Abstract:
A method and apparatus for activation of a terminal apparatus function is disclosed. User identification information is received, and a characteristic of the user identification information is determined. The characteristic is compared to a required characteristic corresponding to the terminal apparatus function. A first activation process is selected if the characteristic matches the required characteristic; otherwise access to the terminal apparatus function is restricted.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-169613, filed on Jun. 27, 2008, entitled “MOBILE TERMINAL DEVICE, METHOD OF ACTIVATING A FUNCTION AND PROGRAM”. The content of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
       FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to mobile terminals, and more particularly relates to multi-function mobile terminals. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    In a terminal device having a telephone call function, a camera function, and an electronic mail function, sometimes a password is verified as an information leakage control measure in order to prevent a third party from using the functions when part or all of the functions of the terminal device are activated. A password input screen is shown on a display screen of the terminal device when a user activates a certain function, and the user follows instructions on the screen to enter the password. The terminal device verifies the entered password against a preset activating password. The function is activated when the entered password is matched with the preset activating password, and the function is not activated when the entered password does not match the preset activating password. Hereinafter, this password type of activating scheme is referred to as a “password scheme”. 
         [0004]    In a terminal device used in companies such as a military company and a financial-related company in which highly confidential information is dealt with, the activation of part or all of the functions should be restricted. When a function whose activation is restricted is activated, the terminal device sends output to the display screen to notify the user that the function cannot be activated. Hereinafter, this function locking type of activating scheme is referred to as a “function lock scheme”. 
         [0005]    A terminal device that is compatible with both the password scheme and the function lock scheme has been developed. When the terminal device receives an instruction to activate a certain function from the user, the terminal device sends to the display screen the password input screen or the screen notifying the user that the function activation cannot be activated according to the activating scheme associated with the function. However, a third party who obtains the terminal device is likely to easily discern that a particular function is confidential by looking at the display screen. This is because the activating schemes can easily be distinguished from each other and other types of content by examining the output contents of the display screen during the activation. Thus, there is a need for activating schemes that are not distinct from other screen contents. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    A method and apparatus for activation of a terminal apparatus function is disclosed. User identification information is received, and a characteristic of the user identification information is determined. The characteristic is compared to a required characteristic corresponding to the terminal apparatus function. A first activation process is selected if the characteristic matches the required characteristic; otherwise access to the terminal apparatus function is restricted. 
         [0007]    A first embodiment comprises a method for activating a terminal apparatus function. The method comprises receiving a user identification information, determining a characteristic of the user identification information, and comparing the characteristic to a required characteristic corresponding to the terminal apparatus function. The method further comprises selecting a first activation process and blocking a second activation process if the characteristic matches the required characteristic. 
         [0008]    A second embodiment comprises a terminal apparatus. The terminal apparatus comprises an input unit operable to receive a user identification information. The terminal apparatus further comprises a control unit operable to determine a characteristic of the user identification information, compare the characteristic to a required characteristic corresponding to the terminal apparatus function, and select a first activation process and block a second activation process if the characteristic matches the required characteristic. 
         [0009]    A third embodiment comprises a computer readable medium for activating a terminal apparatus function. The computer readable medium comprises program code for receiving a user identification information, and determining a characteristic of the user identification information. The computer readable medium further comprises program code for comparing the characteristic to a required characteristic corresponding to the terminal apparatus function, and selecting a first activation process and blocking a second activation process if the characteristic matches the required characteristic. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    Embodiments of the present invention are hereinafter described in conjunction with the following figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements. The figures are provided for illustration and depict exemplary embodiments of the invention. The figures are provided to facilitate understanding of the invention without limiting the breadth, scope, scale, or applicability of the invention. The drawings are not necessarily made to scale. 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  illustrates an example of the screen displayed in activating the function correlated with the function lock scheme. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal device according to one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example of the data stored in the storage unit of the terminal device. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary function activating operation in the terminal device according to one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  illustrates an example of the password input screen. 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  illustrates a configuration of a mobile device according to one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  illustrates an example of the data stored in the storage unit in the terminal device according to one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary function activating operation in the terminal device according to one embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    The following detailed description is exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the embodiments of the invention. Descriptions of specific devices, techniques, and applications are provided only as examples. Modifications to the examples described herein will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other examples and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. The present invention should be accorded scope consistent with the claims, and not limited to the examples described and shown herein. 
