Mobile terminal with location notification

• US 8,046,004 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2005
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Tsuchiya, Shinichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Cumming; William D
• Application Number:
  US11/794,420
• Publication Number:
  US 20080090592A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,127 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.4, 715/734
• US Class Current: 455/456.4
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42102 Making use of the called party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The level of detail of position information about one'"'"'s own location is expressed in terms of a disclosure level when announcing one'"'"'s own location so as to prevent the supply of more information about oneself to the other party than is necessary. A mobile terminal 10 determines, based on a disclosure level L determined with respect to the specific other party, time band, or located area, and based on the provision of location information about the current location or map information that includes such location, generates location information or location display map information, which is transmitted to a communications terminal 50 of other party B, in accordance with the disclosure content specified by disclosure levels L02 to L05.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit; and

an output unit comprising a map information storage unit in which map information is stored, the output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the output unit outputs the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit, the position information about the first terminal being outputted, based on the map information stored in the map information storage unit, in such a manner that location display map information about a location is displayed at the second terminal.

2. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit; and

an output unit comprising a map information acquiring unit acquiring map information from a server that is capable of establishing a communication connection with the first terminal, the output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the output unit outputs the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit, the position information about the first terminal being outputted in such a manner that the map information acquiring unit acquires, from the server capable of establishing a communication connection with the first terminal, map information including the position information about the first terminal and location display map information about a location is displayed at the second terminal.

3. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit; and

a second terminal based disclosure level storage unit recording the disclosure levels of the position information about the first terminal in association with terminal information about the respective second terminals that transmit a disclosure request, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the disclosure level determination unit determines the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal in further accordance with the recorded content of the second terminal based disclosure level storage unit and the terminal information about the second terminal that transmitted the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit.

4. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit; and

a disclosure level setting unit registering the setting of the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

in the event that the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal is registered by the disclosure level setting unit, the disclosure level determination unit determines the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal in accordance with an input disclosure level registered by the disclosure level setting unit.

5. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit; and

a requested disclosure level confirmation unit displaying on a display unit of the first terminal the requested disclosure level included in the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit from the second terminal, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the disclosure level determination unit determines the request disclosure level from the second terminal to be the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal with respect to the second terminal based on an approval of the requested disclosure level from the second terminal displayed on the display unit of the first terminal by the requested disclosure level confirmation unit.

6. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit;

a requested disclosure level confirmation unit displaying on a display unit of the first terminal the requested disclosure level included in the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit from the second terminal; and

a requested disclosure level changing unit changing the setting of the requested disclosure level from the second terminal based on a disapproval of the requested disclosure level from the second terminal displayed on the display unit of the first terminal by the requested disclosure level confirmation unit, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the disclosure level determination unit, when the setting of the requested disclosure level from the second terminal is changed by the requested disclosure level changing unit, determines the disclosure level whose setting has been changed to be the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal with respect to the second terminal.

7. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit; and

a disclosure information confirmation unit displaying on a display unit of the first terminal the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit, or the position information about the first terminal that is displayed at the second terminal based on the disclosure level, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the position information about the first terminal displayed on the display unit of the first terminal by the disclosure information confirmation unit comprises location address information or location display map information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit.

8. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit; and

a disclosure information confirmation unit displaying on a display unit of the first terminal the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit, or the position information about the first terminal that is displayed at the second terminal based on the disclosure level, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the output unit outputs to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit based on an approval of the disclosure level confirmed by the disclosure information confirmation unit, or an approval of location address information or location display map information about the first terminal as the position information about the first terminal displayed at the second terminal based on the disclosure level.

9. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal and including a requested disclosure level;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal,

the output unit outputs the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit, the position information about the first terminal being outputted in such a manner that location display map information about a location is displayed at the second terminal, and

the position information about the first terminal based on a disclosure level that is outputted by the output unit to the second terminal comprises location range information that includes within a location range the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit, wherein the setting of the size of the location range is variable depending on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit.

10. The mobile terminal according to claim 9, wherein, when the output unit outputs the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level and causes the location display map information of the location to be displayed at the second terminal, the position information about the first terminal acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit coincides with central position information in the location range of the first terminal displayed on the location display map at the second terminal based on the location range information.

11. The mobile terminal according to claim 9, wherein, when the output unit outputs the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level and causes the location display map information of the location to be displayed at the second terminal, the position information about the first terminal acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit does not coincide with central position information in the location range of the first terminal displayed on the location display map at the second terminal based on the location range information.

12. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit and in accordance with a location area based on the position information about the first terminal acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit;

an area-based disclosure level storage unit recording the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal in association with located areas; and

a disclosure level setting unit registering in the area-based disclosure level storage unit the setting of the located area of the first terminal in accordance with a predetermined disclosure level, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the disclosure level determination unit, when the position information about the first terminal acquired when the disclosure request reception unit received the disclosure request is included within a located area that is registered in the area-based disclosure level storage unit, determines the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal to be the predetermined disclosure level associated with the located area in which the position information about the first terminal is included in accordance with the recorded content in the area-based disclosure level storage unit and the located area based on the position information about the first terminal acquired when the disclosure request reception unit received the disclosure request.

