Abstract:
A mobile radio terminal comprises a key which has a fingerprint detecting function and operates to input an instruction in correspondence with a pushing position, a memory for registering a fingerprint detected by the key, a fingerprint collating portion for collating the fingerprint registered in the memory with a fingerprint which is newly detected by the key, and a CPU and branch portion for switching to allow the input of the instruction from the key only when it is judged through the fingerprint collation that the fingerprint newly detected is coincident with any one of the fingerprints registered in the memory.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a mobile radio terminal and a network commerce system using the mobile radio terminal and particularly, to a mobile radio terminal having a fingerprint sensor and a network commerce system using the mobile radio terminal.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Various kinds of functions have been rapidly provided to a mobile radio terminal such as a cellular phone or the like, and it is expected that goods will be purchased or a payment for the goods thus purchased will be made through electric commerce (electronic business transactions) using a cellular phone or the like. Therefore, each mobile radio terminal is required to have a function of specifying a purchaser of goods or the like so that goods can be prevented from being purchased in business transactions with a mischievous prank or by using a stolen cellular phone or the like, or a function of authenticating a person who makes a payment by using a cellular phone.  
           [0005]    A cellular phone is generally provided with a function of invalidating input of numerical keys or the like (hereinafter referred to as “key lock”), and the key lock is set/released by inputting a password which is registered in advance.  
           [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a fingerprint authenticating device described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-165378 (JP 2000-165378 A).  
           [0007]    The fingerprint authenticating device shown in FIG. 1 is mounted in a mobile radio terminal, and fingerprint reading portion  101  is provided to power source switch  100  of the mobile radio terminal. When the power source switch  100  is pressed, fingerprint authentication is carried out in fingerprint authentication portion  120 . If the fingerprint of a user is coincident with a fingerprint registered in fingerprint registering portion  110 , the mobile radio terminal is operated by operation controller  160 . Further, on the basis of the authentication result output from the fingerprint authentication portion  120 , user identification is carried out on user identifying portion  180 .  
           [0008]    The fingerprint authenticating device is further provided with a voiceprint authenticating function. In a voiceprint authenticating portion  150 , a voiceprint of a voice input through microphone  130  is collated with a voiceprint registered in voiceprint registering portion  140 , and if the voiceprint in the voiceprint registering portion  140  is coincident with the voiceprint from microphone  130 , the mobile radio terminal is allowed to make a telephone call. When a fixed predetermined time elapses from the start of the telephone call, the power source of the mobile radio terminal is turned out by timer portion  170 . Accordingly, even when the mobile radio terminal is lost or stolen while it is under operation, unauthorized use of the mobile radio terminal can be prevented.  
           [0009]    According to this device, by only a simple operation such as an operation of pushing the power source switch  100 , the fingerprint can be authenticated and the security of the mobile radio terminal can be enhanced. Further, if a multi-stage key is used as a telephone call key, the fingerprint authentication and occurrence of a random number could be carried out by half-pushing while the telephone call is allowed by full-pushing.  
           [0010]    In the above prior art, the fingerprint reading portion (hereinafter referred to as “fingerprint sensor”) of the power source switch is provided, however, when the power source switch is designed in a compact size in connection with miniaturization of the mobile radio terminal, there occurs a case where sufficient fingerprint authentication cannot be performed. Specifically, it is required to set the size of the fingerprint sensor so that a finger is substantially perfectly put on the fingerprint sensor to detect the fingerprint precisely, and in order to satisfy this requirement, the size of the fingerprint sensor is estimated to be equal to at least about 15 mm square (millimeters square).  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable precise authentication of a fingerprint even when keys mounted in a mobile radio terminal such as a cellular phone or the like are designed in compact size in connection with miniaturization of the mobile radio terminal.  
           [0012]    In order to attain the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile radio terminal comprising a key which has a fingerprint detecting function and operates to input an instruction in correspondence with a push position, a memory for registering a fingerprint detected by the key, a fingerprint collating portion for collating the fingerprint registered in the memory with a fingerprint which is newly detected by the key, and a switching portion for switching to allow the input of the instruction from the key only when it is judged through the fingerprint collation that the fingerprint newly detected is coincident with the fingerprint registered in the memory.  
