Patent Application
20150212783
This application claims priority of China Patent Application No. 201410044212.X, filed on Jan. 30, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to permission control, and in particular to a method of controlling permission and a touch link electronic device utilizing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Near Field Communication (NFC) is a contactless technology for identification and interconnection. Near Field Communication allows users to exchange the information, access contact and services by using the near electric field magnetic communication (such as the near electric field magnetic communication of 13.56 MHz) between the mobile devices, consumer electronics, PCs or smart electronic devices.
Due to the maturity of the market, the mobile phone with NFC can either support the function of the mobile payment or serve as a point of sale (POS). However, the proximity card reader or other similar elements must be added to the handheld device due to the NFC is operated by sending and receiving magnetic field signalssignal, which will make the size of the handheld device becomes larger, and the layout and the elements of the handheld device might be limited.
A touch link technology of the touch panel device which uses the existing panel and driver IC for communication has been developed recently, and has been described in US 2011/0304583, US 2013/0147760, CN 102916729A. The touch panel device includes a touch sensor. At least a part of the touch sensor includes at least a part of touch panel of the touch panel device. The touch panel can be the touch panel without a display function, such as the touch pad, or with the display function, such as the touch screen. The touch sensor includes the driving electrodes and the sensing electrodes set on the board for forming the capacitor structure. At least one of the driving electrodes and the sensing electrodes is used as the sending electrode, and at least one of the driving electrodes and the sensing electrodes is used as the receiving electrode. Thus, the signal can be sent and received by the existing electrodes and driver IC of the touch panel device so as to achieve the touch link according to the electric field without additional proximity card reader or other similar elements, thus reducing the size and the cost of the touch panel device.
The message reception system 202 includes a touch link request acknowledging unit 221, a communication connection establishing unit 222 and a second communication unit 223. The touch link request acknowledging unit 221 responds an acknowledge signal to the first touch panel device 101 through the sending electrodes after the receiving electrodes receive a touch link request signal sent from the first touch panel device 101. The communication connection establishing unit 222 establishes the communication connection with the first touch panel device 101 after the touch link request touch link request acknowledging unit 221 responses the acknowledge signal to the first touch panel device 101. The second communication unit 223 receives the communication information or the data sent from the first touch panel device 101 through the receiving electrodes after the communication connection is established.
After touch connection is established, the touch link electronic device requires a control mechanism to set various access and control permissions based on different property configurations to ensure data security.
A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
An embodiment of a method is described, the method controlling permission, adopted by a first touch link electronic device, and comprising: establishing, by a touch panel of the first touch link electronic device, a communication channel to a second touch link electronic device; receiving a message from the second touch link electronic device via the communication channel; and determining permission of the second touch link electronic device based on the message, wherein the permission indicates operation permission of the second touch link electronic device on the first touch link electronic device.
Another embodiment of a touch link electronic device is disclosed, comprising a touch panel, a touch link module and a control module. The touch link module is configured to establish a communication channel to a second touch link electronic device, and receive a message from the second touch link electronic device via the communication channel. The control module is configured to determine permission of the second touch link electronic device based on the message, wherein the permission indicates operation permission of the second touch link electronic device on the first touch link electronic device.
An embodiment of a method is described, the method controlling permission, adopted by a touch link electronic device, and comprising: establishing, by a touch panel of the touch link electronic device, a communication channel to a first touch link electronic device; and transmitting a message to the first touch link electronic device via the communication channel.
An embodiment of a touch link electronic device is provided, comprising a touch panel and a touch link module. The touch link module is configured to establish a communication channel to a first touch link electronic device via the touch panel, and transmit a message to the first touch link electronic device via the communication channel.
The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The following description is of the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims.
In particular, in the touch link communication system 5, the touch link electronic device A includes a touch link module 110, a control module 120, a touch panel 160 and a data storage device 140. The data storage device 140 can store a message 142, and may be, for example a subscriber identifier module (SIM) card, flash memory, and others. The touch link electronic device B includes a touch link module 210, control module 220, touch panel 260, data storage device 240 and database 250 (not shown). The control module 220 contains an analysis module 280 and matching module 290. The database 250 may be stored in the data storage device 240. The control modules 120 and 220, including a digital signal processing (DSP), microcontroller (MCU), central-processing unit (CPU) or a plurality of parallel processing units associated with a parallel processing environment, are configured to operate the operating system and applications.
