Authenticating method for short-distance radio devices and a short-distance radio device

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/920,376, filed Aug. 2, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,353,391, which claims priority to Japanese Application No. 2001-183616, filed Jun. 18, 2001, and Japanese Application No. 2000-237245, filed Aug. 4, 2000, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an authenticating method for short-distance radio devices and a short-distance radio device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an authenticating method for short-distance radio devices, which include data communicating units based on short-distance radio communication such as represented by Bluetooth, and which have the function enabling the radio devices to authenticate mutually with ease, as well as the short-distance radio device itself.

2. Description of the Related Art

In conventional general authentication procedures for portable radio (wireless) equipment, a system is made up of a base station and plural pieces of portable equipment, and an inquiry is issued to the base station from each piece of portable equipment for authentication thereof. The authentication is performed by inputting data, such as the ID number and the password, which have been set in advance, and checking for verification of the inputted data whether it is in match with data stored as a database or the like in the base station.

However, when data such as the ID number and the password is inputted for the authentication as described above, such data itself tends to be a longer string of symbols comprising characters and numerals in mixed fashion, and hence an operation for inputting the data has become troublesome. Also, mutual authentication procedures, which are general in radio communication, have a tendency to be used more and more in many applications in future. This causes another problem that the complicated authentication procedures make a user interface also complicated.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a construction capable of easily performing mutual authentication between short-distance radio devices, in particular, portable devices.

To achieve the above object, an authenticating method for short-distance radio devices and a short-distance radio device according to the present invention are constituted as follows.

(1) An authenticating method for short-distance radio devices, comprising the steps of preparing a condition where a plurality of radio devices exist, each of the radio devices comprising a data communicating unit for performing short-distance radio communication and an authenticating unit for performing authentication of the radio device; and performing mutual authentication between two radio devices by the authenticating unit automatically or after confirmation by users of the radio devices when the two radio devices come closer to each other to such an extent that coverage areas of radio waves generated by the two radio devices overlap with each other.

(2) In the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices of (1), the step of performing the authentication by the authenticating unit is performed in a state where a transmission output of the radio device is reduced to shorten a communication distance of the radio device.

(3) In the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices of (2), the transmission output is reduced only in a particular one of the radio devices.

(4) In the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices of (2), the transmission output is reduced upon turning-on of an authentication button provided on the radio device.

(5) In the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices of (1), the step of performing the authentication by the authenticating unit is performed in a state where reception sensitivity of the radio device is reduced to shorten a communication distance of the radio device.

(6) In the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices of (5), the reception sensitivity is reduced only in a particular one of the radio devices.

(7) In the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices of (5), the reception sensitivity is reduced upon turning-on of an authentication button provided on the radio device.

(8) In the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices of (1), the radio device is a portable device.

(9) A short-distance radio device comprising a data communicating unit for performing short-distance radio communication and an authenticating unit for performing authentication of the radio device, the authenticating unit of the radio device performing, in a condition where a plurality of radio devices exist, mutual authentication between two radio devices automatically or after confirmation by users of the radio devices when the two radio devices come closer to each other to such an extent that coverage areas of radio waves generated by the radio devices overlap with each other.

(10) In the short-distance radio device of (9), the authenticating unit performs the authentication in a state where a transmission output of the radio device is reduced to shorten a communication distance of the radio device.

(11) In the short-distance radio device of (10), the transmission output is reduced only in a particular one of the radio devices.

(12) In the short-distance radio device of (10), the transmission output is reduced upon turning-on of an authentication button provided on the radio device.

(13) In the short-distance radio device of (9), the authenticating unit performs the authentication in a state where reception sensitivity of the radio device is reduced to shorten a communication distance of the radio device.

(14) In the short-distance radio device of (13), the reception sensitivity is reduced only in a particular one of the radio devices.

(15) In the short-distance radio device of (13), the reception sensitivity is reduced upon turning-on of an authentication button provided on the radio device.

(16) In the short-distance radio device of (9), the radio device is a portable device.