         [0020]    Embodiments of the invention are described herein in the context of practical non-limiting applications, namely, password scheme and the function lock scheme. Embodiments of the invention, however, are not limited to such password applications, and the techniques described herein may also be utilized in other authentication applications. For example embodiments may be applicable to biometric authentication application such as a face authentication, a fingerprint authentication, and a voice authentication that may be used as the activating methods. For example, for the activating method in which the fingerprint authentication scheme and the function lock scheme are included, when the user provides the instruction to activate the function, the terminal device may make a request for fingerprint authentication such that the user cannot distinguish between the fingerprint authentication scheme and the function lock scheme. Furthermore, although the mobile telephone is described as an example embodiment, the embodiments of the invention can also be applied, for example, but not limited to, a small-sized computer and a PDA. 
         [0021]    As would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this description, these are merely examples and the embodiments of the invention are not limited to operating in accordance with these examples. Other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0022]    The following description is presented to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the embodiments of the invention. Descriptions of specific devices, techniques, and applications are provided only as examples. Various modifications to the examples described herein will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other examples and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present invention. Thus, the embodiments of the present invention are not intended to be limited to the examples described herein and shown, but are to be accorded the scope consistent with the claims. 
         [0023]    The terminal device according to an embodiment of the invention comprises a plurality of functions. As used herein, the function means, for example, but without limitation, an electronic mail function, a telephone call function, a camera function, a telephone call history viewing function, an electronic mail history viewing function, browser viewing function, and application function, which are possessed by the terminal device. 
         [0024]    The terminal device is provided with, for example, but without limitation, an activating method that is compatible with the password scheme (first activating processing) and the function lock scheme (second activating processing). The functions may be correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme, or part of the plurality of functions may be correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme. 
         [0025]    According to one embodiment of the invention, the function that is correlated with neither the password scheme nor the function lock scheme may immediately be activated upon input of the activation instruction. The case in which the function correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme is activated will be described below. 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  illustrates an example of the screen displayed in activating the function correlated with the function lock scheme. The terminal device retains the activating password in each function correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme, and the terminal device controls the activation of each function based on the activating password. Specifically, the activation of the function is controlled based on the password scheme when the activating password of the function that the user provides the instruction to activate includes characters of a specific character type (for example, numeric character). On the other hand, the activation of the function is controlled based on the function lock scheme when the activating password of the function that the user provides the instruction to activate includes characters of a character type (general character type, for example, alphabetic character) that is different from the numeric character (specific character type). 
         [0027]    The password input screen can be displayed on the display unit of the terminal device when the function activated by the user is the function correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal device  101  (mobile telephone  101 ) as an example of a terminal device according to one embodiment of the invention. The mobile terminal device  101  may include, an exterior I/F unit  102 , an input unit  103 , a display unit  104 , a wireless communication unit  105 , an antenna  106 , storage unit  107  (a memory) and a control unit  108 . The control unit  108  comprises a password reception unit  109 , a activation control unit  110 , a screen output unit  111 , a counting unit  112  and a notification unit  113 . 
         [0029]    The external I/F unit  102  is an interface used to connect the mobile telephone  101  to an external device such as a USB terminal. 
         [0030]    An input unit  103  is an input device such as numeric keypad. The input unit  103  detects the key pressed by the user to output a signal indicating the pressed key to a control unit  108 . 
         [0031]    The display unit  104  may comprise an image display device such as, without limitation, a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), or an organic EL display (OLED). The display unit  104  may be used to display the password input screen based on a signal input from a screen output unit  111 . 