           [0013]    In order to attain the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network commerce system comprising the above mobile radio terminal, a supply terminal which is handled by a supplier for supplying goods or services to a user of the mobile radio terminal, and a network for connecting the supply terminal and the mobile radio terminal therethrough, wherein the supply terminal comprises registering means for registering a fingerprint of the user, request means for requesting the mobile radio terminal to transmit a fingerprint as a reply through the network, reception means for receiving the fingerprint transmitted from the mobile radio terminal through the network in response to the request of the request means, and collating means for collating the fingerprint received by the reception means with the fingerprint registered in the registering means, the goods or services being supplied on the basis of the collation result of the collating means. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional fingerprint authenticating device;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the outlook of a cellular phone according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal construction of FIG. 2;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of areas  21  to  23  of FIG. 3;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a fingerprint recognized by a fingerprint sensor when a finger is put at the center of the area  22  of FIG. 4;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing a fingerprint recognized by the fingerprint sensor when a finger is put at the center of the area  21  or  23  of FIG. 4; and  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the fingerprint sensor of the cellular phone of FIG. 2. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]    Preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
       Description of Construction  
       [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the outlook of a cellular phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0024]    The cellular phone shown in FIG. 2 has antenna  1  for receiving/transmitting electric waves from/to a base station, key  2  having a fingerprint sensor function (a fingerprint detecting function) and operating to input an instruction for originating a call and disconnecting the call, numerical keys  3  for inputting a telephone number and scrolling the display content on display portion  6 , microphone  4  for collecting voices of a user particularly during a telephone call, speaker  5  for outputting voices of a telephone partner particularly during a telephone call, and display portion  6  for displaying data and hour, telephone number, instructions for electronic commerce, or the like. The key  2  will be referred as fingerprint sensor  2  when it is used as the fingerprint sensor.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the internal construction of a fingerprint authenticating device equipped in the cellular phone shown in FIG. 2.  
         [0026]    As shown in FIG. 3, the fingerprint authenticating device has fingerprint sensor  2  having areas  21  to  23  each of which has plural cells arranged two-dimensionally, branch portion  25  for outputting the output from the fingerprint sensor  2  to fingerprint collating portion  27  or operating portions  28  to  30  on the basis of the setting of CPU  24 , memory  26  for registering the fingerprint of a user of the cellular phone or the like in advance, the fingerprint collating portion  27  for collating a signal (fingerprint) output from the fingerprint sensor  2  with the fingerprint registered in the memory  26 , the operating portions  28  to  30  for calculating the sum of cell signals output from the respective cells arranged in each of the areas  21  to  23 , comparator portion  31  for comparing the outputs of the operating portions  28  to  30 , key control portions  32  to  34  which are provided in correspondence to the areas  21  to  23  respectively and output on the basis of the comparison result of the comparator portion  31  a signal indicating that the areas  21  to  23  are pushed, and the CPU  24  for generating various control signals on the basis of the outputs of the key control portions  32  to  34  or the output of the fingerprint collating portion  27 .  
         [0027]    The cells correspond to minute sensor pixels which are arranged at a pitch of 50 to 100 μm. A switching portion is constructed by the CPU  24  and the branch portion  25 , and a detector is constructed by the operating portions  28  to  30  and the comparator portion  31 .  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing the areas  21  to  23  of FIG. 3, and it shows the two-dimensional arrangement of the cells  43 . The respective areas  21  to  23  may be comparted by physically drawing a line therebetween, or they may not be comparted, however, when they are used as the fingerprint sensor  2 , the fingerprint collation is carried out by using signals output from all the areas  21  to  23 .  
         [0029]    When each of the areas  21  to  23  is used as the key  2  for inputting an instruction for originating a call and disconnecting the call, the input instruction is identified on the basis of the cell signal output from the cells  43  arranged in each of the areas  21  to  23 .  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4, and shows a state that a user puts his/her finger  42  on the fingerprint sensor  2 . The finger  42  has ridge portions  40  at which the fingerprint is upheaved, and valley (recess) portions  41  at which the fingerprint is not upheaved. When the user puts the finger  42  on the fingerprint sensor  2 , each cell  43  detects uneven portions of the fingerprint according to a so-called electrostatic capacity method or the like.  
         [0031]    That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the distance to each cell  43  and the area are different between each ridge portion  40  and each valley portion  41 , and thus the electrostatic capacity is different between them. Therefore, the uneven portions of the fingerprint is detected on the basis of the difference in electrostatic capacity. A pressure type, an optical type or other types may be used as the fingerprint sensor  2 .  