In one embodiment, the touch link module 110 includes a sensing module 130 and connection module 132 (not shown), and similarly, the touch link module 210 includes a sensing module 230 and connection module 232 (not shown), wherein the sensing modules 130 and 230 have identical structure and functions, and the connection modules 132 and 232 have identical structure and functions. Each of the touch link electronic devices A and B can determine whether a device is physically nearby (such as in close proximity or touching) by the sensing modules 130 or 230. For example, the sensing module 230 detects whether a device is physically adjacent from the touch link electronic device A. Upon detecting that a device is physically adjacent, a first communication channel is established by the connection module 132. For instance, the sensing module 130 senses the electromagnetic field interacting between the touch link electronic devices A and B (e.g., determining the presence of the interacting electromagnetic field through a sending electrode and receiving electrode of the touch panel, as indicated in
In one embodiment of the invention, the touch link electronic device A detects that the touch link electronic device B is physically nearby, the connection module 132 of the touch link module 110 and the connection module 232 of the touch link electronic device B establish the first communication channel therebetween, the touch link electronic device A sends the message 142 to the touch link electronic device B via the first communication channel. In one embodiment, the message is a property message 142 of the touch link electronic device A. Specifically, the property message may be a message indicating identifier property such as an International Mobile Equipment Identity number (IMEI), International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), Mobile Station ISDN (MSISDN), device name, email, or contact information.
After receiving the property message 142, the touch link module 210 can save it in the data storage device 240 in the touch link electronic device B. The data storage device 240 may be a SIM card or flash memory. The analysis module 280 analyzes the property message 142 to obtain the property value of the touch link electronic device A. The matching module 290 matches the property message of the touch link electronic device A to the property messages in the database 250 to find a predefined property message matching the property message of the touch link electronic device A. Since they are in the database 250 of the touch link electronic device B, each predefined property message corresponds to a specific permission, thus the permission of touch link electronic device A, which indicates the operation permission of the touch link electronic device A to operate on the touch link electronic device B, can be determined. The operation permission includes access permission and/or control permission. In one example, when the property message is a name, contact, or email, the matching module 290 can search the access or control permission from a phonebook (i.e., the database 250) for a matched name, contact, or email, to determine the access or control permission of the touch link electronic device A. For example, when the property message of the touch link electronic device A is not in the phonebook of the touch link electronic device B, the matching module 290 can further identify the touch link electronic device A as a “Stranger”, since “Stranger” corresponds to the most limited permission (e.g., no access or control operation is allowed), the control module 220 of the touch link electronic device B does not allow the touch link electronic device A to perform any operation. In another example, when the property message of the touch link electronic device A matches a “Usual Contact” list in the phonebook of the touch link electronic device B, since the “Usual Contact” corresponds to limited permission, the control module 220 can permit limited function, such as making a call or sending a short message, and so on, to the touch link electronic device A. In yet another example, when the property message of the touch link electronic device A matches a “Friends” list in the phonebook of the touch link electronic device B, since the “Friends” corresponds to a higher permission, the control module 220 can permit more functions, such as making a call or sending a short message, and sharing the data in the touch link electronic device B, to the touch link electronic device A.
In some embodiments, after the matching module 290 of the touch link electronic device B determines the permission of the touch link electronic device A, the touch link electronic device B can transmit a response message to the touch link electronic device A via the first communication channel to indicate the function or a set of functions that are available to the touch link electronic device A. The touch link electronic device A receives the response message via the first communication channel, and selects or issues an instruction to the touch link electronic device B, where the instruction indicates at least one operation is to be performed. In other embodiments, the touch link electronic device B does not respond with the function or any set of functions that are available to the touch link electronic device A. In this situation, after the touch link electronic device A sends an instruction for executing a function to the touch link electronic device B, the touch link electronic device B can determine whether it will follow the instructions sent from the touch link electronic device A according to the control permission of the touch link electronic device A, where the instruction indicates at least one operation is to be performed. When the operation matches the permission, this situation indicates that performing the operation is allowed, and the touch link electronic device will perform the instruction.
Although the embodiment in
Although the touch link communication system 5 includes the touch link electronic devices A and B, but it is not limited to two touch link electronic devices. In practice, the touch link communication system may include more than two touch link electronic devices. In a variation of the embodiment, the touch link communication system 5 may further include a touch link electronic device C, where the touch link electronic device C has a structure that is identical to that of the touch link electronic device A. People skilled in the art can recognize that the touch link communication system 5 also supports the touch link electronic device C sending a property message to the touch link electronic device B, and in response, the touch link electronic device B can determine the control permission of the touch link electronic device C by matching the property message to its database. That is, the touch link electronic device B may establish touch connections with multiple touch link electronic devices, receive messages, and set the access and control permission for the multiple touch link electronic devices.
The permission control method 6 is initialized when the touch link electronic devices A and B are in touch in close proximity (S600). Firstly, the first communication channel between the touch link electronic devices A and B is established (S602). Upon establishing the first communication channel, the touch link electronic device A can send the property message to the touch link electronic device B (S604). The property message may be an IMEI, IMSI, MSISDN, device name, email, contact information, or information which identifies the device. Because the distance between the touch link electronic devices A and B is short, almost equaling the touch distance, the security of the property message transmitted via the first communication channel is ensured.