         [0032]    The wireless communication unit  105  is configured to communicate with a wireless communication system (not shown) via an access point such as a base station. The wireless communication unit  105  communicates with the base station, and transmits and/or receives various kinds of data such as voice data during a voice call, mail data during transmitting/receiving mail, and web page data during webpage browsing. The wireless communication unit  105  may comprises a communication signal processing circuit including a semiconductor circuit. The wireless communication unit  105  receives data that the mobile telephone  101  transmits from the control unit  108 , and then converts the data into a transmitting signal to output the transmitting signal to an antenna  106 . The wireless communication unit  105  also converts a signal received by the antenna  106  into data to output the data to the control unit  108 . 
         [0033]    The antenna  106  transmits the transmitting signal input from the wireless communication unit  105  as a radio signal, and then receives the radio signal transmitted from an external device to output the received radio signal to the wireless communication unit  105 . 
         [0034]    A storage unit  107  is a storage device, such as a semiconductor circuit and a hard disk drive. The storage unit  107  is operable to store various kinds of data used for various processes of the mobile telephone  101 . In practical embodiments, the storage unit  107  may comprise, for example, a non-volatile memory or storage device (non-volatile semiconductor memory, hard disk device, optical disk device, and the like), a random access storage device (for example, SRAM, DRAM), or any other form of storage medium known in the art. For example, the storage unit  107  may store a computer program which is executed by the control unit  108 , an address book for managing personal information such as telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, an audio file for reproducing a ring tone and alarm tone, an image file for a standby screen, various kinds of setting data, a temporary data used in a program process, number of authentication failures C, and the like. The storage unit  107  may be coupled to the control unit  108  such that the control unit  108  can read information from and write information to storage unit  107 . As an example, the control unit  108  and storage unit  107  may reside in their respective ASICs in which the activating password of each function is stored. The activating password is written in the storage unit  107  from a host computer connected to the external I/F unit  102  through the external I/F unit  102  and the control unit  108  or from the input unit  103  through the control unit  108 . The storage unit  107  may also be integrated into the control unit  108 . In an embodiment, the storage unit  107  may include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by the control unit  108 . The storage unit  108  may use the non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the control unit  108 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example of the data stored in the storage unit  107  of the mobile telephone  101 . The activating password of the function correlated with the password scheme includes the numeric character (character of specific character type) such as _number “5”, and the activating password of the function correlated with the function lock scheme includes at least one alphabetic character (character of general character type) such as letter “C”. A function designated by a function ID “ 01 ” and a function designated by a function ID “ 02 ” are correlated with the password scheme, a function designated by a function ID “ 03 ” is correlated with the function lock scheme. 
         [0036]    The control unit  108  includes a semiconductor circuit comprising a CPU, and controls the operation of the mobile telephone  101 . Using the signals input from the external I/F unit  102  and input unit  103 , the control unit  108  performs an operation to produce signals for controlling the operations of the display unit  104  and storage unit  107 , and to output the signals to the display unit  104  and the storage unit  107 . 
         [0037]    When the instruction to activate the function is input, a password accepting unit  109  accepts the password including the numeric characters in the passwords input from the input unit  103 , and then outputs the accepted password to a function activating processing unit  110 . For example, when the characters are input from the input unit  103  while input modes (a mode in which the numeric character is input and a mode in which the alphabetic character is input, hereinafter the modes are referred to as numeric character mode and alphabetic character mode, respectively) are switched, the password accepting unit  109  controls the input mode to fix the input mode to the numeric character mode in inputting the password. Alternatively, when the password including at least one alphabetic character is input, the accepting operation is interrupted, and processing is performed to display “alphabetic character cannot be input” on the display unit  104 . 
         [0038]    For example, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the activating passwords (required characteristic) of the functions designated by the function ID “ 01 ” and function ID “ 02 ” include the numeric characters, and the activating password of the function designated by the function ID “ 03 ” includes the alphabetic characters. Therefore, the password accepting unit  109  accepts the activating passwords of the functions designated by the function ID “ 01 ” and function ID “ 02 ”, while the password accepting unit  109  does not accept the activating password of the function designated by the function ID “ 03 ”. 
