Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7570960?dq=6233682
Timestamp: 2016-10-01 17:55:01
Document Index: 393648796

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 8', 'art 9', 'art 10', 'art 8', 'art 9', 'art 10']

Patent US7570960 - Mobile terminal, position search system, position search method, and program ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA mobile terminal 100 includes a position information detection part 8 that detects current position information, a position information decoder part 9 that calculates the current position information as latitude/longitude information, and a position accuracy degradation-producing part 10 that degrades...http://www.google.com/patents/US7570960?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7570960 - Mobile terminal, position search system, position search method, and program thereforAdvanced Patent SearchTry the new Google Patents, with machine-classified Google Scholar results, and Japanese and South Korean patents.Publication numberUS7570960 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/188,116Publication dateAug 4, 2009Filing dateJul 3, 2002Priority dateJul 9, 2001Fee statusPaidAlso published asCN1210986C, CN1411316A, US20030008672Publication number10188116, 188116, US 7570960 B2, US 7570960B2, US-B2-7570960, US7570960 B2, US7570960B2InventorsTomohiro FujiiOriginal AssigneeNec CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (34), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (11), Classifications (28), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetMobile terminal, position search system, position search method, and program therefor
US 7570960 B2Abstract
A mobile terminal 100 includes a position information detection part 8 that detects current position information, a position information decoder part 9 that calculates the current position information as latitude/longitude information, and a position accuracy degradation-producing part 10 that degrades the apparent accuracy of the latitude/longitude information in plural levels. In operation, when a position search request is made from a third-person terminal, the mobile terminal 100 transmits position information with an accuracy according to the authentication result (such as the result of password verification) of the third-person terminal concerned. Therefore, even when the password has been stolen, position information with an accuracy intentionally degraded by the user of the mobile terminal can be transmitted, thereby preventing an inversion of privacy or stalking.
In view of such a problem, the conventional position information search service limits its choice to either the option of denying the position search request from the third person according to the settings preset by the user regardless of the attributes of the position information requesting side, or the option of transmitting data as it is or after processed when transmitting current position information. Such service contents would wipe out close to half of its value as intended position search service. Here, the “attributes of the requesting side” are to tell family members or familiar others from a third person who might bear ill will toward the user.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problem, and it is an object thereof to provide a mobile terminal, a position search system, a position search method, and a program therefor, all of which can prevent abuse of the position search service in response to a position search request from a malicious third person, which could result in an inversion of privacy such as to leak personal information or stalking.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mobile terminal according to embodiments of the present invention.
A mobile terminal, a position search system, a position search method, and a program therefor according to embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile terminal in the position search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
Suppose that the “good accuracy” is selected in step S13. In this case, when a position search request is made from the third-person terminal 200 (step S14 a), a password that has been already notified to the third person who is permitted to conduct a search is verified (step S15 a), and the current position information is transmitted (step S16 a). In this transmission processing, the CPU 1 transmits to the third-person terminal 200 position information with the highest accuracy. The position information with the highest accuracy may be address information containing a house number like “1-2-3 ◯◯ΔΔ Yokohama” as shown in step 17 a. Suppose that the “medium accuracy” is selected in step S13. In this case, when a position search request is made from the third-person terminal 200 (step S14 b), the password that has been already notified to the third person who is permitted to conduct a search is verified (step S15 b), and the current position information is transmitted (step S16 b). In this transmission processing, the CPU 1 transmits to the third-person terminal 200 position information with a low degree of abstraction. The position information with the low degree of abstraction may be address information without a house number like “◯◯ in Yokohama” as shown in step 17 b. Suppose further that the “bad accuracy” is selected in step S13. In this case, when a position search request is made from the third-person terminal 200 (step S14 c), the password that has been already notified to the third person who is permitted to conduct a search is verified (step S15 c), and the current position information is transmitted (step S16 c). In this transmission processing, the CPU 1 transmits to the third-person terminal 200 position information with a high degree of abstraction. The position information with the high degree of abstraction may be address information indicative of the name of a city, town, or village like “Yokohama” as shown in step 17 c. Suppose further that the “out of range” is selected in step S13. In this case, when a position search request is made from the third-person terminal 200 (step S14 d), the password that has been already notified to the third person who is permitted to conduct a search is verified (step S15 d), and the CPU 1 transmits information informing the third-person terminal 200 that no position information is provided (step S16 d). The information informing that the third-person terminal 200 that no position information is provided may be an indication of “unknown current location” or the like that straddles the presence or absence of the provision of information, or a clear indication of the intent to “refuse provision of position information.”