Thus, in a condition where a plurality of short-distance radio devices exist, particularly portable radio devices, each of the radio devices comprising a data communicating unit for performing short-distance radio communication and an authenticating unit for performing authentication of the radio device, the authenticating unit performs mutual authentication between two radio devices automatically or after confirmation by users when coverage areas of radio waves generated by the radio devices overlap with each other, that is, when the two radio devices come close to each other within a predetermined distance. As a result, an operation for inputting complex data, such as the authentication number, is eliminated and the operability can be greatly improved.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a terminal device as a short-distance radio device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal device;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the coverage area of radio waves when the terminal device is operated in the data communicating mode;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the coverage area of radio waves when the terminal device is operated in the authentication mode;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing mutual authentication between the terminal devices operated in the authentication mode;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a terminal device as a short-distance radio device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal device of FIG. 6 ;

FIGS. 8A , 8 B and 8 C are explanatory views showing an authentication state between the terminal devices of FIG. 6 operated in the authentication mode with reduced reception sensitivity;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the coverage area of radio waves when the terminal device of FIG. 6 is operated in the data communicating mode;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing an authentication state between the terminal devices of FIG. 6 when a particular terminal device is operated in the authentication mode with reduced reception sensitivity; and

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing mutual authentication between the terminal devices of FIG. 6 operated in the authentication mode.

Embodiments of an authenticating method for short-distance radio devices and a short-distance radio device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1 , the short-distance radio device for realizing the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices is constituted by a portable terminal device such as a cellular phone. The terminal device comprises a short-distance data communicating unit 110 which forms a data communicating means for performing short-distance radio communication; an authenticating unit 120 which serves as an authenticating means capable of decoding, for analysis to make authentication, data received by the short-distance data communicating unit 110 in the authentication mode; an authentication button 130 for establishing the authentication mode; and a radio output attenuating unit 140 for attenuating a radio output and narrowing the coverage area of radio waves, when the authentication button 130 is depressed to turn on.

The operation of the terminal device thus constructed will be described below in connection with a flowchart shown in FIG. 2 while referring to FIG. 1 .

When the authentication button 130 is turned off, the terminal device is in the data communication mode in which ordinary communication is carried out (steps ST 110 , ST 120 and ST 130 ). More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 , a terminal device A is in the ordinary operating state and produces a transmission output capable of covering a certain large distance (area indicated by W 1 in FIG. 3 ).

When the authentication button 130 is depressed to turn on, the terminal device is brought into the authentication mode in which the transmission output is reduced and the coverage area of transmitted radio waves is considerably narrowed (steps ST 110 , ST 140 and ST 150 ). For example, the transmission output is reduced to such an extent that two terminal devices are not able to receive or transmit data unless they are positioned close to each other. Then, when the coverage areas of radio waves transmitted from the terminal devices come into an overlapped relation, i.e., when the terminal devices are positioned close to each other, mutual authentication is enabled to start (step ST 160 ). More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 , by depressing the authentication button 130 of the terminal device A to turn on, the terminal device A is brought into the authentication mode. In this operating mode, the transmission output is considerably reduced and the communication distance (area indicated by W 2 in FIG. 4 ) is set to such a range that two terminal device are not able to communicate data unless they approach very close to each other. Simultaneously, the other terminal device B, also in which the authentication button 130 is depressed and the communication distance is narrowed as indicated by W 3 , comes closer to the terminal device A for mutual authentication.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5 , when both the terminal devices A and B come close to each other and enter within a distance capable of communicating data therebetween (as indicated by communication distances W 4 and W 5 ), the mutual authentication is performed between the terminal devices automatically or after confirmation by users.

While this embodiment is arranged to perform the mutual authentication in the state where the transmission outputs of both the terminal devices A and B are reduced, the present invention is not limited to such an arrangement. As a matter of course, the transmission output of only one particular terminal device may be reduced.

Thus, since the coverage area of radio waves outputted in the authentication mode is narrowed to such an extent that two terminal devices are able to receive data only when they are positioned close to each other, it is possible to prevent the mutual authentication from being performed among a number of terminal devices, and to carry out the mutual authentication essentially in a one-to-one relation.

Next, a second embodiment of an authenticating method for short-distance radio devices and a short-distance radio device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6 , the short-distance radio device for realizing the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices is constituted by a portable terminal device, such as a cellular phone, similarly to the first embodiment described above. The terminal device comprises a short-distance data communicating unit 110 which forms a data communicating means for performing short-distance radio communication; an authenticating unit 120 which serves as an authenticating means capable of decoding, for analysis to make authentication, data received by the short-distance data communicating unit 110 in the authentication mode; an authentication button 130 for establishing the authentication mode; and a reception sensitivity attenuating unit 150 for reducing reception sensitivity and shortening the communication distance, when the authentication button 130 is depressed to turn on.