         [0039]    When the password is input from the password accepting unit  109 , the function activating processing unit  110  reads the activating password of the function designated by the activation instruction input through the input unit  103  from the storage unit  107 . The function activating processing unit  110  verifies the read password against the password output from the password accepting unit  109 , and then activates the function if the read password is matched with the password output from the password accepting unit  109 . 
         [0040]    In  FIG. 3 , the result of the password verification becomes “match” when the correct password is input from the input unit  103  in activating the functions designated by the function ID “ 01 ” and function ID “ 02 ”, and the result of the password verification does not become “match” because the password accepting unit  109  does not accept the correct password in activating the function designated by the function ID “ 03 ”. 
         [0041]    A screen output unit  111  produces and outputs an image displayed on the display unit  104 . The screen output unit  111  produces the password input screen to output the password input screen to the display unit  104 , when the activation instruction is input into the function activating processing unit  110  through the input unit  103  while the function designated by the activation instruction is correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme. 
         [0042]    A count unit  112  counts the number of mismatch times in the result of the password verification that is performed by the function activating processing unit  110  in activating each function. The count unit  112  may count the number of mismatch times for each function, or may count the number of mismatch times in common with some functions. The count unit  112  may reset the count value after a predetermined time elapses since the result of the password verification finally becomes the mismatch. 
         [0043]    A notification unit  113  refers to the count value of the count unit  112 , and then performs notification processing to other devices except for the mobile telephone  101  through the wireless communication unit  105  and antenna  106  when the count value reaches a predetermined value. For example, the notification unit  113  produces and transmits a warning mail to a preset address. At this point, the current position of the mobile telephone may be described in a main body of the electronic mail using a GPS function of the mobile telephone. A warning message may be transmitted to a preset telephone number. 
         [0044]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process  400  for function activating operation in the terminal device according to an embodiment of the invention. The various tasks performed in connection with process  400  may be performed by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. For illustrative purposes, the following description of process  400  may refer to elements mentioned above in connection with  FIGS. 1-3 . In practical embodiments, portions of process  400  may be performed by different elements of the described system, e.g., the communication unit  105 , the, the screen output unit  111 , the storage unit  107 , the function activating processing unit  110 , the count unit  112 , and the notification unit  113 . Process  400  may include any number of additional or alternative tasks. The tasks shown in  FIG. 4  need not be performed in the illustrated order, and process  400  may be incorporated into a more comprehensive procedures or processes comprising additional functionality not described in detail herein. 
         [0045]    Process  400  may being by the mobile telephone  101  starting the activation control, and then receiving the instruction to activate a certain function through the input unit  103  (task S 501 ). The count unit  112  resets the count value c to zero (task S 502 ).  FIG. 5  illustrates an example of the password input screen. The screen output unit  111  produces the password input screen as illustrated in  FIG. 5  to output the password input screen to the display unit  104 , and then displays the password input screen based on the input from the screen output unit  111  (task S 503 ). 
         [0046]    When the user follows the instructions of the password input screen to input the password (characteristic) through the input unit  103 , the password accepting unit  109  accepts the password including the numeric character (character of specific character type), and then outputs the accepted password to the function activating processing unit  110  (task S 504 ). 
         [0047]    When receiving the password from the password accepting unit  109 , the function activating processing unit  110  reads the activating password of the function designated by the activation instruction from the storage unit  107  (task S 505 ). The function activating processing unit  110  verifies the read activating password against the password output from the password accepting unit  109  (task S 506 ), then activates the function when the read activating password is matched with the password output from the password accepting unit  109  (task S 507 ), and thus the activation control is ended. 
         [0048]    When the result of the verification in task S 506  becomes “mismatch”, the count unit  112  adds one to the count value c (task S 508 ), and the notification unit  113  determines whether the count value c reaches a predetermined value n (task S 509 ). The mobile telephone  101  returns to the state in task S 503  when the count value c does not reach the predetermined value n. When the count value c reaches the predetermined value n, the mobile telephone  101  makes a notification that the count value c reaches the predetermined value n using the notification unit  113 , the wireless communication unit  105 , and the antenna  106  (S 510 ). Then the activation control is ended. 