Correspondingly, the touch link electronic device B receives the property message from the touch link electronic device A via the first communication channel (S606). After receiving the property message, the touch link electronic device B analyzes the property message to obtain the property information of the touch link electronic device A (S608), and subsequently, the touch link electronic device B searches for a property message in the database 250, which matches the property massage, thereby determining the control permission of the touch link electronic device A (S610). The database may contain a lookup table, database, or file including an IMEI, IMSI, MSISDN, device name, email, contact information, and matched property. The touch link electronic device B may configure the control permission corresponding to the property message in the database 250 in advance.
Next, the touch link electronic device B makes the access and control functions available to the touch link electronic device A, where the access and control functions correspond to the determined permission of the touch link electronic device A (S612). The permission control method 6 is then completed and exited (S614). In one embodiment, when the touch link electronic device B is a smartphone, the corresponding access control functions may be making a phone call or sending a short message. When the touch link electronic device B is a television, the corresponding access control functions may be changing the volume or channel.
The permission control method 6 controls the touch link electronic device A to transmit the property message to the touch link electronic device B, so that the touch link electronic device B can match the property message to the database and determine the control permission of the touch link electronic device A.
The permission control method 7 is initiated after the touch link electronic device B receives the property message from the touch link electronic device A (S700). Firstly, the analysis module of the touch link electronic device B can analyze the property message to obtain the property information (S702), and then the matching module 290 of the touch link electronic device B can search for the predefined property messages in the database 250 which matches the property message to determine the control permission of the touch link electronic device A (S704). For instance, the touch link electronic device B may configure the predefined property values configured as control permissions 1, 2, and 3.
The touch link electronic device B can determine the function that is available to the touch link electronic device A according to the determined control permission. The touch link electronic device B can determine the class of determined control permission, and make the corresponding functions available to the touch link electronic device A according to the class of determined control permission. Initially, the touch link electronic device B can determine whether the control permission belongs to the control permission class 1 (S706). If so, making a set of access and control functions 1 available to the touch link electronic device A (S708), i.e., the touch link electronic device A may issue an instruction to use any function in the set of access and control functions 1, and subsequently, the touch link electronic device B may accept the instruction to perform the function in the set of access and control functions 1.
If the touch link electronic device B determines that the control permission does not belong to the control permission class 1, then it can continue determining whether the control permission belongs to the control permission class 2 (S710). If so, making a set of access and control functions 2 available to the touch link electronic device A (S712), i.e., the touch link electronic device A may issue an instruction to use any function in the set of access and control functions 2, and subsequently, the touch link electronic device B may accept the instruction to perform the function in the set of access and control functions 2.
If the touch link electronic device B determines that the control permission does not belong to the control permission class 2, then it can continue determining whether the control permission belong to the control permission class 3 (S714). If so, making a set of access and control functions 3 available to the touch link electronic device A (S716), i.e., the touch link electronic device A may issue an instruction to use any function in the set of access and control functions 3, and subsequently, the touch link electronic device B may accept the instruction to perform the function in the set of access and control functions 3.
If the touch link electronic device B determines that the control permission does not belong to the control permission class 3, since the touch link electronic device B does not configure the other class, it can only make a set of the most limited access and control functions available to the touch link electronic device A (S718). For example, the set with the most limited access and control functions may be for the touch link electronic device A to be forbidden from using any function on the touch link electronic device B.
The permission control method 7 is then completed (S720). People skilled in the art may recognize that the touch link electronic device B can determine more classes of determined control permission, such as five classes, and make the corresponding functions available to the touch link electronic device A according to the five classes of determined control permission, respectively.
The permission control method 8 is initiated after the touch link electronic devices A and B are in touch in close proximity (S800). Firstly, the touch link electronic devices A and B adopt the touch link process to establish the first communication channel (S802). Next, the touch link electronic device B can receive the property message from the touch link electronic device A via the first communication channel (S804).
The matching module 290 of the touch link electronic device B can determine the control permission of the touch link electronic device A according to the property message (S806). In particular, the touch link electronic device B stores the user configured database 250, the matching module 290 can search for an item in the database 250 matched to the property message. If there is an item matched to the property message in the database 250, then a corresponding permission class will be set based on the matched item, and consequently, the control permission of the touch link electronic device A will be determined according to the corresponding permission class. If the matching module 290 finds no item in the database 250 matched to the property message, then the most limited control permission will be assigned to the touch link electronic device A.
After the control permission is determined, the touch link electronic device B can make the corresponding set of access and control functions available to the touch link electronic device A according to the determined control permission (S808).
As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and so on.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array signal (FPGA) or another programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, micro controller or state machine.
The operations and functions of the various logical blocks, modules, and circuits described herein may be implemented in circuit hardware or embedded software codes that can be accessed and executed by a processor.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201410044212.X | Jan 2014 | CN | national |
