The present invention relates to a method for lending out an electronic key of enabling communication terminals to lend mutually an electronic key produced by software such as program, data, or the like, and a communication terminal equipped with a function of lending the electronic key.
In recent years the electronic locks utilizing the above electronic key are taking the place of physical locks. Mainly the electronic key is stored in the communication terminal such as the cellular phone, or the like, the IC card, and others and used. In many cases the electronic key (key information) is stored in the memory medium such as the IC card, or the like before such memory medium is issued, and such memory medium is used in the access management system, for example. Also, the electronic key can be distributed to the communication terminal such as the cellular phone, or the like. It has been proposed that the electronic key can be distributed from the system or the server that manages the electronic keys (see Patent Literature 1, for example). Also, it has been proposed that the system or the server does not manage the electronic keys and the communication terminals directly lend out the electronic key mutually (see Patent Literature 2, for example).
However, there is a problem that a complicated system is needed to implement the electronic key set forth in Patent Literature 1. Also, the concrete implementing method is not fully discussed in Patent Literature 2. In addition, there is a problem that the electronic keys set forth in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 cannot ensure the high security.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of lending out an electronic key capable of ensuring the high security by a relatively easy method, and a communication terminal applicable to the electronic key lending method.
In order to solve the above problem, a method of lending out an electronic key which unlocks or locks an electronic lock from a first communication terminal, according to an embodiment of the present invention, including:
an electronic key transmitting step of transmitting the electronic key from the first communication terminal to a second communication terminal while an IMS session is established between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal.
According to this method, the electronic key is transmitted from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal through the IMS while the IMS session is established between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal. Therefore, the high security in using the electronic key can be ensured by a relatively easy method.
Also, preferably, the electronic key transmitting step is executed while the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal hold communication. In this case, since the first communication terminal is communicating with the second communication terminal, the first communication terminal can transmit the electronic key to the second communication terminal while checking a situation of the opposing terminal (the second communication terminal). Therefore, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured. In particular, if the electronic key transmitting step is performed through the phone conversation or the TV phone that the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal hold, the first communication terminal can check easily a user's authenticity of the opposing terminal (the second communication terminal). As a result, this mode is very preferable.
Also, the electronic key may be transmitted selectively from the first terminal to the second terminal in the electronic key transmitting step when the first communication terminal receives a first signal. In this case, the unnecessary lending of the electronic key can be suppressed and the lending of the electronic key can be carried out effectively.
Also, the electronic key lending method may further include an electronic key enabling step of opening or shutting the electronic lock selectively by the electronic key when the electronic lock receives a second signal after the electronic key transmitting step. In this case, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
Also, the electronic key lending method may further include an electronic key disabling step of disabling the electronic key when the second communication terminal receives a third signal after the electronic key transmitting step. In this case, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
In order to solve the above problem, a communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an IMS session establishing section for establishing an IMS session between an own communication terminal and other communication terminal; and an electronic key transmitting section which transmits an electronic key to the other communication terminal to open or shut an electronic lock while the IMS session is established.
According to this communication terminal, the electronic key is transmitted from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal through the IMS while the IMS session is established between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal. Therefore, the high security in using the electronic key can be ensured by a relatively easy method.
Also, preferably, the electronic key transmitting section transmits the electronic key while the own communication terminal is communicating with other communication terminal. In this case, since the own communication terminal is communicating with the other communication terminal, the own communication terminal can transmit the electronic key to the other communication terminal while checking a situation of the opposing terminal. Therefore, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
Also, the electronic key transmitting section may transmit the electronic key selectively when the own communication terminal receives a predetermined signal from other communication terminal. In this case, the unnecessary lending of the electronic key can be suppressed and the lending of the electronic key can be carried out effectively.
Also, the communication terminal may further include an electronic key enabling signal transmitting section which transmits an electronic key enabling signal to open or shut the electronic lock by the electronic key. In this case, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
Also, the communication terminal may further include an electronic key disabling signal transmitting section which transmits an electronic key disabling signal to disable the electronic key. In this case, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
In order to solve the above problem, a communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an IMS session establishing section which establishes an IMS session between an own communication terminal and other communication terminal; and an electronic key receiving section which receives an electronic key to the other communication terminal to open or shut an electronic lock while the IMS session is established.
According to this communication terminal, the electronic key is transmitted from the own communication terminal to the other communication terminal through the IMS while the IMS session is established between the own communication terminal and the other communication terminal. Therefore, the high security in using the electronic key can be ensured by a relatively easy method.