         [0049]    In the configuration of the mobile telephone  101 , when the function correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme is activated, because the password input screen is shown on the display unit  104 , a determination whether the function to be activated is correlated with the password scheme or the function lock scheme is hardly made from the screen display. 
         [0050]    Further, according to one embodiment, the function corresponding to the password including the character of the general character type is not activated because the password accepting unit  109  does not accept the password including the character of the general character type. Therefore, a certain function can be correlated with the function lock scheme by setting the password including the character of the general character type to some function. At this point, because the activating password of each function becomes activating scheme identification information, flag information for identifying the activating scheme is not required. 
         [0051]    For example, when the third party (i.e., unauthorized user) repeatedly inputs a wrong password in order to activate the function, the authorized user or manager can sense the use of the third party by receiving the notification. 
         [0052]    The terminal device retains flag information indicating which function the function is compatible with in each function correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme, and the activation of each function is controlled based on the flag information. 
         [0053]    The password input screen is shown on the display unit of the terminal device when the function activated by the user is the function correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme. 
         [0054]      FIG. 6  illustrates a configuration of a mobile telephone  601 . The configuration of the mobile telephone  601  differs from that of the mobile telephone  101  shown in  FIG. 2  in that output of the input unit  103  is directly input into the function activating processing unit  110 . The embodiment shown in  FIG. 6  may share similar features and functionalities to the mobile telephone  101 . Common features, functions, and elements will not be redundantly described here. Therefore, the storage unit  107 , the function activating processing unit  110 , and the count unit  112 , of which the operations and contents are different from those of the mobile telephone  101 , will be described below. 
         [0055]    The storage unit  107  is a storage device, which is same as or similar to the storage unit  107  in  FIG. 2 , such as a semiconductor memory and a hard disk drive. The flag information indicating the activating scheme of each function and the activating password of the function correlated with the password scheme are stored in the storage unit  107 . The control unit  108  reads and writes the data from and in the storage unit  107 . The flag information and the activating password are written in the storage unit  107  from a computer connected to the external I/F unit  102  through the external I/F unit  102  and the control unit  108  or from the input unit  103  through the control unit  108 . 
         [0056]      FIG. 7  illustrates an example of the data stored in the storage unit  107  in the mobile telephone  601 . The flag information indicates which of the password scheme or the function lock scheme the function is correlated with. The activating password is also stored for the function correlated with the password scheme. 
         [0057]    When receiving the activation instruction from the user through the input unit  103 , the function activating processing unit  110  reads the flag information on the function designated by the activation instruction from the storage unit  107 . 
         [0058]    When receiving the password through the input unit  103  while the function is correlated with the password scheme, the function activating processing unit  110  reads the activating password of the function from the storage unit  107 , and then verifies the password received through the input unit  103  against the password read from the storage unit  107 . The function activating processing unit  110  activates the function when the password received through the input unit  103  is matched with the password read from the storage unit  107 . 
         [0059]    When receiving the password through the input unit  103  while the function is correlated with the function lock scheme, the function activating processing unit  110  outputs a count instruction signal to the count unit  112 . The count unit  112  is a counter that counts the number of times in which the password is input into the mobile telephone  601  in activating the function correlated with the function lock scheme. The count unit  112  adds one to the count value when receiving the count instruction signal from the function activating processing unit  110 . The count unit  112  may count the number of mismatch times for each function, or may count the number of mismatch times in common with some functions. The count unit  112  may reset the count value after a predetermined time elapses since the result of the password verification finally becomes the mismatch. 
         [0060]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process  800  for function activating operation in the terminal device  601  (mobile telephone  601 ) according to an embodiment the invention. The various tasks performed in connection with process  800  may be performed by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. For illustrative purposes, the following description of process  400  may refer to elements mentioned above in connection with FIGS.  1  and  3 - 7 . In practical embodiments, portions of process  800  may be performed by different elements of the described system, e.g., the input unit  103 , the communication unit  105 , the screen output unit  111 , the storage unit  107 , the function activating processing unit  110 , the count unit  112 , and the notification unit  113 , etc. Process  800  may include any number of additional or alternative tasks. The tasks shown in  FIG. 8  need not be performed in the illustrated order, and process  800  may be incorporated into a more comprehensive procedure or process comprising additional functionality not described in detail herein. 