         [0032]    According to the pressure type fingerprint sensor, a piezo-electric material or the like is covered on the surface of a board, and when the finger  42  is put on the fingerprint sensor  2 , only the ridge portions  40  are brought into contact with the piezoelectric material or the like, so that the fingerprint can be detected on the basis of resistance variation below the piezoelectric material portion which is brought into contact with the ridge portions  40 . Further, according to the optical type fingerprint sensor, a light emitting element is provided to a board, and when a user puts his/her finger on the fingerprint sensor  2 , light is irradiated from the light emitting element to the finger and the fingerprint is detected on the basis of the reflection angle of light which corresponds to an uneven portion of the fingerprint.  
       Description of Operation  
       [0033]    Next, the operation of the cellular phone according to the embodiment will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that the respective areas  21  to  23  are provided with a function serving as “call key” pushed when a telephone call is started, a function serving as “off key” pushed when a telephone call is finished, and a function serving as “function key” pushed when the key lock is set and released, respectively. Further, the cellular phone is equipped with a menu for enabling “registration of fingerprint”, “putting finger on fingerprint sensor”, “electronic commerce”, etc., and for example, the numerical keys are set so that the numerical keys “4”, “6”, “2”, “8” are used to scroll the display content leftwardly/rightwardly and upwardly/downwardly, respectively.  
         [0034]    First, when the user of the cellular phone shown in FIG. 2 pushes, for example, the area  23  under the state that the power source of the cellular phone is turned on, various menus are displayed on the display portion  6 . Subsequently, when a desired key is selected from various menus displayed on the display portion  6  and pushed to select and determine a menu indicating “registration of fingerprint”, the CPU  24  sets the display portion  6  to display a message “please put your finger on fingerprint sensor”.  
         [0035]    When the user puts his/her finger on the fingerprint sensor  2  in response to the instruction, the respective cells arranged in the areas  21  to  23  output corresponding signals. The signals output from the respective areas  21  to  23  are input to the branch portion  25  and then output to the fingerprint collating portion  27 . In other words, when the fingerprint is registered, the CPU  24  sets the branch portion  25  so that the input signal to the branch portion  25  is output to the fingerprint collating portion  27 .  
         [0036]    Subsequently, the fingerprint collating portion  27  passes the signals output from the branch portion  25  therethrough to the memory  26  to register the signals into the memory  26 . For example, when the finger of the user is brought into contact with only the areas  21  and  22  as shown in FIG. 7A or when the finger is brought into contact with only the areas  22  and  23  as shown in FIG. 7B, a message “please move your finger to the center portion of the fingerprint sensor” is displayed on the display portion  6  to increase the information amount on the fingerprint used when the fingerprint collation is carried out and thus keep the reliability of the fingerprint collation.  
         [0037]    According to the procedure described above, the fingerprint of the user of the cellular phone is registered in the memory  26 . Subsequently, the memory  26  outputs to the CPU  24  a signal indicating that the registration is completed. At this time, the CPU  24  sets the branch portion  25  so that the input signal to the branch portion  25  is output to the operating portions  28  to  30 .  
         [0038]    Next, the operation of setting and releasing the key lock will be described.  
         [0039]    In the case of the setting of the key lock, for example when a user pushes the area  23  under the state that the cellular phone shown in FIG. 2 is under no-calling state, various menus are displayed on the display portion  6 . Subsequently, when the user pushes a desired key to select and determine a menu relating to the key lock from the various menus, the CPU  24  sets the display portion  6  to display a message “please put your finger on fingerprint sensor”, for example. The CPU  24  sets the branch portion  25  so that an input signal to the branch portion  25  is output to the fingerprint collating portion  27 .  
         [0040]    When the user puts his/her finger on the fingerprint sensor  2  in response to the instruction displayed on the display portion  6 , signals are output from the areas  21  to  23 . The signals output from the respective areas  21  to  23  are input to the branch portion  26 , and output to the fingerprint collating portion  27 . Subsequently, the fingerprint collating portion  27  refers to the fingerprint of the user registered in the memory  26  with the input of the signal from the branch portion  25  as a trigger, and carries out the fingerprint collation.  
