Abstract:
According to an aspect of an embodiment, an information processing device for communicating with another information processing devices, the information processing device comprises: a storage unit for storing a table containing address information which is either permitted or not permitted to notify the another information processing devices; a processor for performing a process of communicating with the another information processing devices comprising the steps of: determining whether address information requested from the another information processing device is rated as permitted in the table; and notifying the requested address information to the another information processing device when the requested address information is rated as permitted in the table.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This art relates to a cellular phone having a telephone directory function. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    An information processing device such as a cellular phone generally cannot transmit a mail without knowing the mail address of the other party. Accordingly, it is necessary for the user of a cellular phone or the like to preliminarily obtain the mail address of the other party. 
         [0005]    When attempt to transmit a mail to other person whose mail address is unknown, it is necessary to hear the address by directly calling to the other person, or to hear the address from a common friend. 
         [0006]    However, when disclosing the address of other person to a third person, it was bothersome to obtain anew permission from the other person. Further, in some cases, there is a problem in that the address is disclosed to a third person without confirming the permission. 
         [0007]    Further, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-320259 discloses an address disclosure system of an information processing device. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    According to an aspect of an embodiment, an information processing device for communicating with another information processing devices, the information processing device comprises: a storage unit for storing a table containing address information which is either permitted or not permitted to notify the another information processing devices; a processor for performing a process of communicating with the another information processing devices comprising the steps of: determining whether address information requested from the another information processing device is rated as permitted in the table; and notifying the requested address information to the another information processing device when the requested address information is rated as permitted in the table. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    [ FIG. 1 ] This is a hardware block diagram of a cellular phone according to the embodiment. 
           [0010]    [ FIG. 2 ] This is a sequence of registration process of a mail address according to the embodiment. 
           [0011]    [ FIG. 3 ] This is a sequence of disclosure process of a mail address according to the embodiment. 
           [0012]    [ FIG. 4 ] This is a public telephone director according to the embodiment. 
           [0013]    [ FIG. 5 ] This is a personal telephone directory according to the embodiment. 
           [0014]    [ FIG. 6 ] This is a public level table according to the embodiment. 
           [0015]    [ FIG. 7 ] This is a public level table according to the embodiment. 
           [0016]    [ FIG. 8 ] This is a public level table according to the embodiment. 
           [0017]    [ FIG. 9 ] This is a public level table according to the embodiment. 
           [0018]    [ FIG. 10 ] This is a sequence of registration process of a mail address according to the embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]      FIG. 1  is a hardware block diagram of a cellular phone  100  according to the embodiment. The cellular phone  100  is exemplified as a device for performing communications. However, the device is not limited to the cellular phone  100  and may be an information processing device capable of communications such as a PC (Personal Computer), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), or the like. 
         [0020]    The cellular phone  100  includes a control unit  101 , a storage unit  102 , a transmitting/receiving unit  103 , a communication control unit  104 , an audio processing unit  105 , a microphone  106 , a speaker  107 , a display unit  108 , and an operation unit  109 . 
         [0021]    The control unit  101  is constituted by a computer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like and performs various control of the storage unit  102 , the transmitting/receiving unit  103 , the display unit  108 , and the operation unit  109 . These controls are processed by performing a control program stored in the ROM equipped in the control unit  101 . The place in which the control program is stored is not limited to the ROM and may be another recording medium corresponding to the ROM. 
         [0022]    The storage unit  102  is the generic name of a RAM, a ROM, and the like and may be constituted by a recording medium which can be attached and detached or may be constituted by an memory, for example, a flush memory or the like which does not lose recorded content even when power source is turned off. A public telephone directory  1021  and a personal telephone directory  1022  are stored in the storage unit  102 . 
         [0023]    A plurality of mail addresses which can be disclosed to a third person is stored in the public telephone directory  1021 . A plurality of mail addresses which can not be disclosed to a third person is stored in the personal telephone directory  1022 . A public level table  1023  is a table showing a target of disclosure of the corresponding mail address. 