The operation of the terminal device thus constructed will be described below in connection with a flowchart shown in FIG. 7 while referring to FIG. 6 .

When the authentication button 130 is turned off, the terminal device is in the data communication mode in which ordinary communication is carried out (steps ST 210 , ST 220 and ST 230 ). More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8A , a terminal device A is in the ordinary operating state and produces a transmission output capable of covering a certain large distance (area indicated by W 6 in FIG. 8A ).

When the authentication button 130 is depressed to turn on, the terminal device is brought into the authentication mode in which the reception sensitivity is reduced and the communication distance is considerably shortened (steps ST 210 , ST 240 and ST 250 ). For example, the reception sensitivity is reduced to such an extent that two terminal devices are not able to receive or transmit data unless they are positioned close to each other. Then, when the coverage areas of radio waves transmitted from the terminal devices are overlapped with each other and the terminal devices come into within a distance capable of communicating data between them, i.e., when the terminal devices are positioned close to each other, mutual authentication is enabled to start (step ST 260 ). More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8B , by depressing the authentication button 130 of the terminal device A to turn on, the terminal device A is brought into the authentication mode. In this operating mode, the reception sensitivity is considerably reduced and the communication distance (area indicated by W 7 in FIG. 8B ) is set to such a range that two terminal device are not able to communicate data unless they approach very close to each other. Simultaneously, the other terminal device B, also in which the authentication button 130 is depressed and the communication distance is narrowed as indicated by W 8 , comes closer to the terminal device A for mutual authentication.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8C , when both the terminal devices A and B come close to each other and enter within a distance capable of communicating data therebetween (as indicated by communication distances W 9 and W 10 ), the mutual authentication is performed between the terminal devices automatically or after confirmation by users.

While this embodiment is arranged to perform the mutual authentication in the state where the reception sensitivity of each of the terminal devices A and B is reduced, the present invention is not limited to such an arrangement. As a matter of course, the reception sensitivity of only one particular terminal device may be reduced.

FIGS. 9 to 11 show mutual authentication between the terminal devices of FIG. 6 when a particular terminal device (A in this embodiment) is operated with reduced reception sensitivity. First, as shown in FIG. 9 , the terminal device A is in the ordinary operating state and produces a transmission output capable of covering a certain large distance (area indicated by W 11 in FIG. 9 ).

In the above condition, when the authentication button 130 of the terminal device A is depressed to turn on, the terminal device A is brought into the authentication mode as shown in FIG. 10 . In this operating mode, the reception sensitivity is considerably reduced and the communication distance (coverage area indicated by W 12 in FIG. 10 ) is reduced to such a range that two terminal device are not able to communicate data unless they approach very close to each other.

Subsequently, the other terminal device B having the ordinary communication distance (coverage area W 13 in FIG. 10 ) comes closer to the terminal device A. Then, as shown in FIG. 11 , when the terminal device B having the communication distance W 13 comes closer to the terminal device A having the reduced communication distance (narrowed coverage area) W 12 to such an extent that both the terminal devices enter within a distance capable of communicating data therebetween, the mutual authentication is performed between the terminal devices automatically or after confirmation by users.

Additionally, when the terminal devices A and B are positioned close to each other, a coverage area W 14 of another terminal device C is outside the coverage areas of the terminal devices A and B. The mutual authentication between the terminal devices A and C is therefore not performed.

Thus, since the coverage area of radio waves outputted in the authentication mode is narrowed to such an extent that two terminal devices are able to receive data only when they are positioned close to each other, it is possible to prevent the mutual authentication from being performed among a number of terminal devices, and to carry out the mutual authentication essentially in a one-to-one relation.

The mutual authentication is performed by reducing the transmission output in the first embodiment and by reducing the reception sensitivity in the second embodiment. As a matter of course, however, the mutual authentication may be performed between terminal devices which are each equipped with both the functions.

With the authenticating method for short-distance radio devices and the short-distance radio device according to the present invention, as described hereinabove, the mutual authentication is performed between two terminal devices automatically or after confirmation by users when the terminal devices are brought into the authentication mode and are positioned close to each other. As a result, an operation for inputting data for authentication is no longer required, and hence the operability is improved. Further, the mutual authentication can be performed with no need of special highly-equipped user interfaces.