         [0041]    When the finger of the user is brought into contact with only the areas  21  and  22  as shown in FIG. 7A or when the finger of the user is brought into contact with only the areas  22  and  23  as shown in FIG. 7B, a message “please move your finger to the center portion of the fingerprint sensor” is displayed on the display portion  6  to enable the fingerprint collation.  
         [0042]    The result of the fingerprint collation is transmitted to the CPU  24 . When receiving a collation result indicating that the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint sensor  2  for the fingerprint collation is coincident with the fingerprint registered in the memory  26 , the CPU  24  displays, for example, a picture having a key shape on the display portion  6 .  
         [0043]    On the other hand, when receiving a collation result indicating that the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint sensor  2  for the fingerprint collation is not coincident with the fingerprint registered in the memory  26 , a message “fingerprint collation failed” is displayed on the display portion  26 , for example. Further, the CPU  24  sets the branch portion  25  so that the input signal to the branch portion  25  is output to the operating portions  28  to  30 , and the setting of the key lock is finished.  
         [0044]    Further, in the case of the release of the key lock, for example when the user pushes the area  23  to select and determine the menu on the key lock from the various menus displayed on the display portion  6  under the state that the user does not make a telephone call through the cellular phone shown in FIG. 2, a message “please put your finger on fingerprint sensor” is displayed on the display portion  6 , for example, and the branch portion  25  is set to output the input signal thereto to the fingerprint collating portion  27 .  
         [0045]    When the user puts his/her finger on the fingerprint sensor  2  in response to an instruction displayed on the display portion  6 , the fingerprint collation is carried out according to the same procedure as key lock setting. Only when receiving a collation result indicating that the fingerprint registered in the memory  26  is coincident with the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint sensor  2  for the fingerprint collation, the CPU  24  deletes the picture having the key shape displayed on the display portion  6 .  
         [0046]    On the other hand, when receiving a collation result indicating that the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint sensor  2  for the fingerprint collation is not coincident with the fingerprint registered in the memory  26 , the CPU  24  displays a message “fingerprint collation failed” on the display portion  26 , for example. Further, the CPU  24  sets the branch portion  25  to output the input signal thereto to the operating portions  28  to  30 , and the key lock setting is released.  
         [0047]    The procedure of the setting and release of the key lock has been described above. The fingerprint collation may be carried out in the same procedure as the setting and release of the key lock for the setting and release of various functions generally provided to the cellular phone such as setting and release of inhibition of telephone call, setting and release of inhibition of call and deletion of a telephone number registered.  
         [0048]    Next, the operation when the key  2  is used as the key for inputting an instruction for originating a call and disconnecting the call will be described. For convenience&#39;s sake of description, an arrangement of piezoelectric elements for detecting only the presence or absence of “push” is shown in place of the arrangement of the cells in the areas  21  to  23 .  
         [0049]    As described above, after the fingerprint collation, the branch portion  25  is set so as to output the input signal thereto to the operating portions  28  to  30 . Therefore, the signal output from each of the areas  21  to  23  when the user pushes any of the areas  21  to  23  is output to the operating portions  28  to  30 . Therefore, for example when the user pushes the area  21  in the style as shown in FIG. 7A, a signal is output from the area  21  to the branch portion  25 . At this time, a signal is also output from the area  22  to the branch portion  25 .  
         [0050]    With respect to each signal output to the branch portion  25 , the sum of the signals output from the respective piezoelectric elements of each of the areas  21  and  22  is calculated in each of the operating portions  28  and  29 , and the calculation results of the operating portions  28  and  29  is output to the comparator portion  31 . For example, in the case of FIG. 7A, conceptually, signals are output from fifteen piezoelectric elements out of totally eighteen piezoelectric elements in the area  21 , signals are output from four piezoelectric elements out of totally eighteen piezoelectric elements in the area  22 , and no signal is output from the piezoelectric elements in the area  23 . If it is assumed that each piezoelectric element outputs “1” if it is pushed and “0” if it is not pushed, “15” is output from the operating portion  28  to the comparator portion  31 , “4” is output from the operating portion  29  to the comparator portion  31  and “0” is output from the operating portion  30  to the comparator portion  31 .  
         [0051]    In the comparator portion  31 , the outputs from the respective operating portions are compared with one another, and a key controller for controlling an area which provides the largest output (largest numerical value) is driven. In this case, the calculation result (“15”) based on the signal from the area  21  is largest, so that the key controller  32  equipped in connection with the area  21  is driven. At this time, the key controller  32  outputs to the CPU  24  a signal indicating that the area  21  is pushed. In response to this signal, the CPU  24  sets a call-origination allowable state.  
