Communication system and communication method

• US 6,708,200 B1
• Filed: 09/25/2000
• Issued: 03/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Panasonic Mobile Communications Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), Matsushita Communication Industrial Corporation of USA (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakatsuchi, Masaharu, Yonemoto, Yoshifumi, Wada, Hiromi, Sasaki, Keizaburo, Ishigaki, Junji, Ura, Seiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrell, Robert B.
• Application Number:
  US09/622,726
• Time in Patent Office: 1,268 Days
• Field of Search: 713/187, 713/200, 713/201, 713/188, 713/189, 713/190, 713/191, 713/192, 713/193, 713/194, 713/116, 709/200, 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/67 Risk-dependent, e.g. selecting a security level depending on risk profiles

Abstract

There is provided a communication system capable of reducing the burden of the terminal that is connected to the Internet via the communication network such as the mobile telephone network, whose security is ensured, and is used to carry out the electronic commerce and the banking service. An encryption communication request generating portion (101) of a client system (100) sends out a security request of a communication route to a gateway server unit (200), an encryption communication controlling portion (203) of the gateway server unit sets up encryption communication between a content server unit (300) and the gateway server unit in response to this, the content server unit encrypts data to be transmitted to the client system and then transmits it to the gateway server unit, and an encryption communication controlling portion of the gateway server unit decrypts this data and transmits it to the client system. Encryption/decryption processing systems are not needed in the client system and thus the burden can be reduced.

Claims

1. A communication method which is carried out between a content server unit for managing content data and a client system located on a different communication network from the content server unit via a gateway server unit for relaying different communication networks, characterized in that, if security of communication between the client system and the gateway server unit is ensured, encryption of data is not performed in communication networks between the client system and the gateway server unit and the encryption of data is performed only by the communication by the communication networks between the gateway server unit and the content server unit, whose security is not ensured.

2. A communication method according to claim 1, wherein he client system sends out a security request of a communication route to the gateway server unit, the gateway server unit sets up encryption communication between the content server unit and the gateway server unit in response to this, the content server unit encrypts data to be transmitted to the client system and then transmits it to the gateway server unit, and the gateway server unit decrypts the data and transmits it to the client system.

3. A communication method according to claim 1, wherein the client system sends out a security request of a communication route together with data transmission to the gateway server unit, the gateway server unit sets up encryption communication between the content server unit and the gateway server unit in response to this, then encrypts the data, and then transmits it to the content server unit.

4. A communication system in which communication is carried out between a content server unit for managing content data and a client system located on a different communication network from the content server unit via a gateway server unit for relaying different communication networks, characterized in that the client system and the gateway server unit are connected via a communication network whose security is ensured,

the client system includes a data communicating means for transmitting/receiving data to/from the gateway server unit, and an encryption communication requesting means for sending out a security request of communication between the client system and the content server unit via the data communicating means, and

the gateway server unit includes a client data communicating means for transmitting/receiving the data to/from the client system, a server data communicating means for transmitting/receiving the data to/from the content server unit, and an encryption communication controlling means for performing setting process of encryption communication between the gateway server unit and the content server unit in response to the security request from the client system via the server data communicating means and performing decryption of encrypted data received from the server data communicating means and encryption of the data to be output to the server data communicating means.

5. A communication system according to claim 4, wherein the client system includes a web protocol processing means for transmitting/receiving the data of World Wide Web to/from the gateway server unit via the data communicating means, and

the gateway server unit includes a web protocol processing means for transmitting/receiving the data of World Wide Web via the client data communicating means and the server data communicating means.