Tag Management System, Tag Management Method, Information Provision System, and Information Provision Method, as well as Devices and Tag Used Therefor

• US 20170006027A1
• Filed: 03/13/2015
• Published: 01/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aquabit Spirals Inc.
• Original Assignee: Aquabit Spirals Inc.
• Inventors: HAGIWARA, Tomohiro
• Granted Patent: US 10,324,972 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/381 using identifiers, e.g. barcodes, RFIDs for URLs G06F16/9554
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/178 Electronic token or RFID
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10297 arrangements for handling protocols designed for non-contact record carriers such as RFIDs NFCs, e.g. ISO/IEC 14443 and 18092 cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; network security protocols H04L63/00; real-time communication protocols in data switching networks H04L65/00; network protocols for data switching network services H04L67/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]

Abstract

An operation terminal (120) requires an input of an authentication code when an authority granting request for corresponding electronic information to a tag (100) is received from a user, and transmits the authentication code to a server together with the authority granting request. The server (140) has an authentication code memory unit (142) that stores the authentication code for each tag, and an authorized user management unit (144) that manages the authorized user for each tag. In the case where an authority granting request and an authentication code are received from the operation terminal (120), the server (140) registers the user of the operation terminal (120) with the authorized user management unit (144) as an authorized user of the tag (100) under the conditions that an authorized user of the tag (100) is not registered with the authorized user management unit (144) and the received authentication code matches the contents of the authentication code memory unit (142).

Claims

1. A tag management system, comprising:

a tag corresponded to electronic information;

an operation terminal operated by a user; and

a server that manages an authorized user having authority to correspond electronic information, characterized in that

said operation terminal has an authority granting request unit that acquires authentication information of a tag when a request to grant authority to correspond electronic information to the tag is received from a user, and transmits the authentication information to said server together with said request, and

said server has;

an authentication information memory unit for storing the authentication information of each tag;

an authorized user management unit that manages an authorized user for each tag; and

an authority granting unit that registers the user of the operation terminal with said authorized user management unit as the authorized user of the tag under the conditions where, in the case where said request and the authentication information are received from said operation terminal, no authorized user is registered in said authorized user management unit for a tag concerning said request, and the received authentication information of the tag matches the contents of said authentication information memory unit.

2. The tag management system according to claim 1, characterized in that

said authentication information of the tag is a chip ID specific to a chip that controls the operation of the tag, and

when a request to grant authority to correspond electronic information to a tag is received from a user, said operation terminal reads the chip ID from the tag and transmits the chip ID to said server together with said granting request.

3. The tag management system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that

said authentication information of the tag is an authentication code that had been made to correspond to the tag in such a manner as to be recognizable by the user in advance, and

said operation terminal allows the user to input the authentication code of the tag when the request to grant authority to correspond electronic information to the tag is received from the user, and transmits the authentication code to said server together with said granting request.

4. The tag management system according to claim 1, characterized in that

said operation terminal has an authority deleting request unit that receives a request for deleting authentication to correspond electronic information to a tag from a user, and transmits the deletion request to said server, and

said server has an authority deleting unit that deletes the authorized user of the tag from said authorized user management unit under the condition where the user of the operation terminal is registered as the authorized user of the tag concerning said deletion request.

5. A server used in a tag management system, comprising:

a tag corresponded to electronic information; and

an operation terminal operated by a user, characterized in that

said operation terminal has an authority granting request unit that acquires authentication information of a tag when a request to grant authority to correspond electronic information to the tag is received from a user, and transmits the authentication information to said server together with said granting request, and

said server has;

an authentication information memory unit for storing the authentication information of each tag;

an authorized user management unit that manages for each tag the authorized user having authority to correspond electronic information; and

an authority granting unit that registers the user of the operation terminal with said authorized user management unit as the authorized user of the tag under the conditions where no authorized user is registered with said authorized user management unit for the tag concerning said granting request, and the received authentication information of the tag matches the contents of said authentication information memory unit in the case where said granting request and the authentication information are received from said operation terminal.

6. An operation terminal used in a tag management system, comprising:

a tag corresponded to electronic information; and

a server that manages an authorized user having authority to correspond electronic information, characterized in that

said server has;

an authentication code memory unit that stores the authentication information of each tag;

an authorized user management unit that manages the authorized user of each tag; and

an authority granting unit that registers the user of the operation terminal with said authorized user management unit as the authorized user of the tag under the conditions where no authorized user is registered with said authorized user management unit for the tag concerning a request to grant authority to correspond electronic information to a tag, and the received authentication information of the tag matches the contents of said authentication information memory unit in the case where said granting request and the authentication information are received from said operation terminal, and

said operation terminal has an authority granting request unit that acquires the authentication information of a tag when a request to grant authority to correspond electronic information to the tag is received from a user, and transmits the authentication information to said server together with said granting request.