FIG. 4 shows an image of image data to be transmitted to the third-person terminal 200 when the user of the mobile terminal 100 selected the “good accuracy.” In this case, a detailed map around the above-mentioned address “1-2-3 ◯◯ΔΔ Yokohama” and data on a marker indicative of the location of the user of the mobile terminal 100 to be searched are transmitted to the third-person terminal 200. Thus the user of the third-person terminal 200 can confirm that the user of the mobile terminal 100 is very close to ΔΔ station in Yokohama.
FIG. 5 shows an image of transmitted data when the user of the mobile terminal 100 selected the “medium accuracy.” In this case, a scale-down map around the above-mentioned address “◯◯ in Yokohama” and data on a marker indicative of the location of the user of the mobile terminal 100 to be searched are transmitted to the third-person terminal 200. Thus the user of the third-person terminal 200 can confirm that the user of the mobile terminal 100 is within ◯◯ in Yokohama.
FIG. 6 shows an image of transmitted data when the user of the mobile terminal 100 selected the “bad accuracy.” In this case, a map including the above-mentioned “Yokohama” city and nearby cities, and data on a marker indicative of the location of the user of the mobile terminal 100 to be searched are transmitted to the third-person terminal 200. Thus the user of the third-person terminal 200 can confirm that the user of the mobile terminal 100 is somewhere around Yokohama.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile terminal in the position search system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, description will be made about a case where an emergency call (to the police or fire station) is required in such a state that the “bad accuracy” is set for the accuracy of position information to be sent in response to a position search request from the third person. It is assumed that processing shown in FIG. 7 takes place between flows shown in FIG. 3 (in the first processing example).
In step S22, if it is an emergency call (Yes in step S22), the position accuracy preset by the user of the mobile terminal 100 is changed from the “bad accuracy” to the “good accuracy” (step S23). Then the emergency call is made (step S24), and current position information with the highest accuracy is notified to the called side to which the emergency call should be made (step S25). After completion of the emergency call, all the settings are returned to the original settings (that is, the “good accuracy” is changed to the “bad accuracy”), and the processing is ended (step S26).
According to the second embodiment, even when an emergency call is made in such a state that the “bad accuracy (degraded)” is set for the accuracy of position information to be sent in response to a position search request from the third person, the exact location of the caller can be transmitted in real time without making the user aware of changing the setting of the position accuracy. Further, even when the caller is in a panic, accurate position information can be transmitted to the called side.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile terminal in the position search system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, two or more passwords used for searches to be conducted by third-person terminals are preset based on the premise that the user of the mobile terminal predefines correspondences between position accuracies and searching passwords.
Suppose here that the “good accuracy” is preset for password A, the “medium accuracy” is preset for password B, the “bad accuracy” is preset for password C, and the “out of range” is preset for password D.
In step S33, if the password is judged to be the password A, position information with the highest accuracy like “1-2-3 ◯◯ΔΔ Yokohama” as shown in step S34 a will be transmitted to the third-person terminal 200.
In step S33, if the password is judged to be the password B, position information with a medium accuracy like “◯◯ Yokohama” as shown in step S34 b will be transmitted to the third-person terminal 200.
In step S33, if the password is judged to be the password C, position information with the lowest accuracy like “Yokohama” as shown in step S34 c will be transmitted to the third-person terminal 200.
In step S33, if the password is judged to be the password D, information indicating that the “current position is unknown” will be transmitted to the third-person terminal 200.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile terminal in the position search system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, description will be made about a case where position information with the highest accuracy is required, for example, where the user of the mobile terminal is involved in crime such as kidnapping.
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OhgVerfahren und Vorrichtung zur Unsch�rfestellung einer Positionsinformation und/oder davon abgeleiteter Informationen* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification455/456.2, 455/411, 340/539.13, 455/404.2International ClassificationG08G1/13, H04L29/06, H04W24/00, H04L29/08, H04W4/02, G06F17/30, G01C21/00, G01S19/14, H04W8/08, H04W8/16Cooperative ClassificationH04L69/329, H04L67/18, H04L67/04, H04L63/08, H04W4/02, H04W8/16, H04L63/083, H04W8/08European ClassificationH04L63/08D, H04L63/08, H04W4/02, H04L29/08N17, H04L29/08A7, H04L29/08N3Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionJul 3, 2002ASAssignmentOwner name: NEC CORPORATION, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJI, TOMOHIRO;REEL/FRAME:013084/0523Effective date: 20020626Jan 9, 2013FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Sep 11, 2014ASAssignmentOwner name: LENOVO INNOVATIONS LIMITED (HONG KONG), HONG KONGEffective date: 20140618Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:NEC CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:033720/0767RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services