         [0024]    The transmitting/receiving unit  103  performs transmitting and/or receiving of a radio signal wave via an antenna. 
         [0025]    The communication control unit  104 , for example, modulates and demodulates a carrier signal with a signal representing an image, a call signal, a dial signal, and the like, and generates a radio signal wave for transmitting and receiving. 
         [0026]    The audio processing unit  105  is connected to the microphone  106 , the speaker  107 , and converts an analog voice signal picked up from the speaker  107  to a digital signal and converts a digital voice signal output form the control unit  101  to an analog signal. The speaker  107  is used for outputting a voice signal output from the control unit  101  and a voice signal picked up via the microphone  106 . 
         [0027]    The display unit  108  is constituted by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) element and the like and displays various input information and output information to the control unit  101 . 
         [0028]    Ten keys, a call key, a call end key, a function key, a cross-shape key, and the like are provided in the operation unit  109  and the user can perform call operation and transmission and reception of a mail by using the operation unit  109 . Further, the user can perform updating, editing, and the like of the public telephone directory  1021  and the personal telephone directory  1022  by operating the operation unit  109 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 2  is a sequence of registration process of a mail address according to the embodiment. 
         [0030]    In the embodiment, the case will be described in which the cellular phone  100  obtains a mail address  3001  of a cellular phone  300  from a cellular phone  200 . 
         [0031]    The control unit  101  of the cellular phone  100  extracts a mail address  2001  of the cellular phone  200  from the public telephone directory  1021  (step S 201 ). The control unit  101  transmits a reference request mail for requesting reference of a mail address of the cellular phone  300  to the cellular phone  200  via the transmitting/receiving unit  103  based on the extracted mail address  2001  (step S 202 ). 
         [0032]    The cellular phone  200  refers to a public telephone directory  2021  held by the cellular phone  200  when the reference request mail is received from the cellular phone  100  (step S 203 ). Then, the mail address  3001  of the cellular phone  300  is registered in the public telephone directory  2021 . The cellular phone  200  refers to a public level table  2023  corresponding to the mail address  3001  and judges whether the mail address  3001  can be disclosed to the cellular phone  100  or not (step S 204 ). The cellular phone  200  can disclose the mail address  3001  of the cellular phone  300  to the cellular phone registered in the public level table  2023 . 
         [0033]    When the cellular phone  100  is registered in the public level table  2023  (step S 204  YES), the cellular phone  200  extracts the mail address  3001  from the public telephone directory  2021  and transmits the mail address  3001  to the cellular phone  100  (step  205 ). When the cellular phone  100  is not registered in the public level table  2023  (step S 204  NO), the cellular phone  200  does not transmit the mail address  3001  to the cellular phone  100 . 
         [0034]    When the cellular phone  100  receives the mail address  3001  via the transmitting/receiving unit  103  (step S 206 ), the control unit  101  transmits a mail to the cellular phone  300  by using the mail address received from the cellular phone  200  via the transmitting/receiving unit  103  (step S 207 ). In step S 207 , the mail transmitted from the cellular phone  100  to the cellular phone  300  is a mail to notice that the mail address  3001  is obtained by the cellular phone  100  from the cellular phone  200 . Then, the cellular phone  100  inquires whether or not the mail address  3001  can be registered in the public telephone directory  1021  held by the cellular phone  100  (step S 208 ). 
         [0035]    The cellular phone  300  judges whether the registration of the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021  is permitted or not (step S 209 ). When the cellular phone  300  judges that the registration of the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021  is permitted (step S 209  YES), the cellular phone  300  transmits a permission answer for permitting the registration to the cellular phone  100 . When the cellular phone  300  judges that registration of the mail address  3001  of the cellular phone  300  in the public telephone directory  1021  is not permitted (step S 209  NO), the cellular phone  300  does not transmit a permission answer for permitting the registration to the cellular phone  100 , and process is finished. 