Also, preferably, the electronic key receiving section receives the electronic key while the own communication terminal is communicating with other communication terminal. In this case, since the own communication terminal is communicating with the other communication terminal, the own communication terminal can transmit the electronic key to the other communication terminal while checking a situation of the opposing terminal. Therefore, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
Also, the communication terminal may further include an electronic key request signal transmitting section which transmits a signal indicating an electronic key lending request to the other communication terminal. In this case, the unnecessary lending of the electronic key can be suppressed and the lending of the electronic key can be carried out effectively.
Also, the communication terminal may further include an electronic key enabling signal receiving section which receives an electronic key enabling signal to open or shut the electronic lock by the electronic key. In this case, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
Also, the communication terminal may further include an electronic key disabling signal receiving section which receives an electronic key disabling signal to disable the electronic key. In this case, the higher security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
The electronic key lending method and the communication terminal of the present invention employ the IMS, and therefore can ensure the high security in using the electronic key by the relatively easy method.
An electronic key lending method of the present invention provides an electronic key lending method of lending an electronic key that unlocks or locks an electronic lock from a first communication terminal. The electronic key lending method of the present invention has an electronic key transmitting step of transmitting the electronic key from the first communication terminal to a second communication terminal while an IMS session is established between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal.
The electronic key lending method of the present invention utilizes an IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) whose standardization is proceeding in 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project: standardization project of the third generation mobile telecommunications system). In the IMS, various exchanges of data between TV phones or communication terminals as well as the IP phone conversation can be carried out through SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) as the protocol used in the Internet phone, or the like. This SIP is the third noticeable protocol of the Internet following SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) that IETF (Internet Engineer Task Force) serving as the standardization group of the Internet makes progress in their standardization.
In case the electronic key is lent by using the phone conversation or the TV phone in the prior art, such a problem existed that such electronic key lending cannot be easily realized because a new communication protocol or a new communication system must be built up. In contrast, the electronic key lending method of the present invention does not demand a particular change on the network side because the IMS is utilized in such method. Thus, the electronic key lending method can be implemented by a relatively easy method. Also, the electronic key can be transmitted through the IMS session that is established to have the conversation between the communication terminals. Therefore, it is not needed that the communication system should be set up separately to transmit the electronic key.
Also, because the user can utilize the user authentication of IMS, the lending the electronic key can be carried out with ensuring the high security. The user authentication of IMS is explained in Gonzalo Camarillo, Miguel A. Garc'ia Mart'in: “Detailed Introduction Network IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) Standard Text NGN Core Technology”, First Version, Ric Telecom Inc., Jul. 16, 2006, p. 48-56, for example.
In the electronic key lending method of embodiments of the present invention, preferably, the electronic key transmitting step should be executed while the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal are holding communication (through the phone conversation or on the TV phone). If the first communication terminal lends the second communication terminal the electronic key while the first communication terminal is communicating with the second communication terminal (through the phone conversation or the TV phone), the user of the first communication terminal can talk with the user of the second communication terminal to check a situation of the user of the second communication terminal and then can lend the electronic key. Therefore, the electronic key can be lent out in higher security.
Here, the session is the logical connection in communication being carried out between the communicable systems, and the IMS session is the session using the IMS. The communicable systems contain the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal, for example. The establishing of the session means that the session is established and is in a connectable state. In contrast, the opening of the session means that the session is cut and is in a non-connectable state.
The electronic key and the electronic lock are used in pairs. If the electronic key is used in the predetermined method, the electronic lock can be unlocked and/or locked.
Next, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings hereinafter.
As shown in
The controlling portion 19 gives a control signal to the sound/video talk processing portion 13, the electronic key transmitting portion 21, and the disable command transmitting portion 22 in response to the key signal acquired from the key operating portion 18. For example, when the phone conversation is executed, the controlling portion 19 inputs a control signal into the electronic key transmitting portion 21, and the sound/video talk processing portion 13 to hold the phone conversation. Also, when the electronic key (key information) is transmitted, the controlling portion 19 inputs a control signal into the electronic key transmitting portion 21 to transmit the electronic key. Also, when a disable command to disable the already-transmitted electronic key is transmitted, the controlling portion 19 inputs a control signal into the disable command transmitting portion 22 for that purpose. The electronic key is transmitted to other communication terminal to lock/unlock an electronic lock 8 used as pairs of the electronic key. The electronic key is stored in the electronic key storing portion 23.
Following a start of the phone conversation or the multimedia phone (e.g., the TV phone), the session establishing portion 20 executes a predetermined sequence to establish the IMS session between the own communication terminal and other communication terminal as the opposing terminal. The electronic key transmitting portion 21 transmits the electronic key when the control signal is input from the controlling portion 19 to transmit the electronic key during the talking state (the phone conversation or the multimedia phone) after the session establishing portion 20 establishes the IMS session. In this case, the electronic key transmitting portion 21 reads the to-be-transmitted electronic key from the electronic key storing portion 23, and inputs it into the transmitting/receiving portion 12 to transmit its via the antenna 11. The disable command transmitting portion 22 transmits the disable command when the control signal to transmit the disable command is input from the controlling portion 19. The disable command is a command to disable the already-transmitted electronic key, and is transmitted toward a communication terminal 10-2 that receives the electronic key. In this case, the disable command can be composed of various signals known publicly to those skilled in the art.