13. The mobile terminal according to claim 12, wherein the predetermined disclosure level is such a disclosure level that the output unit is permitted to output the position information about the first terminal to the second terminal.

14. The mobile terminal according to claim 12, wherein the predetermined disclosure level is such a disclosure level that the output unit is prohibited from outputting the position information about the first terminal to the second terminal.

15. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring position information about a first terminal;

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about the first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal;

a disclosure level determination unit determining, in accordance with a time band in which the disclosure request is received, a disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal, which is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit;

a time-band-based disclosure level storage unit recording the disclosure levels of the position information about the first terminal in association with the time band in which the disclosure request is received; and

a disclosure level setting unit registering the setting of a time band associated with a predetermined disclosure level in the time-band-based disclosure level storage unit, wherein

the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal, and

the disclosure level determination unit determines, when the reception time at which the disclosure request reception unit received the disclosure request is within a time band range registered in the time-band-based disclosure level storage unit, the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal to be a predetermined disclosure level associated with a time band within whose range the reception time is included in accordance with the recorded content in the time-band-based disclosure level storage unit based on the reception time at which the disclosure request reception unit received the disclosure request.

16. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined disclosure level is such a disclosure level that the output unit is permitted to output the position information about the first terminal to the second terminal.

17. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined disclosure level is such a disclosure level that the output unit is prohibited from outputting the position information about the first terminal to the second terminal.

18. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, further comprising:

a disclosure level change confirmation unit displaying on a display unit of the first terminal a change in the disclosure level whenever the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit is changed by the passage of time.

19. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for the position information about a first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal;

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring the position information about the first terminal based on the reception of the disclosure request by the disclosure request reception unit;

a disclosure level determination unit determining a disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit; and

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit;

a disclosure request judging unit determining whether or not the latest disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit is a repeated disclosure request from the same second terminal within a predetermined time interval; and

an output control unit,

wherein, based on the result of determination made by the disclosure request judging unit, if the latest disclosure request received is a repeated disclosure request from the same second terminal within the predetermined time interval range, the output control unit causes the output unit to output the same position information about the first terminal as the position information about the first terminal outputted to the second terminal from the output unit in response to the reception of the previous disclosure request, and wherein, if the latest disclosure request received is not a repeated disclosure request from the same second terminal within the predetermined time interval range, the output control unit causes the output unit to output new position information about the first terminal generated based on the position information about the first terminal acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit and the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit in accordance with the latest disclosure request received, and

wherein the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal.

20. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for position information about a first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal;

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring the position information about the first terminal based on the reception of the disclosure request by the disclosure request reception unit;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit;

a position information judging unit determining whether or not the latest position information about the first terminal acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit based on the latest disclosure request received belongs to a location range of the position information about the first terminal based on a disclosure level outputted to the second terminal from the output unit based on a previously received disclosure request; and

an output control unit,

wherein, based on the result of determination made by the position information judging unit, if the latest position information belongs to a location range of the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level previously outputted from the output unit, the output control unit causes the output unit to output the same position information about the first terminal as the position information about the first terminal outputted to the second terminal from the output unit in response to the reception of the previous disclosure request, and wherein, if the latest position information does not belong to the location range of the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level previously outputted from the output unit, the output control unit causes, in accordance with the latest disclosure request received, the output unit to output new position information about the first terminal generated based on the latest position information and the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level generated by the first terminal position information acquiring unit and the disclosure level determination unit based on the latest disclosure request, and

wherein the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal.

21. A mobile terminal having a communications function, comprising:

a disclosure request reception unit receiving a disclosure request for position information about a first terminal, the disclosure request being transmitted from a second terminal;

a first terminal position information acquiring unit acquiring the position information about the first terminal based on the reception of the disclosure request by the disclosure request reception unit;

a disclosure level determination unit determining the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal that is acquired by the first terminal position information acquiring unit in accordance with the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit;

an output unit outputting to the second terminal the position information about the first terminal based on the disclosure level determined by the disclosure level determination unit;

an allowing condition storage unit storing a preset allowing condition allowing the second terminal to change the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal; and

a second terminal specific determination unit determining whether or not the second terminal from which the disclosure request reception unit received the disclosure request satisfies the allowing condition stored in the allowing condition storage unit,

wherein if the second terminal specific determination unit determines that the allowing condition is satisfied, the disclosure level determination unit determines the disclosure level of the position information about the first terminal to be the disclosure level according to the disclosure request received by the disclosure request reception unit, and

wherein the first terminal is the mobile terminal itself, and the second terminal is another terminal that is capable of communicating with the mobile terminal.

22. The mobile terminal according to claim 21, wherein the allowing condition stored in the allowing condition storage unit comprises a preset password.