         [0036]    The cellular phone  100  judges whether the permission answer for permitting the registration of the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021  is received or not from the cellular phone  300  (step S 210 ). When judged that the permission answer is received (step S 210  YES), the cellular phone  100  registers the mail address  3001  of the cellular phone  300  in the public telephone directory  1021  (step S 211 ). When judged the permission answer is not received (step S 210  NO), the cellular phone  100  does not register the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021 , and finishes the process. 
         [0037]    In step S 205  in the embodiment, the mail address  3001  is extracted from the public telephone directory  2021  and transmitted to the cellular phone  100 . However, the cellular phone  200  may transmit the public telephone directory  2021  to the cellular phone  100 . 
         [0038]      FIG. 3  is a sequence of the registration of a mail address according to the embodiment. 
         [0039]    In the embodiment, an example will be described in the case where the user of the cellular phone  100  and the user of the cellular phone  200  know each other&#39;s telephone number. 
         [0040]    The cellular phone  100  tries to obtain the mail address  2001  to the cellular phone  200 . By using a SMS function (Short Message Service), the cellular phone  100  specifies the telephone number of the cellular phone  200  as a destination mail address and transmit a short mail to the cellular phone  200  (step S 301 ). The cellular phone  100  asks for obtaining of the mail address of the cellular phone  200  by the short mail. 
         [0041]    When the short mail is received from the cellular phone  100 , the cellular phone  200  judges whether the mail address  2001  held by the cellular phone  200  is transmitted to the cellular phone  100  or not (step S 302 ). When the mail address  2001  is transmitted to the cellular phone  100  (step S 302  YES), the cellular phone  200  specifies the telephone number of the cellular phone  100  as a destination mail address and transmits a short mail to the cellular phone  100  by using the SMS function (step S 303 ). Herein, the mail address  2001  of the cellular phone  200  is included in the short mail transmitted to the cellular phone  100  from the cellular phone  200 . 
         [0042]    Subsequently, the cellular phone  200  tries obtaining of the mail address  1001  of the cellular phone  100  to the cellular phone  100 . The cellular phone  200  specifies the telephone number of the cellular phone  100  as a destination mail address and transmits a short mail to the cellular phone  100  by the SMS function (step S 304 ). Also when the cellular phone  200  does not transmit the mail address  2001  to the cellular phone  100  (step S 302  NO), the cellular phone  200  specifies the telephone number of the cellular phone  100  as a destination mail address and transmits a short mail to the cellular phone  100  (step S 304 ). 
         [0043]    When the short mail is received from the cellular phone  200 , the cellular phone  100  judges whether the mail address  1001  is transmitted to the cellular phone  200  or not (step S 305 ). When the mail address  1001  is transmitted to the cellular phone  200  (step S 305  YES), the cellular phone  100  specifies the telephone number of the cellular phone  200  as a destination mail address and transmits a short mail to the cellular phone  200  by using the SMS function (S 306 ). Herein, the mail address  1001  of the cellular phone  100  is included in the short mail transmitted to the cellular phone  200  from the cellular phone  100 . When judged that the mail address  1001  is not transmitted to the cellular phone  200  (step S 305  NO), the cellular phone  100  does not transmit a short mail containing the mail address  1001  to the cellular phone  200 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 4  is a public telephone directory  400  according to the embodiment. 
         [0045]    The public telephone directory  400  is information held by the cellular phone  100  and is a concrete example of the public telephone directory  1021  stored in the storage unit  102 . 
         [0046]    A mail address  403  which can be disclosed to a third person is stored in the public telephone directory  400 . “Which can be disclosed” means that there exists a cellular phone whose mail address becomes a permission target of disclosure. 
         [0047]    The public telephone directory  400  is constituted by display name  401 , display flag  402 , and mail address  403 . “User  1 ” “User  2 ”, and “User  3 ” described in the display name  401  are information indicating the user of each mail address registered in the public telephone directory  400  and displayed on the display unit  108  of the cellular phone  100 . The user of the cellular phone  100  can select a desired mail address  403  for transmitting a mail by referring the display name  401  displayed on the display unit  108 . 