As shown in
The electronic key that is usable in the present embodiment is not limited to the above key, and various publicly known electronic keys can be used. Details of the electronic key have already been explained in JP-A-2003-343133 and JP-A-2006-79402, for example.
When the user brings the electronic key 7 close to the electronic lock 8, for example, the electronic key 7 can open and/or close the electronic lock 8. In this case, various configurations known publicly to those skilled in the art can be applied as the electronic key 7 and the electronic lock 8. Also, various methods known publicly to those skilled in the art can be applied to the method of unlocking the electronic lock 8 by the electronic key 7 and the method of locking the electronic lock 8 by the electronic key 7. The communication terminal 10-2 disables the already-received electronic key 7 in response to the reception of the disable command transmitted from the communication terminal 10-1 as a trigger.
Here, the electronic key lending method of the present embodiment is not limited to that shown in
In the sequence for establishing the IMS session shown in
As shown in
Then, the user A operates the communication terminal 10-1 at a timing at which the lending of the electronic key 7 should be terminated, while talking with the user B, and terminates the key lending. That is, the communication terminal 10-1 transmits a signal for disabling the electronic key 7 (an electronic key disabling signal) to the communication terminal 10-2. Concretely, the communication terminal 10-1 attaches a predetermined message to a Header portion or a Body portion of the SIP UPDATE request, and then sends it to the communication terminal 10-2, for example.
The communication terminal 10-2, when receives the UPDATE request, erases the electronic key 7 in the communication terminal 10-2. Then, the communication terminal 10-2 notifies the communication terminal 10-1 that the reception succeeded (transmits the 200 OK response), and notifies the user B of the key termination. Accordingly, the communication terminal 10-2 cannot use the electronic key 7.
In this way, the key lending between the user A and the user B can be implemented in real time. Here, an example of the user's operation in the case shown in
The user A and the user B set up the IMS session by using the communication terminals 10-1, 10-2, and talks through the TV phone respectively.
When the user A starts to lend the user B the key during the TV phone, the user A selects “key lending start” from a menu displayed on a display of the communication terminal 10-1 (FIG. 1:(1)).
The communication terminal 10-2 informs the user B that the user A allows the key lending, by the display, the sound, or the like (FIG. 1:(2)). The user B opens the electronic lock 8 of the home delivery box by bringing the electronic key storing portion 23 of the communication terminal 10-2, which has received the electronic key 7, close to the electronic locks 8.
The user A checks that the user B has finished to use the electronic key 7, through the TV phone, or the like. Concretely, for example, when the user B finishes the placement of the delivery parcel in the home delivery box, the electronic lock 8 of the home delivery box is automatically locked.
The user A selects “key lending terminate” from a menu displayed on the display of the communication terminal 10-1 (FIG. 5:(3)).
The communication terminal 10-2 informs the user B that the user A terminates the key lending by the display, the sound, or the like (FIG. 5:(4)). Since the electronic key 7 in the communication terminal 10-2 has already disabled at a this point of time, the user B cannot no longer lock the electronic lock 8 by using the communication terminal 10-2.
As described above, according to the electronic key lending method of the present embodiment, the owner of the electronic key can lend the electronic key while communicating with the opposing terminal to which the electronic key is lent. Therefore, the high security in using the electronic key can be secured. Also, the operation becomes more simply for the user than the method in which the term of validity of the electronic key is set in advance before the key lending. Also, since the lent electronic key can be disables adequately according to the situation, the high security can be ensured. For example, in the situation that the delivery parcel, or the like is delivered when the user is away home, the user can lend temporarily the person of the delivery agent the electronic key of the home delivery box while talking through the TV phone to cause the person to store the parcel in the home delivery box, and can check the circumstances.
Also, no particular change is not needed on the network side because the IMS is utilized as the implementing unit. Also, the high security can be ensured because the existing user authentication of the IMS can be utilized. Also, there is no need to set up the communication for lending the key separately because the electronic key can be lend through the IMS session that has been set up to talk.