         [0052]    Likewise, when the areas  23  and  22  are pushed in the styles as shown in FIG. 7B and FIG. 6, the CPU  24  is supplied a signal indicating that the area  23  is pushed and a signal indicating that the area  22  is pushed, and various menus are displayed on the display portion  6  or a telephone call is disconnected.  
         [0053]    During a telephone call, voices emitted from the user are collected by the microphone  4 , high frequency signals achieved by encoding and modulating the voice signal based on the voices thus collected is transmitted to a call partner side through the antenna  1  and a controlling base station. Further, during a telephone call, high-frequency signals transmitted from the call partner side through the base station, etc. is received by the antenna  1  and then voice signals based on electrical signals achieved by demodulating and combining the signals thus received are output from the speaker  5 .  
         [0054]    In place of the above procedure, the operation of the comparator portion  31  may be modified such that the signal (or the sum of the signals) output from a specific one piezoelectric element (or plural piezoelectric elements) around the center of each of the areas  21  to  23  or in the neighborhood of the edge portion of each of the areas  21  to  23  is compared among the areas  21  to  23  to quickly specify which key is pushed by the user.  
         [0055]    Next, the operation when the cellular phone shown in FIG. 2 is used to purchase goods through the electronic commerce or to make a payment for purchased goods will be described.  
         [0056]    First, a user registers the account number of his/her bank account to which a payment for the purchase price of goods or the like is charged and his/her fingerprint in a supply terminal which is operated by a supplier of goods or services in electronic commerce.  
         [0057]    And then, For example when the user pushes the area  23  to select and determine a menu of “electronic commerce” from various menus displayed on the display portion  6 , the cellular phone is connected to a network such as the Internet or the like through the controlling base station or the like.  
         [0058]    Subsequently, when the user accesses, through an information service such as WWW (world wide web) or the like, a home page set up by a person who sales goods or the like on the Internet, a catalogue of various kinds of goods or the like is displayed on the display portion  6 . The user selects his/her desired goods or the like from the catalogue thus displayed.  
         [0059]    Subsequently, the supplier of goods or the like in the electronic commerce transmits a pre-registered user&#39;s bank account number, etc to the cellular phone. At this time, the account number, etc. are displayed in the cellular phone to promote the user to check whether the display content is correct or not. If the user transmits to the sales source (supplier) of the goods or the like in the electronic commerce a replay indicating that the display content is correct, an instruction of promoting the user to put his/her finger  42  on the fingerprint sensor  2  is transmitted from the supplier to the cellular phone.  
         [0060]    When the user puts his/her finger  42  on the fingerprint sensor  2  in response to the instruction, signals from the fingerprint sensor  2  are encoded and modulated and then transmitted through the Internet to the supplier side of the goods, etc. in the electronic commerce. If the user&#39;s fingerprint thus transmitted is coincident with the fingerprint registered in the sales source, the purchase price of the goods or the like is paid from the bank account registered, and the purchased goods or the like will be delivered to the user by mail or the like.  
         [0061]    On the other hand, if the fingerprint transmitted from the cellular phone is not coincident with the fingerprint registered at the supplier side of the goods or the like, the goods or the like would not be sold to the user, and this fact is transmitted to the cellular phone side. At this time, it is possible for the user to re-transmit his/her fingerprint to the supplier side of the goods or the like by using the fingerprint sensor  2 . However, if the signal (fingerprint) re-transmitted is not coincident with the fingerprint registered at the supplier side in spite of repetitive transmission of the fingerprint to the supplier side at several times, the connection between the supplier side and the cellular phone is forcibly disconnected by the supplier side to keep the security.  
         [0062]    In the above embodiment, the fingerprint sensor also serves as the key for inputting three instructions, for example. However, it may serve as a key for inputting four instructions as shown in FIG. 8, and it may serve as keys whose number corresponds to the size required to each key in connection with the miniaturization of the cellular phone.  
         [0063]    As described above, according to the mobile radio terminal of the present invention, when the key lock is set, when goods or the like are purchased in the electronic commerce or when a payment for the purchase price of goods or the like is made, user&#39;s identity can be authenticated.