         [0048]    The display flag  402  is a flag that indicates whether or not the mail address  403  is displayed on the display unit  108 . The mail address  403  whose display flag  402  is OFF is not displayed on the display unit  108 . Accordingly, the user of the cellular phone  100  can not recognize the mail address  403 . Herewith, it can be prevented that the user of the cellular phone  100  leaks the mail address recorded in the cellular phone  100  to a third person. 
         [0049]    The mail address  403  is a mail address corresponding to the user shown in the display name  401 . “B123xyuwwp892aa234-w” corresponds to “User  1 ”, “D112bssei987bd” corresponds to “User  2 ”, and “Eeeaa222249885knieel” corresponds to “User  3 ”. All of the mail addresses  403  “B123xyuwwp892aa234-w”, “D112bssei987bd”, and “Eeeaa222249885knieel” are not displayed on the display unit  108 . This is because the display flags  402  corresponding to all of the mail addresses  403  are set OFF. 
         [0050]      FIG. 5  is a personal telephone directory  500  according to the embodiment. 
         [0051]    The personal telephone directory  500  is to store information held by the cellular phone  100  and a concrete example of the personal telephone directory  1022  stored in the storage unit  102 . 
         [0052]    Information which can not be transmitted to another cellular phone from the cellular phone  100  is stored in the personal telephone directory  500 . Disclosure of the mail address  503  registered in the personal telephone directory  500  to a third person is prohibited. 
         [0053]    The personal telephone directory  500  is constituted by items such as display name  501 , display flag  502 , mail address  503 . “User  4 ”, “AB Company”, and “User  5 ” described in the display name  501  are displayed on the display unit  108  of the cellular phone  100 . Then, the user of the cellular phone  100  can select a desired mail address  503  for transmitting a mail by referencing the display name  501  displayed on the display unit  108 . 
         [0054]    The display flag  502  is a flag that indicates whether or not the mail address  503  is displayed. The mail address “C3eeriii21-220bbbadcceaa” corresponding to “User  4 ” and “B123xyuwwp892aa234-p” corresponding to “User  5 ” whose display flags  502  are OFF are not displayed on the display unit  108 . Accordingly, the user of the cellular phone  100  can not recognize the mail addresses “C3eeriii21-220bbbadcceaa” and “B123xyuwwp892aa234-p”. Herewith, it is prevented that the user of the cellular phone  100  leaks the mail addresses “C3eeriii21-220bbbadcceaa” and “B123xyuwwp892aa234-p” to a third person. Further, the display flag  502  of the mail address “aaa@jp.mail.com” corresponding to “AB Company” is also “OFF”, so that the mail address is not displayed on the display unit  108 . 
         [0055]      FIG. 6  is a public level table  600  according to the embodiment. 
         [0056]    Information about user and cellular phone which become permission target of disclosure of mail address is recorded in the public level table  600  for every mail address recorded in the public telephone directory. Further the public level table  600  is constituted from display name  601  and permission target  602 . 
         [0057]    The public level table  600  shown in  FIG. 6  corresponds to the mail address “B123xyuwwp892aa234-w” of “User  1 ”. The permission target  602  of “B123xyuwwp892aa234-w” of “User  1 ” is “ALL”. “ALL” means that “B123xyuwwp892aa234-w” can be disclosed for all third persons and means that there is no restriction in disclosure target. 
         [0058]    Similarly,  FIG. 7  is a public level table  700  according to the embodiment. 
         [0059]    The public level table  700  is constituted from display name  701  and permission target  702 . Then, the public level table  700  corresponds to the mail address “D112bssei987bd” of “User  2 ”. The permission targets  702  of the mail address “D112bssei987bd” of “User  2 ” are “cellular phone  200 ”, “cellular phone  400 ” and “cellular phone  500 ”. The mail address “D112bssei987bd” corresponding to “User  2 ” can be disclosed only to “cellular phone  200 ”, “cellular phone  400 ” and “cellular phone  500 ” based on the public level table  700 . 