7. A tag used in a tag management system, comprising:

an operation terminal operated by a user; and

a server that manages an authorized user having authority to correspond electronic information, characterized in that

said operation terminal has an authority granting request unit that acquires the authentication information of a tag when a request to grant authority to correspond electronic information to the tag is received from a user, and transmits the authentication information to said server together with said granting request, and

said server has;

an authentication code memory unit that stores the authentication information of each tag;

an authorized user management unit that manages the authorized user of each tag; and

an authority granting unit that registers the user of the operation terminal with the authorized user management unit as an authorized user of the tag under the conditions where no authorized user is registered with said authorized user management unit for the tag concerning said granting request, and the received authentication information of the tag matches the contents of said authentication information memory unit in the case where said granting request and the authentication information are received from said operation terminal, and

a chip ID specific to a chip that controls the operation of the tag is stored in said tag in advance as the authentication information of the tag in a readable manner, or an authentication code of the tag is made to correspond in advance in a manner recognizable by the user.

8. A tag management method, implemented by using:

a tag corresponded to electronic information;

an operation terminal operated by a user; and

a server that manages an authorized user having authority to correspond electronic information, characterized in that

said server has;

an authentication code memory unit that stores the authentication information of each tag; and

an authorized user management unit that manages an authorized user of each tag,

said operation terminal acquires the authentication information of a tag when a request to grant authority to correspond electronic information to the tag, and transmits the authentication information to said server together with said granting request, and

said server registers the user of the operation terminal with said authorized user management unit as the authorized user of the tag under the conditions where no authorized user is registered with said authorized user management unit for the tag concerning said granting request, and the received authentication information of the tag matches the contents of said authentication information memory unit in the case where said granting request and the authentication information are received from said operation terminal.

10. The information provision system according to claim 8, characterized in that

said display stores as a display ID a tag ID that is stored by the memory unit in said tag, and as a result, the display ID and the tag ID uniquely correspond to each other.

11. The information provision system according to claim 8, characterized in that

said server stores information for allowing a display ID and a tag ID to uniquely correspond to each other, and the display ID and the tag ID uniquely correspond to each other on the basis of the information.

12. The information provision system according to any of claims 8 through 10, characterized in that

in said display, said display unit displays a number of pieces of contents, said selection recognition unit recognizes a selection of any piece of displayed contents by a user, and said transmission unit transmits the ID of the selected piece of displayed contents in association with the display ID to said server, and

in said server, said memory unit stores the ID of each piece of contents displayed on said display which corresponds to the display ID and the URL for the information of the object to be provided concerning the displayed contents in such a manner that the ID of each piece of contents and the URL correspond to the display ID, said reception unit receives the ID of the displayed contents from said display in addition to the display ID, and said transmission unit transmits the URL that corresponds to the received ID of the displayed contents to said user terminal.

13. The information provision system according to any of claims 8 through 11, characterized in that

a display that is the same as said display and a tag that is the same as said tag are installed in a number of different locations, and the respective displays are connected to said server through a network.

14. The information provision system according to any of claims 8 through 12, characterized in that

said server stores contents indicating information of an object to be provided, and

said display acquires the contents indicating information of an object to be provided from said server and displays the contents.

9. An information provision system, comprising:

a display that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a tag installed so as to correspond to a single display;

a server that manages the URL for the information of the object to be provided; and

a user terminal that displays the information of the object to be provided on the basis of the URL, characterized in that

said tag has a memory unit that stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal,

said display has;

a memory unit that stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to the tag ID stored in said tag;

a display unit that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a selection recognition unit that recognizes a selection by a user for the displayed contents; and

a transmission unit that transmits a display ID to said server in response to the recognition of the selection,

said user terminal has;

a reception unit that receives the URL from said server;

an acquisition unit that acquires information of an object to be provided on the basis of the received URL;

a display unit that displays the acquired information of the object to be provided;

a reading unit that reads a tag ID from said tag; and

a transmission unit that transmits the read tag ID to said server, and

said server has;

a memory unit that stores display IDs and URLs in such a manner that the display IDs and the URLs correspond to each other;

a reception unit that receives a display ID from said display;

a reception unit that receives a tag ID from said user terminal, and a transmission unit that responds to the reception of a display ID from said display and to the reception of a tag ID uniquely corresponded to the display ID from said user terminal, and transmits the URL corresponded to the display ID to said user terminal.

15. A server used in an information provision system, comprising:

a display that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a tag installed so as to correspond to a single display; and

a user terminal that displays information of an object to be provided on the basis of the URL, characterized in that

said tag has a memory unit that stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal,

said display has;

a memory unit that stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to a tag ID stored in said tag;

a display unit that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a selection recognition unit that recognizes a selection of the displayed contents by a user; and

a transmission unit that transmits the display ID to said server in response to the recognition of the selection,

said user terminal has;

a reception unit that receives the URL from said server;

an acquisition unit that acquires the information of an object to be provided on the basis of the received URL;

a display unit that displays the acquired information of an object to be provided;

a reading unit that reads the tag ID from said tag; and

a transmission unit that transmits the read tag ID to said server, and

said server has;

a memory unit that stores display IDs and URLs in such a manner that the display IDs and the URLs correspond to each other;

a reception unit that receives a display ID from said display;

a reception unit that receives a tag ID from said user terminal; and

a transmission unit that responds to the reception of a display ID from said display and the reception of a tag ID uniquely corresponded to the display ID from said user terminal, and transmits the URL corresponded to the display ID to said user terminal.