As shown in
Then, the user A operates the communication terminal 50-1 at a timing at which the lending of the electronic key 7 should be terminated, while talking with the user B, and terminate the key lending. That is, the communication terminal 50-1 transmits a signal for disabling the electronic key 7 (an electronic key disabling signal) to the communication terminal 50-2. Concretely, the communication terminal 50-1 attaches a predetermined message indicating that the electronic key 7 has been disabled, to a Header portion or a Body portion of the SIP UPDATE request, and then sends it to the communication terminal 50-2, for example. The communication terminal 50-2, when receives the UPDATE request, erases the electronic key 7 in the communication terminal 50-2. Then, the communication terminal 50-2 notifies the communication terminal 50-1 that the reception succeeded (transmits the 200 OK response), and notifies the user B of the key termination. Accordingly, the communication terminal 50-2 cannot use the electronic key 7.
In this manner, according to the communication terminal 50-1 of the present embodiment, the electronic key 7 is not transmitted until the petition for key lending is sent from the opposing terminal (the communication terminal 50-2) that lends the electronic key 7. Therefore, the unnecessary lending of the electronic key can be suppressed and the lending of the electronic key can be carried out effectively. The high security in using the electronic key can be secured. In the present embodiment, the electronic key 7 can also be of course disabled arbitrarily after the lending of the electronic key was done.
As shown in
In this manner, according to the communication terminal 60-1 of the present embodiment, the communication terminal 60-2 that lent out the electronic key 7 can check the return of the electronic key 7 for itself, and the electronic key 7 is erased in the communication terminal 60-2 from which the electronic key 7 is lent. Therefore, the high security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
As shown in
In this manner, according to the communication terminal 70-1 of the present embodiment, this communication terminal 70-1 can check the fact that the electronic key 7 cannot be used in the communication terminal 70-2, to which the communication terminal 70-1 has lent the electronic key 7, at a point of time when the IMS session is cut. Therefore, the high security in using the electronic key can be ensured.
An embodiment 5 has a feature in an aspect that the onetime password is used in addition to the electronic key to open the electronic lock. Here, the “onetime password” is a password that can be used only once, and is disabled after it is used once.
As shown in
The onetime password request is made from the electronic lock 8 when the user brings the communication terminal 80-2 to which the electronic key 7 is lent to the electronic lock 8. The communication terminal 80-2 to which the electronic key 7 is lent receives this onetime password request at the electronic key storing portion 23, and then this onetime password request is transmitted from the onetime password request transmitting portion 81-2 to the communication terminal 80-1. The onetime password is generated in the communication terminal 80-1 and then the electronic key 7 is transmitted to the communication terminal 80-2. Then, the onetime password receiving portion 82-2 of the communication terminal 80-2 to which the electronic key 7 is lent receives the onetime password, and the controlling portion 19 notifies the electronic key storing portion 23 of the onetime password. The electronic key storing portion 23 can open the electronic lock 8 by using the acquired onetime password. Since the procedures from the request of the onetime password made by the electronic lock 8 to the reception of the onetime password by the communication terminal 80-2 is completed in a short time, the user B can unlock the electronic lock 8 without knowing that the process regarding the onetime password occurs. In the present embodiment, even when the electronic key is not erased on the communication terminal side to which the electronic key 7 was lent, the high security in using the electronic key can be ensured because of the employment of the onetime password.
The onetime password is generated in the communication terminal 80-1 in response to the onetime password request issued from the electronic lock 8 every time when the user B (the communication terminal 80-2) tries to open the electronic lock 8. In a situation that the electronic key information in the communication terminal 80-2 is not disabled for some reason after the communication terminal 80-1 notifies the communication terminal 80-2 that the lending of the electronic key has been terminated, the onetime password is not generated even though the user B tries again to open the electronic lock 8. Therefore, the user B cannot open the electronic lock 8 by the communication terminal 80-2.
In this case, as the protocol used upon receiving the onetime password, MSRP (Message Session Relay Protocol) whose specifications are being defined in RTP (Real time Transport Protocol), RTCP (RTP Control Protocol), RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol), and IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) used in the phone conversation can be used in addition to the SIP. As a mechanism of the onetime password that is transmitted/received between the electronic lock 8 and the communication terminal 80-1, the method whose mechanism used to generate the password cannot be analyzed in the communication terminal 80-2, for example, Digest authentication, or the like may be employed.
In this manner, according to the communication terminal 80-1 of the present embodiment, the user cannot open the electronic lock 8 unless such user use the onetime password as well as the electronic key 7. Therefore, even when the key information could not appropriately deleted due to ill will or any trouble from the communication terminal 80-2 to which the electronic key was lent, abuse and misuse of the electronic key can be prevented. As a result, the high security in using the electronic key can be ensured in using the electronic key between the communication terminals.
The present invention is explained in detail with reference to the particular embodiments. But it is apparent for those skilled in the art that various variations and modifications can be applied without departing from a spirit and a scope of the present invention.
The present invention can be applied widely to various communication terminals to which the IMS can be applied.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2006/325422 | 12/20/2006 | WO | 00 | 2/12/2009 |