         [0060]    Similarly,  FIG. 8  is a public level table  800  according to the embodiment. 
         [0061]    The public level table  800  is constituted from display name  801  and permission target  802 . The public level table  800  corresponds to the mail address “Eeeaa222249885knieel” of “User  3 ”. The permission target  802  of the mail address “Eeeaa222249885knieel” of “User  3 ” is “cellular phone  200 ” and “cellular phone  500 ”. The mail address “Eeeaa222249885knieel” corresponding to “User  3 ” can be disclosed only to “cellular phone  200 ” and “cellular phone  500 ” based on the public level table  800 . Further, the control unit  101  may modify the public level tables  600 ,  700 , and  800  and can modify the permission targets  602 ,  702 , and  802 . 
         [0062]    In addition, when no permission target exists in the public level table (the case of blank), there is no third person to which the corresponding mail address can be noticed. Accordingly, when the control unit  101  modifies the public level table and there exists no permission target, the public level table in which no permission target exists is eliminated from the storage unit  102 . Then, the display name, the display flag, and the mail address in the public telephone directory and the display name, the display flag, and the mail address corresponding to the eliminated public level table are eliminated. Further, the control unit  101  registers the display name, the display flag, and the mail address eliminated from the public telephone directory in the personal telephone directory and updates the personal telephone directory. 
         [0063]    Further,  FIG. 9  is also a public level table  900  according to the embodiment. 
         [0064]    The public level table  900  is a modification of the public level tables  600 ,  700 , and  800  described in  FIG. 6 ,  FIG. 7 , and  FIG. 8  and is constituted from items such as display name  901 , permission target  902 , permission term  903 , and the like. 
         [0065]    The public level table  900  further includes the permission term  903  indicating a term to permit disclosing of the mail address “Eeeaa222249885knieel” of the “User  3 ” to the permission target  902 . Herewith, the time period in which the mail address can be disclosed can be set for every permission target  902  and disclosure of the mail address can be further flexibly performed. 
         [0066]    The mail address “Eeeaa222249885knieel” corresponding to “User  3 ” can be disclosed to only “cellular phone  200 ” and “cellular phone  500 ” based on the public level table  900 . Then, the permission term  903  of “cellular phone  200 ” is “2007/06/01” and the permission term  903  of “cellular phone  500 ” is “2008/01/01”. Further, the control unit  101  may modify the public level tables  600 ,  700 ,  800 , and  900  and can modify the permission targets  602 ,  702 ,  802  and  902  and the permission term  903 . 
         [0067]      FIG. 10  is a sequence of registration process of a mail address according to the embodiment. 
         [0068]    The case where the cellular phone  100  obtains the mail address  3001  of the cellular phone  300  from the cellular phone  200  will be described. 
         [0069]    The control unit  101  of the cellular phone  100  extracts the mail address  2001  of the cellular phone  200  from the public telephone directory  1021  (step S 1001 ). The control unit  101  transmits a reference request mail to the cellular phone  200  via the transmitting/receiving unit  103  based on the extracted mail address  2001  (step S 1002 ). 
         [0070]    When the reference request mail is received from the cellular phone  100 , the cellular phone  200  refers to the public telephone directory  2021  held by the cellular phone  200  (step S 1003 ). Then, the mail address  3001  of the cellular phone  300  is registered in the public telephone directory  2021 . The cellular phone  200  refers to the public level table  2023  corresponding to the mail address  3001  and judges whether the mail address  3001  can be disclosed to the cellular phone  100  or not (step S 1004 ). The cellular phone  200  can disclose the mail address  3001  of the cellular phone  300  to the cellular phone registered in the public level table  2023 . 