16. A tag used in an information provision system, comprising:

a display that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a server that manages the URL of the information of an object to be provided; and

a user terminal that displays the information of an object to be provided on the basis of the URL, characterized in that

said display has;

a memory unit that stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to a tag ID stored in said tag;

a display unit that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a selection recognition unit that recognizes a selection of the displayed contents by a user; and

a transmission unit that transmits a display ID to said server in response to the recognition of the selection,

said user terminal has;

a reception unit that receives the URL from said server;

an acquisition unit that acquires information of an object to be provided on the basis of the received URL;

a display unit that displays the acquired information of an object to be provided;

a reading unit that reads a tag ID from said tag; and

a transmission unit that transmits the read tag ID to said server,

said server has a memory unit that stores display IDs and URLs in such a manner that the display IDs and the URLs correspond to each other;

a reception unit that receives a display ID from said display;

a reception unit that receives a tag ID from said user terminal; and

a transmission unit that responds to the reception of a display ID from said display and the reception of a tag ID uniquely corresponded to the display ID from said user terminal, and transmits the URL corresponded to the display ID to said user terminal, and

said tag has a memory unit that stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal, and is installed so as to correspond to a single display.

17. A user terminal used in an information provision system, comprising:

a display that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a tag installed so as to correspond to a single display; and

a server that manages the URL of the information of an object to be provided, characterized in that

said tag has a memory unit that stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal,

said display has;

a memory unit that stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to a tag ID stored in said tag;

a display unit that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a selection recognition unit that recognizes a selection of the displayed contents by a user; and

a transmission unit that transmits a display ID to said server in response to the recognition of the selection,

said server has;

a memory unit that stores display IDs and URLs in such a manner that the display IDs and the URLs correspond to each other;

a reception unit that receives a display ID from said display;

a reception unit that receives a tag ID from said user terminal; and

a transmission unit that responds to the reception of a display ID from said display and the reception of a tag ID uniquely corresponded to the display ID from said user terminal, and transmits the URL corresponded to the display ID to said user terminal, and

said user terminal has;

a reception unit that receives the URL from said server;

an acquisition unit that acquires information of an object to be provided on the basis of the received URL;

a display unit that displays the acquired information of an object to be provided;

a reading unit that reads a tag ID from said tag; and

a transmission unit that transmits the read tag ID to said server.

18. A display used in an information provision system, comprising:

a tag installed so as to correspond to a single display;

a server that manages the URL of the information of an object to be provided; and

a user terminal that displays the information of an object to be provided on the basis of the URL, characterized in that

said tag has a memory unit that stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal,

said user terminal has;

a reception unit that receives the URL from said server;

an acquisition unit that acquires the information of an object to be provided on the basis of the received URL;

a display unit that displays the acquired information of an object to be provided;

a reading unit that reads a tag ID from said tag; and

a transmission unit that transmits the read tag ID to said server,

said server has;

a memory unit that stores display IDs uniquely corresponded to tag IDs and URLs in such a manner that the display IDs and the URLs correspond to each other;

a reception unit that receives a display ID from said display;

a reception unit that receives a tag ID from said user terminal; and

a transmission unit that responds to the reception of a display ID from said display and the reception of a tag ID uniquely corresponded to the display ID from said user terminal, and transmits the URL corresponded to the display ID to said user terminal, and

said display has;

a memory unit that stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to a tag ID stored in said tag;

a display unit that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a selection recognition unit that recognizes a selection of the displayed contents by a user; and

a transmission unit that transmits the display ID to said server in response to the recognition of the selection.

19. An information provision method implemented by using:

a display that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a tag installed so as to correspond to a single display;

a server that manages the URL of the information of an object to be provided; and

a user terminal that displays the information of an object to be provided on the basis of the URL, characterized in that

said tag stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal,

said display stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to a tag ID stored in said tag,

said server stores display IDs and URLs in such a manner that the display IDs and the URLs correspond to each other,

said display transmits a display ID to said server in response to the selection of the displayed contents indicating information of an object to be provided by a user,

said user terminal transmits the tag ID read from said tag to said server,

said server responds to the reception of a display ID from said display and the reception of a tag ID uniquely corresponded to the display ID from said user terminal, and transmits the URL corresponded to the display ID to said user terminal, and

said user terminal acquires the information of an object to be provided on the basis of the URL received from said server and displays the information.