         [0061]    Process  800  may begin by the mobile telephone  601  activating control, and then receiving an instruction to activate a certain function through the input unit  103  (task S 801 ). The count unit  112  reset the count value c to zero (task S 802 ). The function activating processing unit  110  reads the flag information of the function designated by the activation instruction from the storage unit  107  to recognize the activating scheme (task S 803 ). The screen output unit  111  produces the password input screen as illustrated in  FIG. 5  to output the password input screen to the display unit  104 . The display unit  104  displays the password input screen based on the input from the screen output unit  111  (task S 804 ). 
         [0062]    When the user follows the instructions of the password input screen to input the password through the input unit  103  (task S 805 ), the function activating processing unit  110  refers to the activating scheme recognized in task S 803  (task S 806 ). 
         [0063]    When the activating scheme is the password scheme, the function activating processing unit  110  reads the activating password of the function designated by the activation instruction from the storage unit  107  (task S 807 ), and then verifies the read activating password against the password input through the input unit  103  (task S 808 ). When the read activating password is matched with the password input through the input unit  103 , the function activating processing unit  110  activates the function (task S 809 ), and the activation control is ended. The mobile telephone  601  returns to the state in task S 804  when the read activating password is not matched with the password input through the input unit  103 . The mobile telephone  601  may return to the state in task S 810  instead of the state in task S 804  when the read activating password is not matched with the password input through the input unit  103 . 
         [0064]    When the activating scheme is the function lock scheme in task S 806 , the function activating processing unit  110  provides the count instruction to the count unit  112 . The count unit  112  adds one to the count value c (task S 810 ), and the notification unit  113  determines whether the count value c reaches the predetermined value n (task S 811 ). The mobile telephone  601  returns to the state in task S 804  when the count value c does not reach the predetermined value n. When the count value c reaches the predetermined value n, the mobile telephone  601  makes the notification that the count value c reaches the predetermined value n using the notification unit  113 , the wireless communication unit  105 , and the antenna  106  (task S 812 ). Then the activation control is ended. 
         [0065]    The control unit  108  causes the function activating processing unit  110  to perform the activation (first activating processing) of the function correlated with the password scheme or the activation (second activating processing) of the function correlated with the function lock scheme based on the identification information that is stored in the storage unit  107  while correlated with the function designated by the user&#39;s activation instruction. Therefore, when the function correlated with one of the password scheme and the function lock scheme is activated, because the password input screen is shown on the display unit  104 , the determination of the activating scheme cannot be made from the screen display. 
         [0066]    For example, when the third party repeatedly inputs a password in order to activate the function correlated with the function lock scheme, the authorized user or manager can sense the use of the third party by receiving the notification. 
         [0067]    In the embodiments, the numeric character is set to the specific character type and the alphabetic character is set to the general character type. Alternatively other character groups that are not overlapped with each other may be used. For example, a special sign may be set to the specific character type and the numeric character may be set to the general character type. 
         [0068]    While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment or embodiments. Variations may be apparent to those skilled in the art. In carrying out the present invention, various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occur in regard to the elements of the above-described embodiment insofar as they are within the technical scope of the present invention or the equivalents thereof. The exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a template for implementing the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that various changes can be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims and the legal equivalents thereof. Furthermore, although embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that changes and modifications may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as being included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims. 
         [0069]    Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” should be read as mean “including, without limitation” or the like; the term “example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, a group of items linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read as requiring that each and every one of those items be present in the grouping, but rather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or” should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, but rather should also be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, although items, elements or components of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated to be within the scope thereof unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The term “about” when referring to a numerical value or range is intended to encompass values resulting from experimental error that can occur when taking measurements.