         [0071]    When the cellular phone  100  is registered in the public level table  2023  (step S 1004  YES), the cellular phone  200  refers to the permission term corresponding to the cellular phone  100  in the public level table  2023  and judges whether the present time of the cellular phone  200  is within the permission term or not (step S 1005 ). Herein, the permission term indicates a period in which the mail address  3001  can be disclosed to the cellular phone  100 . Further, in the embodiment, the present time of the cellular phone  200  is a time measured by a clock function included in the cellular phone  200 . 
         [0072]    When the present time of the cellular phone  200  is within the permission term (step S 1005  YES), the cellular phone  200  extracts the mail address  3001  from the public telephone directory  2021  and transmits to the cellular phone  100  (step S 1006 ). When the cellular phone  100  is not registered in the public level table  2023  (step S 204  NO), the cellular phone  200  does not transmit the mail address  3001  to the cellular phone  100 . Also when the present time of the cellular phone  200  is not within the permission term (step S 1005  NO), the cellular phone  200  does not transmit the mail address  3001  to the cellular phone  100 . 
         [0073]    When the mail address  3001  is received via the transmitting/receiving unit  103  (step S 1007 ), the control unit  101  of the cellular phone  100  transmits a mail to the cellular phone  300  via the transmitting/receiving unit  103  (step S 1008 ). In step S 1008 , the mail transmitted to the cellular phone  300  from the cellular phone  100  is a mail to notice that the mail address  3001  is obtained by the cellular phone  100 . Then the cellular phone  100  inquires whether the mail address  3001  may be registered in the public telephone directory  1021  held by the cellular phone  100  or not to the cellular phone  300  (step S 1009 ). 
         [0074]    The cellular phone  300  judges whether the registration of the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021  is permitted or not (step S 1009 ). When judged that the registration of the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021  is permitted (step S 1010  YES), the cellular phone  300  notices the cellular phone  100  about the permission response indicating that the registration is permitted. When the cellular phone  300  judges not to permit the registration of the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021  (step S 1010  NO), the cellular phone  300  does not notice the cellular phone  100  about the permission response indicating that the registration is permitted and finishes the process. 
         [0075]    The cellular phone  100  judges whether the permission response indicating that the registration of the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021  is permitted is received or not from the cellular phone  300  (step S 1011 ). When judged that the permission response is received (step S 1011  YES), the cellular phone  100  registers the mail address  3001  of the cellular phone  300  in the public telephone directory  1021  (step S 1012 ). When judged that the permission response is not received (step S 1011  NO), the cellular phone  100  does not register the mail address  3001  in the public telephone directory  1021  and finishes the process. 
         [0076]    In S 1006  in the embodiment, the mail address  3001  is extracted from the public telephone directory  2021  and transmitted to the cellular phone  100 . However the cellular phone  200  may transmit the public telephone directory  2021  to the cellular phone  100 . 
         [0077]    In addition, the cellular phones  100 ,  200 , and  300  according to the embodiment provide a ciphered communication based on standards represented by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project). Consequently, in the embodiment, leakage of mail address during communication can be prevented while exchanging each other&#39;s mail address, and exchanging of mail address can be provided only between desired cellular phones. 
         [0078]    In addition, the address disclosure method according to the embodiment is provided by a network communication used for transmission and reception of mail address. However, the address disclosure method is not restricted to this and the communication such as an infrared communication, Bluetooth, or the like may be used instead of the network communication. 
         [0079]    Further, the process performed by receiving means and notifying means of the invention is included in the process performed by the transmitting/receiving unit  103  of the embodiment. Further, the process performed by judging means of the invention is included in the process performed by the control unit  101  of the embodiment. Further, the process performed by confirming means of the invention is included in the process performed by the transmitting/receiving unit  103  of the embodiment. 
         [0080]    Next, the technical idea extracted from the embodiment of the information processing device described above will be enumerated as appendices according to the statement form of claims. The technical idea according to the invention can be comprehended by various levels and variations from the generic concept to the subordinate concept, and the invention is not limited to the appendices described below.