a connection confirmation screen, and (B) and (C) are access confirmation screens. It is the whole flowchart explaining the content delivery method by this invention. 5 is a flowchart of access control processing in FIG. 4. It is a flowchart of the content update process in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 Content distribution system 101, 200 Mobile terminal (with content server unit)
102 Mobile terminal (client)
103 Communication control engine 201 CPU
208 Display unit 202 Communication control unit 209 Content creation unit 210 Security control unit 211 Content server unit

Claims (9)

  A step of registering content in a content server unit of a mobile terminal; and a step of acquiring identification information of the mobile terminal that has made the acquisition request when there is an acquisition request for the registered content from another mobile terminal; And a step of causing a user of the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content to determine whether or not the content can be distributed to the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content based on the acquired identification information.   The content distribution method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of displaying a connection confirmation on the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content when there is a content acquisition request from the mobile terminal.   The content distribution according to claim 1, further comprising a step of causing the user of the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content to determine whether or not access confirmation from the next time is possible for the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content. Method.   The content distribution method according to claim 1, 2, or 3, further comprising a step of specifying a mobile terminal that is permitted to access the content registered in the content server unit.   5. The content distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the portable terminal having the registered content and the portable terminal that requests the content acquisition transmit and receive via a communication control organization.   5. The content distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal having the registered content and the mobile terminal that requests the content acquisition are directly accessed by BLUETOOTH or infrared communication. In portable terminals that can communicate with each other directly or indirectly via infrared communication etc. via a communication control engine,
A content creation unit in which a user creates content, a content server unit that registers the content created in the content creation unit and makes other mobile terminals accessible, and content in the content server unit from the other mobile terminals A mobile terminal comprising: a security control unit that monitors an acquisition request of the mobile terminal and causes a user of the mobile terminal to determine whether the content can be acquired.   The security control unit displays an access from the other mobile terminal on a confirmation screen of a display unit of the mobile terminal requested to acquire the content, and allows the user to select whether or not access is possible. Item 8. The mobile terminal according to Item 7.   8. The mobile terminal according to claim 7, wherein the security control unit defines a mobile terminal that can access the content based on an access rule registered with the content in the content server unit.

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