Mobile station and communication control method

• US 7,716,475 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2005
• Issued: 05/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Oi, Tatsuro, Nakatsuchi, Masaharu, Shibutani, Akira, Kakuno, Kosuke, Asai, Mao
• Primary Examiner(s): Zand; Kambiz
• Assistant Examiner(s): BAYOU, YONAS A
• Application Number:
  US11/107,751
• Publication Number:
  US 20050257052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,849 Days
• Field of Search: 726/27
• US Class Current: 713/166
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security

Abstract

When an application is activated, a mobile station 10 detects external devices 20, 30, 40 as candidates for a BLUETOOTH connection out of external devices existing in the surrounding area, and presents a list of the devices to a user. When the user selects from the list an external device 20 with which a connection is to be attempted to make, a link is established by a connection procedure according to a security level described in an ADF of the application. Namely, when “high” is described as the security level, an authentication process and an encryption process requiring input of a PIN are executed prior to the establishment of the link. On the other hand, when “low” is described as the security level, a link is established without executing these processes.

Claims

1. A mobile station comprising:

means for activating an application of a plurality of applications to communicate with an external device, the mobile station including the plurality of different applications each with respective different high or low security level settings;

means for acquiring a security level set in the application activated by the activating means;

means for determining whether connection is possible between the mobile station and the external device prior to connection when the acquired security level indicates the activated application is set to the high security level by comparing a received identifier of the external device to entries stored in a memory of the mobile station identifying a plurality of external devices for which authentication is permitted; and

means for making a connection with the external device only when the received identifier of the external device matches one of the entries stored in said memory of the mobile station when the acquired security level indicates the activated application is set to the high security level.

2. The mobile station according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for selecting an external device that can undergo a connection using an application with the high security level,

wherein when the security level acquired by the means for acquiring is the high security level, the means for making a connection makes the connection with the external device on the occasion of receiving a connection request from the external device selected by the means for selecting.

5. The mobile station according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for transmitting a search request to a plurality of external devices based on the activation of the application; and

means for receiving a search response request from each of the plurality of external devices in response to the transmitted search request.

6. The mobile station according to claim 5, further comprising:

means for displaying identification information corresponding to each of the plurality of external devices for which a search response request is received.

7. The mobile station according to claim 6, further comprising:

means for receiving an input selecting one of the plurality of external devices displayed at the means for displaying, wherein the means for making a connection makes a connection with the selected external device.

3. A communication control method comprising the following steps carried out by a mobile station:

activating an application of a plurality of applications to communicate with an external device, the mobile station including the plurality of different applications each with respective different high or low security level settings;

acquiring a security level set in the activated application;

determining whether connection is possible between the mobile station and the external device prior to connection when the acquired security level indicates the activated application is set to the high security level by comparing a received identifier of the external device to entries stored in a memory of the mobile station identifying a plurality of external devices for which authentication is permitted; and

making a connection with the external device only when the received identifier of the external device matches one of the entries stored in said memory of the mobile station when the acquired security level indicates the activated application is set to the high security level.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

transmitting a search request to a plurality of external devices based on the activation of the application; and

receiving a search response request from each of the plurality of external devices in response to the transmitted search request.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

displaying identification information corresponding to each of the plurality of external devices for which a search response request is received.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving an input selecting one of the plurality of external devices displayed; and

making a connection with the selected external device by the procedure according to the acquired security level based on a result of the determining.

4. A mobile station comprising:

a processor configured to activate an application of a plurality of applications to communicate with an external device, the mobile station including the plurality of different applications each with respective different high or low security level settings;

a first module configured to acquire a security level set in the application activated by the processor;

a second module configured to determine whether connection is possible between the mobile station and the external device prior to connection when the acquired security level indicates the activated application is set to the high security level by comparing a received identifier of the external device to entries stored in a memory of the mobile station identifying a plurality of external devices for which authentication is permitted; and

a wireless interface configured to initiate a connection with the external device only when the received identifier of the external device matches one of the entries stored in said memory of the mobile station when the acquired security level indicates the activated application is set to the high security level.

11. The mobile station of claim 4, further comprising:

the wireless interface configured to transmit a search request to a plurality of external devices based on the activation of the application, and receive a search response request from each of the plurality of external devices in response to the transmitted search request.

12. The mobile station of claim 11, further comprising:

a display configured to display identification information corresponding to each of the plurality of external devices for which a search response request is received.

13. The mobile station of claim 12, further comprising:

a user interface configured to receive an input selecting one of the plurality of external devices displayed at the display; and

the wireless interface configured to make a connection with the selected external device by the procedure according to the acquired security level based on a result of the determining.